‘Worrying malaise’: China’s economic and social fortunes rest on its youth, but they are lying flat and ‘letting it rot’
- Many younger Chinese are beleaguered by high expectations, extreme academic competition and bleak work and lifestyle prospects
- ‘At some point, when economic development is hindered so much that a financial crisis breaks out, a social eruption is likely to take place,’ analyst says
Song Liang spent much of her adolescence chasing academic excellence, alternating between piles of textbooks and extracurricular teaching materials to gain a competitive edge and advance to a highly ranked university.
She is now in her second year at a top institution in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin. But since being admitted, her well-being has declined. She has gained 23kg (50lbs) and has abandoned dancing – a daily practice required by her mother since she was five to keep her in good shape – to do very little in its place.
“Every day I feel so tired,” Song said, “Nothing interests me. I’m now at a good university, realising the dream of my parents – that’s all.”
02:09
China’s young abandon consumerism in favour of fulfilling experiences
Demographers and analysts say the mental health of young Chinese may affect the country’s future “human capital”, and more broadly its economic path, and that Beijing must take steps to treat the issue seriously.
No official data is available on the number of young people with mental health issues in China. Researchers at the Central South University in Hunan province estimate more than 9 million of 156 million Chinese adolescents aged between 10 and 19 have depression or anxiety, according to a report published on the US National Library of Medicine website last year.
