According to overseas-based political commentator Yuan Hongbing, China’s economic slowdown has evolved into a fiscal crisis that is increasingly affecting government finances and employment. He said that in 2025, in Beijing, only Haidian District was able to pay civil servants their full annual salaries, while officials in other districts reportedly received only eight to nine months of wages due to budget shortfalls. This suggests serious fiscal strain even in China’s capital, with conditions likely more severe in other regions and economically weaker rural areas.
Yuan also cited official data indicating that the “gross employment rate” for university graduates in 2025 is only about 60 percent, a figure that includes “flexible” (non-stable) and temporary jobs. Based on these numbers, he estimated that nearly five million new graduates are unemployed this year, and when combined with jobless graduates from previous years, the total number of unemployed college graduates may have reached around 20 million, underscoring the mounting employment challenges facing China’s educated youth.
Source: NTDTV, December 23, 2025
https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2025/12/22/a104049049.html