China’s Economy Takes a Sharp Turn for the Worse! Many People Are Just Barely Hanging On

Economic stagnation in many cities; large shopping malls that used to be packed with people now have not a single customer inside. (Video screenshot)

[People News] Recently, on China’s internet, many netizens have been posting self-recorded videos tearfully complaining that they cannot find jobs, or that their wages are too low, their homes cannot be sold, and life has become unsustainable. The pressure is so great that it cannot be released. More and more people feel they cannot hold on any longer, and social confidence is on the verge of collapse!

According to data released by the CCP’s National Bureau of Statistics, the surveyed urban unemployment rate in November was 5.1 percent, the same as in October. The data also show that for the first 11 months of this year, the national average surveyed urban unemployment rate was 5.2 percent.

U.S. economist David Huang said that China’s surveyed urban unemployment rate is obtained through questionnaires conducted during working hours, while people who are not working are normally not out on the streets during those hours. Therefore, this survey cannot truly reflect the current unemployment situation, and the data do not have much reference value. Under conditions of increasingly severe economic deflation, the real unemployment rate must certainly remain high.

According to a recent post by the blogger “Financial Data Repository,” a friend who runs a physical business recently told him that he is close to his limit. When business conditions were good a few years ago, he bought an apartment with a total price of 3.2 million yuan, paying a 900,000 yuan down payment and taking out a 2.3 million yuan loan. When housing prices were at their peak, the property rose to about 5.2 million yuan. During those years, business was going well, and he also used this apartment as collateral for a business loan, borrowing 2.6 million yuan. Later, conditions took a sharp turn for the worse, and the house is now worth just over 2.6 million yuan. The problem is that he still owes the bank 3.1 million yuan. To keep things running, he also gradually took out credit loans and consumer loans totaling more than 1.4 million yuan.

When you add it all up, it is very clear: liabilities exceed book assets, and he is already substantively insolvent. What is even more fatal is that the factory is no longer making money and still requires him to subsidize it by 40,000 to 50,000 yuan every month to keep it going. Accounts receivable are stuck outside, and bad debts cannot be collected. Now, let alone repaying principal, just the monthly interest alone is more than 20,000 yuan, which has already become a heavy burden.

The factory’s second-hand equipment cannot be sold for much money; he also has a car on hand, which is estimated to sell for about 180,000 yuan. Beyond that, there is basically nothing of value left. He asked, “Do I really have no options left now?”

“Financial Data Repository” commented: To be honest, there are not a few people in this kind of situation. It’s not that they didn’t work hard, but that they fully leveraged themselves at the peak and chose to tough it out during the downturn. Many people do not collapse all at once, but are slowly dragged to death by refusing to accept losses and refusing to stop the bleeding.

China’s economy continues to deteriorate. A large number of enterprises have shut down, the real estate market has collapsed, unemployment remains high, and foreign capital is withdrawing, plunging all industries into difficulty and increasingly intensifying the pressure on people’s lives. Under the dual pressure of the CCP’s high-handed rule and economic depression, large numbers of people have lost their jobs. People’s livelihoods have become a problem; some even end up living on the streets, with no hope, trapped in despair.

One blogger said: “I’m telling everyonezhong everyone, people are going crazy from poverty now—doors are being pried open and locks picked. On Xihu Road in Nankai District, three or four homes have been broken into. Households with elderly people or children must be sure to lock their doors. Merchants who run businesses should take all valuables away and absolutely not leave them in their shops. Everyone must raise their awareness and be on guard.”

A female blogger said: “Oh my god, people in Chengdu are getting poorer and poorer now. Everyone is taking their children to the mountains to play. We are all getting poorer and poorer.”

Another female blogger said, “Our neighbors say their company has carried out massive layoffs, and our company hasn’t paid wages since September. I feel like I can’t keep going anymore. What can you do now to make money? I don’t know—can anyone give me some advice?”

A young female blogger said: “Next year, there will be even more people who can’t find jobs. Now it’s no longer a question of whether making money is hard or not—it’s a question of whether you can even earn hard-earned money at all.”

Another middle-aged female blogger said weakly: “Why is it that houses just can’t be sold now? I’ve already come to terms with it. I don’t want the car anymore, I don’t want the house anymore, I don’t want anything anymore. I’ll just keep a job and my children. Everything else doesn’t matter. But this house is just too hard to sell…”

A male blogger said: “The ‘iron man triathlon’ has already come to an end—it’s reached the finale. Courier delivery, food delivery, and ride-hailing are all very hard to make money from now.”

One food delivery rider, while riding his electric scooter, shouted hoarsely into the camera: “Life is really too hard, ah…”

An elderly man in his seventies or eighties said with a serious expression: “Why are life’s days getting harder and harder for us ordinary people now? There’s one very important issue—if all the ‘experts’ (the CCP) were to die off, then we ordinary people would finally have good days.” △