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For several years, head of state and party leader Xi Jinping has been promising "prosperity for all" and "global leadership" for China. Now the economy is stagnating, real estate prices are plummeting and youth unemployment has at times been over 20 percent. But Xi Jinping prefers to censor the statistics and suppress reporting on the crisis. Young people should now learn to endure bitterness, just like the head of state himself, who had to toil and starve in the countryside during the Cultural Revolution under Mao in the late 1960s and early 1970s. And what do young people do when they can't find a job after an expensive degree at an elite university? Some practice "tang ping" (lie down flat) and "bai lan" (just let it go) as a silent form of protest against the constant pressure to perform and the expectations of society. Many young people are withdrawing from the urban performance society and are looking for alternative ways of life in the countryside or as so-called "paid children" with their parents. Our reporter won the trust of three young people, 24-year-old university graduate Tianqing, 30-year-old marketing manager Qianqian and 28-year-old delivery driver Erchui. The first two have been desperately looking for a new well-paid job for some time and the third is hoping for better times, someday... #china #xijinping #economiccrisis Video available until 04/11/2027 Link to the media library: https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/121076-... Subscribe to ARTE's YouTube channel: / artede Follow us on social networks: Facebook: / arte.tv Twitter: / artede Instagram: / arte.tv