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China’s Economy Is Leaving Behind Its Educated Young People
(Adapted essay from ‘The New China Playbook’).
Early this year, two striking statistics emerged from China: The country’s annual economic growth had slowed to just 3%, a low only seen twice in nearly 40 years, and its population had fallen for the first time since 1961. The two figures illuminate serious long-term challenges for Beijing, but a less-noticed statistic spotlights a more dramatic and immediate problem: China is failing to adequately employ its youngest, best-educated generation of workers.
PHOTO: JADE GAO/AFP/GETTY IMAGES