China: Land of Opportunities?

So China is booming. A lot. The luxury market is soon to become the largest in the world and they have more cash in stock then America and Europe combined. But is it a threat? The media likes to believe so. Especially with financial instability in the US and Europe we are still enduring for almost 5 years now, China is “the place to be now”. It’s something that brought me here like so many others and I’d still love to believe it. But being here for now more than 8 months in total, I start to see certain things a little bit differently.

For the past weeks – due research I had to do on different projects and more observing in the streets – it has become clear to me there’s a social ticking time bomb going on here I believe.

As everybody knows, there’s an enormous wealth gap between poor and rich in this country. Millions of self-made entrepreneurs and business men got to get a piece of the capitalist pie that started 25 years ago. But in a country with a population of more than one billion people, that’s “ok”. The majority still lives on the countryside and the ones that migrated to the city live in almost unbearable living conditions; right next to parked Rolls Royce. Where the majority is warming themselves up with some street food noodles on the sidewalk, the expats consume their favorite Western beer and scotch brands on imported price in the bar right in front of it. It’s a truth you will face once here and there’s nothing much you can do about it right now.

But … there’s more. The biggest threat I believe is the fact that millions of college students with good degrees can’t find any job right now. China has become the place where connections and looking white only guarantee you a job nowadays. Millions of young adults, of which their parents invested all their life saving for them to go to school, have to find jobs now as a guard or a waiter, making around 100rmb (12 euro’s) a day.

Sure, there are lots of people here not complaining having the same social and living situation. The only difference is that this starts to become the majority of educated, intelligent, assertive people. They speak English, have a degree in law, finance or engineering, are internet / mobile experts and are becoming more and more frustrated with the system. The ‘American Dream’ China has been selling its inhabitants for those past 25 years is nothing more to become than an illusion for so many of them. They live now completely outside the city (as living expenses are still going up) with sometimes 7 people in one room. They have access to the internet and actually have nothing else to do then being active on platforms

Besides that, within a few years there will be 24 million men that can’t find a woman to marry because of the enormous gender gap the one-child policy has been creating. 24 million!! I don’t want to put this into a Freudian context, but I am damn sure this on top will frustrate a lot of educated young guys even more. They see progress, wealth and an enjoyable lifestyle all around them; yet feel they have been fucked big-time by the system. They will feel betrayed. And despite the fact the Chinese government is still ruling this country with an iron fist, it’s well aware a social revolution by millions of young, intelligent, digital savvy people is one they can’t handle or strike down. They also watched the Arab Spring Revolution taking place.

Everybody is aware of the problem. The rich are fleeing the country, the government is slowly putting a stop on expats like me steeling jobs from locals and providing better social housings for college students who can’t find a job. But without a decent unemployment or pension system, things could turn really nasty here. And it’s people like me that could become the targeted enemy in this revolution.

There’s a lot to think about, when debating “China is taking over the world’. Sure their economy is still booming and doing a lot better than any other nation. But never forget the strongest force to take a nation down comes from the inside.