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China society

China society
Latest news, features and opinion on all aspects of society in China, including crime, education, health, culture, technology and tourism, and the impact of the one-child policy, an ageing population and mass internal migration on the country and its people.
Elderly people relax at a park in Fuyang in China’s Anhui province on October 9. Photo: CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images
China's ageing population

Editorial | Silver lining in China’s ageing population shouldn’t be overlooked

Increase in life expectancy affirms Beijing’s commitment to boosting healthcare standards and presents economic opportunities.

Trending in China

China wife of gay husband contests estate against his lover, parents after man’s death

China consumption

Pursuit of hoppiness: how China’s cash-conscious drinkers embraced craft beers

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Women and gender

Being Chinese | Why Chinese women like me are done being quiet and ‘appropriate’

Chinese women are praised for gentleness. Our tone must please; our anger must be graceful. But a new generation is speaking out.

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Young women go through etiquette training at a vocational school in Beijing in 2007, ahead of the 2008 Olympics. Photo: Reuters
Mainland China

Opinion | Elite success stories are cold comfort for disillusioned young workers

The backlash over a tycoon’s letter to overburdened staff during his trip to Antarctica reveals a fissure beyond a generational divide.

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China jobs

Youth unfulfilled: job opportunities in China’s senior-care sector go untapped

Amid booming opportunities in the care economy as China’s population gets older, new graduates express concerns over low wages and unfamiliarity with the field.

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China travel

Snowcapped prosperity: China’s winter sports market glides upwards

Growing participation and government support are fuelling innovation in equipment, expanding domestic resorts, and creating new jobs in China’s ice and snow economy.

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Team China freestyle skier Wang Xindi trains in Arxan, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, on November 6. Photo: Xinhua
China jobs

‘Unpredictable risks’: China to see record graduates next year amid jobs crunch

Employment pressures facing graduates will reach unprecedented levels over next decade, top economist warns.

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US-China relations

Hasan Piker’s China tour draws fire after viral Tiananmen police encounter

Critics say Piker’s praise for China and on-camera run-in highlight risks for Western creators in a sensitive media environment.

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China’s fourth plenum

Opinion | 15th five-year plan charts a course for China’s modernisation

By building on past successes and shoring up areas of weakness, China can lay firm foundations to achieve socialist modernisation.

Illustration: Craig Stephens
China consumption

800 million: how a new target indicates a shift in China’s economic strategy

China projects it will have 800 million people living on middle incomes in 10 years, as it pledges to ‘invest more in people’.

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Shoppers walk the streets in Beijing. China projects its middle-income population will reach 800 million within the next 10 years. Photo: EPA-EFE
China jobs

PhD for landfill supervisor raises a stink over credential excess in China

Job listing raises a stink, stokes debate over credential excess and reflects how hard it can be to find work as pressure is heaped on jobseekers.

China consumption

Open Questions | Chinese economist Lu Feng on why the time is ripe for a consumption rebalance

Peking University professor says China’s next five-year plan could provide the necessary momentum to shift more public resources to households.

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Internet

Are China’s stars leading fans to be more nationalist – or the other way round?

Study out of the US and Britain looks at how nationalism flows and influences others on Chinese social media.

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Researchers from universities in the US and Britain used “vector autoregression” to assess how Chinese celebrities and fans influence each other through their social media posts, specifically on Weibo, over time. Photo: AFP
Open Questions series

Open Questions | China’s weak consumption and how economist Lu Feng would fix it

With 15th five-year plan promoting consumption, Peking University expert spells out imbalances and contradictions in Chinese economy and ways to resolve them.

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Illustration: Henry Wong
China jobs

Fair wages: China’s young jobseekers take their résumés to trade expos

With unemployment high among China’s recent graduates, some are turning the country’s enormous trade fairs into networking opportunities.

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US-China relations

Opinion | How Russia factors into the Trump-Xi summit outcome

A limited detente with the US helps China safeguard its domestic policy goals and hedge against potential instability in Russia.

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China's population

China’s population outlook gets even worse

The new five-year plan assumes a 0.2 per cent annual population decline as the government struggles to revive birth rates and prevent the increasing ageing of the country.

Photo: AFP
China's population

As more of China becomes ‘moderately aged’, how will its economy change?

Much of China has passed a key demographic threshold as the population ages, making adaptations necessary for policymakers and businesses.

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China's ageing population

State matchmaking and a PR blitz – is this the way to boost China’s birth rate?

The dramatic approach adopted by one city is attracting nationwide attention, but critics warn more fundamental policy changes are needed.

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China's population

Chinese couples crowd the aisle as new policies lead to marriage bounce

Incentives for Chinese couples to wed appear to be bearing fruit, a piece of positive news as the country’s population shrinks and ages.

Couples take part in a mass wedding ceremony in China’s central Anhui province. Photo: Xinhua
Science

Database of younger scientists’ deaths triggers heated debate in China

The list fuels concerns about the pressures researchers face, but critics warn it may not provide an accurate picture.

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Two years after returning to her homeland from the United States, where she built a promising academic career, rising oceanography star Dong Sijia died at the age of 33. Photo: Handout
Women and gender

‘New women but no new men’: feminist evolution unfinished in China, scholar says

Wang Zheng says many women in China may have redefined their roles but, as with much social progress, there have been setbacks.

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Open Questions series

Open Questions | Michael Sandel on Trump’s rise, meritocracy’s downsides

Philosopher on US president’s politics of humiliation, inequality, humanities in peril and his wish for Chinese and Americans to learn from each other.

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China jobs

China’s civil service exam sees record-breaking applicant pool after age range expansion

Tough job market, wider age thresholds create China's largest candidate cohort for public sector positions, treasured for their stability.

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Examinees preparing to enter a venue for China’s national civil servant exam on November 26, 2023. Photo: China News Service via Getty Images
From our archives

On This Day | In 2015, China announces end to one-child policy – from the SCMP archive

Ten years ago, Chinese officials revealed they were ending the controversial one-child policy in a bid to reverse slowing population growth.

A man holds a baby on a path outside a children’s hospital in Beijing on October 30, 2015. Photo: AFP
China's economic recovery

‘Unforgivable’: Chinese county still living in shadow of wild spending binge

In the 2010s, Dushan splashed billions on high-rises and a fake Big Ben. Today, the buildings are mostly empty – but the debts remain.

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Mainland China

When mines run dry: why some Chinese cities are racing to reinvent themselves

Once China’s answer to Pittsburgh, steel hub Panzhihua faces same challenge as other old industrial cities: how to avoid ‘rust belt’ decline.

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