The Chinese Communist Party's emphasis on so-called "positive energy" is losing ground as posts venting economic anxiety over a difficult job market, low wages and falling home prices spread across Chinese social media, according to a new analysis.
The New York Times reported on the 7th that economic frustration and cynicism about the future have become everyday content in China's online spaces.
A video titled "How to Survive as a Homeless Person," which introduced tips such as how to sleep near a garbage bin in a half-joking, half-serious tone, drew more than 6 million views within two weeks of being posted on the Chinese video platform Bilibili. Users satirized their circumstances by calling it a "required course for young people in 2026." Various versions of homeless survival videos have appeared on Bilibili since late 2025.
Behind the trend are worsening youth employment and a slump in asset markets. Urban unemployment among Chinese aged 16 to 24 reached 17.9% in July, an 11-month high, according to foreign news reports. The boom in artificial intelligence has widened the divide with young people who have struck it rich through startups or command high salaries. With home values falling amid the property downturn, young people are also cutting back on dining out and shopping to build up cash. Posts sharing money-saving tips have flooded the lifestyle platform Xiaohongshu, and sentiment favoring withdrawal from competition altogether — following the earlier "tang ping," or lying flat, trend — is gaining momentum again. Posts by young Chinese about saving money already drew more than 130 million views in 2025.
The Chinese government has promoted content stressing economic development and social optimism, spreading images of success and growth through state media and government accounts. But as the gap with reality widens, that messaging has itself become a target of satire.
Last year the government began cracking down on pessimistic posts along the lines of "working hard is pointless" and "studying is pointless." It also carried out a special campaign targeting what it called the malicious stoking of negative emotions. In response, users have avoided direct political criticism and instead expressed discontent by flooding state media posts with ironic comments and emojis conveying the same sentiment.
The New York Times said that as complaints about personal hardship and frustration accumulate, a picture of Chinese society is taking shape online that differs from the party's official narrative of sustained development and prosperity.
