Beijing is broken! People are counting every penny to survive

Beijing's latest consumption data continues to look bad, with total retail sales of consumer goods in March down nearly 10% year-on-year. Beijing dissidents revealed that even the stability maintenance funds, which the Chinese government considers the primary priority, have shrunk. On April 18, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics announced the total retail sales of consumer goods in March, which fell 9.9% year-on-year and 3.3% from January to March. According to the latest data released by the Beijing Statistics Bureau, compared with the same period last year, catering revenue in March decreased by 3.1% year-on-year, and catering revenue from January to March decreased by 3.8% year-on-year. Commodity retail sales in March decreased by 10.6%, and commodity retail sales from January to March decreased by 3.2% year-on-year. Mr. Qian, a Beijing resident, told Radio Free Asia that many shops and restaurants have closed down, leaving only takeout shops with relatively good business. Beijing used to be crowded with people but now basically many of them are closed and out of business. It's deserted and there are too many people looking for tenants. The shopping streets are deserted and the people are calculating their lives. Mr. Qian described his life as calculating now. He doesn't buy anything if he can help it and his expenses have been halved. At least I have saved half. I don't buy anything extravagant. Now I just need to fill my stomach and don't consider other things. I used to go to restaurants occasionally and my family would spend money there. But now I basically don't go there. I cook by myself, which is definitely cheaper than eating out. Mr. Qian, a Beijing resident, also told Radio Free Asia that many shops in Beijing have indeed closed down, some of which are due to excessive government intervention. Since Cai Qi became the party secretary and started to clean up the low-end population, many street snacks such as toast, sausage and cold noodles, which supplied the most grassroots workers, have gradually been cleared away. Now that the consumption capacity is insufficient, many restaurants are not patronized and it is estimated that they will not last long. Mr. Qian also mentioned that Beijing's consumption boom has been declining in recent years, which is related to the government's policy errors, including the cleanup of the low-end population, the COVID-19 pandemic, long-term lockdowns, etc. Many people have died in recent years and many companies have withdrawn their capital. Stores have closed down, there have been layoffs and salary cuts, and the unemployed have returned to their hometowns. The resident population in Beijing has dropped sharply and the number of people with money to spend has greatly decreased. There are almost no people in shopping malls and many catering businesses have indeed collapsed. There are no people on the streets that used to be popular in Beijing and Shanghai. In the data released by the Statistics Bureau, the communication equipment category fell the most by 38.2 percent, followed by the cultural and office supplies category, which fell by 22.6 percent. The automobile category category fell by 20.2 percent. The sports and entertainment products category fell by 17.6 percent. The petroleum and products category daily necessities and cosmetics fell by 14.6 percent, 13 percent, and 10.9 percent, respectively. The gold, silver, and jewelry category is one of the few that saw positive growth, with an increase of 28.5 percent, the highest. The grain, oil, and food category rose slightly by one percent. Dissident Ji Feng, who lives in Beijing, told Radio Free Asia that he recently took a friend's car back to Beijing. He drove for half a month and visited seven or eight places along the way. The economy was bad all the way. He did not meet anyone who said that this year was better than last year, not a single one. The money his friend earned from making Mu Tai liquor that year was also trapped in the stock market. Ji Feng, who used to live in Songzhuang, said that at least a hundred painters left Songzhuang this year. Artists could not sell their paintings. Businesses went bankrupt, and they moved to cheaper houses in the suburbs. The economy has been declining. I would rather keep money in the bank than spend it, treat people, or go to restaurants. Ji Feng also said, in Beijing, only the old chain stores with good quality and low prices are doing well, such as Dayali and Jin Xiaoxiao northeastern home-cooked dishes. In the past, you had to wait in line for one or two hours, but now you can get a seat anytime. It used to be troublesome to cook at home, but now you don't have money to eat out, and people don't treat others to dinner. Income has dropped sharply, and even if there is a little money, people would rather keep it in the bank for fear that the economy will deteriorate again. This is why China's economy declined and consumption power declined last year, but the deposits of the people across the country increased, because medical care, education, and pensions are not guaranteed. The Chinese government has shown a strong response to Trump's reciprocal tariff policy, but Ji Feng observes that the domestic economy is not as confident as the authorities claim. Ji Feng said, there is no retaliatory rebound, but retaliation has come. Basically, half of foreign trade has collapsed. If Trump's reciprocal tariffs are imposed and China and the United States decouple, almost 70-80% will be out of business. Ji Feng mentioned that when former Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan encountered the Sino-US trade war in 2018, he blurted out that Chinese people can live for a year by eating grass. In the future, we will tighten our belts. I feel that the party and the country will launch political movements. Only political movements can divert these things and prevent everyone from making trouble. This is a common method. Dissident. The government owes money for maintenance of stability, and the national security will advance it first. Ji Feng revealed that even the maintenance of stability has shrunk. Government civil servants are not allowed to eat and drink lavishly. This line has been cut due to financial constraints. Look at my national security. Now reimbursement has become a problem. Now they are all like this. They have to advance the money themselves. After the advance, it sometimes takes half a year to reimburse, and they are unwilling to do so. In the past, they could borrow money first and then get reimbursed, but now they are not allowed to borrow money. Ji Feng mentioned that he used to be invited to dinner by the national security police at any time and taken on a trip on sensitive days. The national security used to borrow money first, but now they have to advance it themselves and they don't know when they can be reimbursed. For example, the national security once advanced 1,500 yuan to repair his computer and replace the battery, and it has been almost a year, and it has not been reimbursed yet. Ji Feng also said that in the past, the national security said they would come to Beijing and could travel for 10 days or half a month. Now they are in a hurry and leave in two or three days. They must first ask for permission and report to the higher authorities before they can go. The reimbursement for forced travel is 500 yuan per day for accommodation in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, 350 yuan per day in some provincial capitals, and 250 yuan per night in some places. Ji Feng said that based on the government's fiscal revenue announced last year, Shanghai was one of the few profitable ones, and the finances of other provinces and cities were mostly in deficit. Real estate can't be sold. Land can't be sold. Stocks have fallen. Cars are now a problem. Orders are going wrong. Dumped goods can't be sold. Restaurants can't run. People are tightening their belts to live a hard life. It's the common people who are living a hard life, not the officials. They consume as usual, but they are a very small minority. They can't support the entire restaurant industry. They can only support a few stores. X platform, Teacher Li is not your teacher, released a video showing that most of the restaurants in the Beijing CBD World Trade Center, from the catering industry in the basement to the clothing and brand stores on the first and second floors, have pulled down their iron doors or are under renovation and idle. The videographer said, it was very lively before the epidemic, but now there is no one. Many shops have been empty for a long time, and no one rents them. The whole floor is like swatting flies. Swatting flies, business is slow, and the clerks have nothing to do. Most shops are closed, and there are no people. Another video on the platform quoted Mr. Zhang, who runs a noodle shop in Beijing, saying that a large number of restaurants in Beijing have closed down in the past two years, leaving too many tenants. This year, there are too many people and too little work all over the country, and many people come to Beijing to find shops. A friend looked at more than a dozen shops in one day, but the salary was too high and he couldn't afford to hire people. He also has nearly 20 relatives and friends around him who have no work to do, and those who open shops lose money.