The chinese dream is over—From Millionaires to Broke Overnight

Finally, I am done with my work. I am posting this video today not to win anyone's sympathy but because I can't hold it in any longer. My company failed, and I have too many disappointments in my life. Now I am in debt for 1.9 million. I dare not tell anyone, not even my parents, because they are old. I am afraid they will be sad and unable to bear it. Since I am not young anymore, I am already 40 years old. China's real estate crisis and economic downturn, coupled with the CCP's crackdown on private and foreign companies, have led to high unemployment, weak domestic demand, and the middle class returning to poverty. A survey shows that 80% of Chinese consumers believe they have experienced consumption downgrade. The phenomenon of consumption downgrade in first-tier cities is shocking. Whether in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, or Shenzhen, the former consumption boom has now subsided. Instead, people are tightening their belts and holding their wallets tightly, and many young people have begun to save money. Everyone has reduced consumption, and the once-bustling shopping malls have now become deserted. Today, we will talk about the topic of Chinese people's consumption downgrade. In the first half of last year, the total retail sales of social consumer goods in first-tier cities declined across the board. Shenzhen fell by 2.5%, Beijing by 6.3%, and Shanghai and Guangzhou were even worse, with drops of nearly 10%. Don't underestimate these numbers. Behind them, countless restaurant and retail owners are suffering, which means that the purchasing power of Chinese consumers has collapsed. Beijing's middle class, who have cars and houses and earn a million yuan a year, used to have no worries about food and drink, so why has their consumption level declined? The first and biggest reason is that Beijing's housing prices have dropped. A property originally worth 10 million yuan has now decreased to 7.5 million yuan, a direct loss of 2.5 million yuan. If you have to pay tens of thousands of yuan in mortgage loans every month, how can you dare to spend? In addition, Beijing's economy is struggling. Many large companies are cutting salaries and laying off employees. Many small businesses are also facing difficulties, especially in traditional industries like catering, where competition is fierce. We went to eat at a New World restaurant two days ago. It was a large restaurant of about 100 to 200 square meters. Yet at 12 noon, there were not many customers. How could it not be losing money? No one is making money now, so how can they afford to spend? We can see the extent of the local middle class consumption downgrade from what happened recently in Shanghai. First, the middle class used to frequent the fitness chain Wells, but Wells encountered a business crisis last year and a wave of closures broke out at the end of last year. Wells primarily targeted the middle and upper classes in Shanghai, with the middle class making up most of its customers. Over the past two years, the economy has been bad, and fewer and fewer people have taken private lessons. The biggest profit source disappeared, and Wells couldn't even pay the rent. Secondly, some high-end postpartum care centers in Shanghai have also begun to close. Why can't these centers stay afloat? Ordinary people can't afford them, and the middle class, who used to be the main consumers, no longer go. There are also fewer students in Shanghai's international schools than before. In the past, middle class families wanted their children to receive a better education and climb the social ladder, so they preferred sending them to international schools. But since last year, many middle class families have transferred their children to public schools because their incomes have dropped and the expensive tuition has become too much of a burden. As the Chinese mainland economy continues to decline, the unemployment rate is rising, especially among young people. The pressure of life is increasing, and many young people are starting to save money to cope with an uncertain future. On the Chinese mainland social platform Xiaohongshu, many young people share their experiences of saving on shopping expenses. Some Internet celebrities share tips on how to spend less. There have been more than 1.5 million posts on how to save money, with a total of 130 million views. Young people must learn to downgrade consumption. I used to have a monthly salary of 20,000 yuan, live a so-called refined life, drink a cup of coffee for 30 to 40 yuan a day, and go to restaurants and bars for entertainment and shopping from time to time. Moonlight Tribe and pre-consumption were synonymous with my previous life. I pursued temporary happiness and fell into the trap of consumerism. When I learned to downgrade consumption, I realized that one cup of coffee could buy two tails of pork ribs, and 100 yuan could buy so many snacks in the supermarket, enough for me to eat for a week. I didn't like shopping in supermarkets before. I thought it was too troublesome. It was more convenient to buy online and have items delivered to my door. But now I know that supermarket discount promotions are more cost-effective than the full discounts on some apps. Here you can get a Coke for 1 yuan, snacks for 1 yuan, and daily necessities for 1 yuan. In fact, downgrading consumption does not mean not consuming at all, but rather cutting out unnecessary expenses, ensuring quality of life while making more cost-effective choices. Chinese blogger Feng Ge posted a video stating that 2025 will be an even more difficult year for Chinese businesses and manufacturing factories. 2025 has just begun, and I have a strong feeling that this year may be even tougher than 2024, especially for businesses and manufacturing factories. Many companies might struggle to pay wages this year. I have a feeling that this situation will erupt by mid-year, around June. Why? Market deflation. The price war has hit you from behind. I saw on Douyin that the prices of some daily necessities are unimaginably low. A friend of mine who specializes in collecting surplus goods told me that his industry has been extremely busy recently. Busy since last year, in fact. Many companies have been selling off their inventory and production equipment at a discount, and there's just too much to handle. Given this situation, I believe this year will mark a peak period of struggle, so everyone should brace for a harsh winter. Running a factory is tough, and even the boss can't help but lose his temper. It's not easy being a boss now. How much do you need per day? You say I need a guarantor, but who do I ask? Who, should I ask you? Oh, at the beginning of 2025, factories in Guangdong are in such dire straits, it feels like a TV drama. Except even screenwriters wouldn't dare write something this tragic. As someone who has been in the manufacturing industry for over a decade, let me put it this way. Orders have disappeared, and customers are vanishing faster than a delivery rider. Those long-term strategic partnerships promised last year? This year, WeChat messages go unanswered, and phone calls aren't picked up. The factory next door, owned by Lao Wang, landed a major order, but the client demanded payment after delivery, with a three-year installment plan. My goodness, that's long enough for my grandson to be born. Compared to workers who have already entered factories, those still job-hunting in Guangdong, a major labor hub, are even more anxious. I still haven't found a job in Guangzhou, and my travel money is nearly gone. Food and accommodation are big problems, I'm on the verge of giving up. Looking for a job, but finding nowhere to work, nowhere to work, nothing to do, nothing at all. I brought cured meat with me to Guangdong, but I still couldn't find a job after finishing it. This is bad. In 2025, do you want to work like an ox or a horse? Now that the Chinese New Year is over, I've arrived in Guangzhou. Many people want to know if it will be easy to find a job in 2025. This morning, I'll take you to Guangzhou's temporary labor market for a look. Everyone is looking for a job, but I haven't seen any factories hiring. Seeing this, I'm sure most people are panicking. Now, it's not just factory workers struggling to find jobs. Even college graduates continue to face severe employment difficulties and low wages. The most frightening part is that every industry is in deep recession. And even scarier? Hundreds of thousands of college students are about to graduate, flooding the job market and rapidly increasing the number of unemployed. Amid this worsening economic crisis, many small business owners have finally reached their breaking point and gone bankrupt. I spent eight years building my pharmacy business, and now I'm finally losing money. In 2024, many people in my industry went bankrupt. I also shut down two of my own pharmacies. Now, I have only two stores left, and I don't know if they'll survive until 2025. With the pressure from family, life, and work, I feel like I've lost almost all my hair. Under CCP rule, people's livelihoods are deteriorating, and all industries are in decline. College graduates have become cheap labor, yet even so, middle-aged workers are still facing severe job market pressure. But the most pitiful are those in the lower class, who are willing to endure hardship but simply cannot find work. Society as a whole is engulfed in an atmosphere of despair. Despite this, the CCP continues to tighten its grip on stability maintenance, which only exacerbates social tensions. Once public anger ignites, the CCP will face the collapse of its tyranny. CCP enforces mandatory military registration amid fears of major upheaval. As the military registration season approaches, the Chinese government has been heavily promoting mandatory registration, stating that all 18-year-olds must complete the process, with warnings of severe consequences for noncompliance. This has sparked widespread speculation. Experts suggest that this push may not necessarily indicate preparation for war but rather stems from fears of potential large-scale social unrest, prompting the CCP to strengthen its control measures. The 2025 military registration will begin on January 1, 2025. According to China's military service law, male citizens who turn 18 by December 31 of that year are required to fulfill their military registration obligations as stipulated by law. Notably, what was previously a recommendation, should register, has now become mandatory, must register for military service upon turning 18. Propaganda videos titled The Nation Calls You to Register at 18 have been widely shared, while official platforms such as the Veterans Affairs Office's Weibo account have warned that failing to register could have serious repercussions, such as being barred from attending university or finding employment. Local governments have issued announcements emphasizing severe penalties for refusing to fulfill national defense obligations or evading military service. Noncompliance may result in disqualification from public service and state-owned enterprise recruitment, ineligibility to travel abroad, graduate, or enroll in higher education institutions, denial of essential services such as identity cards, household registration, driver's licenses, and bank loans, restrictions on purchasing flight or high-speed rail tickets, loss of access to social welfare benefits. Moreover, personal records will note the refusal to register, and this will be flagged in one's household registration information. Online comments reflect widespread skepticism. If it's such an honorable thing, why attach so many conditions? With the birth rate so low, will compulsory military service become inevitable in the future? This reveals something. Guess why they're doing this. Some netizens recalled the past when enlisting required connections and money. Back in college, I handled class registrations for military service. After registering, nothing happened. You wanted to join, but they didn't necessarily want you. It used to be voluntary, now it's mandatory. The population decline is severe. Zhang Hili, a retired Air Force veteran, said that the government's actions may be an attempt to create tension and justify stricter control over the public. If war were to break out, China's outdated equipment and human wave tactics would lead to devastating losses, Zhang said. He noted growing discontent within the military and broader society. Young people today are unwilling to endure hardship. Soldiers and officers alike are dissatisfied. They dream of a better life, but times are worsening. Zhang also criticized the government's focus on young men for military service while female soldiers largely serve privileged interests. In poor northern regions, joining the military is often seen as a way out. Wealthier areas in southern China are less inclined to enlist. Zhang referenced past tragedies, like the 2019 Sichuan wildfires where over 30 firefighters died. Quoting Nobel laureate M.O. Yan, he said, The fields are strewn with corpses, all sons of farmers. He warned young people against becoming pawns of the regime. Some sacrifices are meaningful, others are not. If you're invading others, you're just cannon fodder for a dictatorship. If the CCP attacks Taiwan, many of my friends will support Taiwan. Political commentator Lan Xu said that the increasingly strict military registration requirements indicate the government's growing reliance on its military to maintain control amid mounting societal and internal pressures. If Xi Jinping continues his leftward ideological shift, This might involve declaring a state of emergency, justifying military governance with external conflicts, such as provocations in the Taiwan Strait or assaults on offshore islands like Kinmen or Matsu. Lan predicted that such moves would require rapid military expansion and mobilization. Measures like reinstating collective supply systems and arming grassroots militia units are precursors to such preparations. Political analyst Tang Jingyuan echoed these sentiments, suggesting the registration drive may be a contingency for internal unrest rather than outright war. It's akin to a census, identifying individuals eligible for military service to prepare for potential emergencies, whether external conflicts or internal upheavals requiring large-scale stabilization forces, Tang explained. Tang highlighted the government's rhetoric about a once-in-a-century transformation, hinting at its anticipation of dramatic and possibly destabilizing events. On December 12, Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing reduced his stake in the Postal Savings Bank of China decreasing his ownership from 5.07% to 4.96%. This marks his first sale of the state-owned bank's shares this month, following four reductions in October, sparking discussions across mainland China. According to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, HKEX, website, Li Ka-shing, his son Victor Li Zarkoi, and the Li Ka-shing Canada Foundation sold 20.82 million PSBCH shares on December 12 at an average price of HK$4.5408 per share. Their stake dropped from 5.07% to 4.96%, generating approximately HK$94.54 million in cash. This is not the first time recently that Li and his son have reduced their holdings in PSBCH shares. Between October 14 and 30, the two sold PSBCH shares four times, lowering their stake from 9.03% to 5.97%. Based on the average sale price of those transactions, they realized about HK$733 million in cash. On October 30, CK Asset Holdings responded to the paper, stating that the recent reductions in PSBCH shares were part of routine financial operations by the Li Ka-shing Foundation and were unrelated to the operational development of PSBCH. Established in 1980, the Li Ka-shing Foundation primarily supports education and medical projects. Over the years, the foundation has invested over HK$30 billion in initiatives for education, and poverty alleviation, with 80% of the projects based in mainland China and Hong Kong. On September 28, 2016, PSBCH was officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. At the time, a spokesperson for the Cheung Kong Group revealed that Li Ka-shing, through his foundation and his eldest son Victor Li, held performance-linked notes equivalent to an 11.62% stake in PSBCH's eight shares. Based on the market value at the time, this stake was worth over HK$10 billion. The spokesperson emphasized that Li viewed the investment as a long-term one. Since PSBCH shares were listed, Li and Victor disclosed their first sale on September 29, 2022, when they sold 50,000 shares. They sold an additional 22.49 million shares on May 11, 2023. Notably, Li Ka-shing's real estate companies have drawn attention this year by offering significant discounts on properties. According to China Fund News, Li's last real estate project in Beijing, Imperial Jade Garden, opened for sale more than a year after obtaining its pre-sale permit. On October 26, the project offered 50 units at a discounted price of US$10,442 per square meter, down from the original listed price of nearly US$13,740 per square meter, resulting in a buying frenzy. Information from the BEAK platform shows that the new development's price is even lower than that of similar second-hand properties in the surrounding area. Please share your thoughts in the comments section below. 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