Why are young Chinese escaping to the countryside?

CGTN Europe

With China’s rapid economic development over the last decades, young people often flee to booming coastal cities in pursuit of better job opportunities and living conditions.   But  there is a new trend right now - the younger generation are packing up and moving back to the countryside. Why are so many young Chinese people giving up the City’s financial promise to toil in the fields back home?   #ChinaExplained #farmer #livestream #ecommerce #GenZ

Transcript

00:00 An interesting phenomenon is taking place in China right now.

00:07 More and more young people are leaving cities and moving back to the countryside.

00:13 As China enters the world stage as one of the most advanced industrial and modern societies,

00:18 why are so many young Chinese people giving up the financial promise of cities to toil

00:24 in the fields back home?

00:25 For about 4,000 years, agriculture has played a key role in China's economy.

00:36 And for millennia, Chinese cultivation practices have led the world while ancient Chinese literature,

00:42 art, and poetry conjures the beauty of the Chinese rural lifestyle.

00:48 And the romance with nature has never left the Chinese psyche.

00:53 From the balconies of their city flats to the gardens of their adoptive land, you will

00:58 find Chinese people growing vegetables even in space.

01:04 Since the 1980s, people in China have flocked to cities for work.

01:08 And China embarked on the most rapid urban migration ever seen.

01:12 Now 64% of Chinese people live in cities.

01:17 The older generation sought bright lives and financial promise of cities.

01:22 But their children are not convinced so.

01:25 How has the younger generation changed?

01:28 Younger Chinese aspirations and attitudes towards work are changing.

01:32 Millennials and gen z say they no longer want to live to work, but work to live.

01:38 Many of them are prioritizing flexibility and work-life balance over financial reward.

01:44 The vast Chinese countryside offers them an affordable alternative to traditional debt-bound

01:49 roles.

01:51 Some of them are being inspired by people like rural lifestyle vlogger Li Ziqi, who

01:56 has got the world's attention by portraying the ideal rural lifestyle, civilized, peaceful,

02:03 and poetic.

02:05 Another huge push factor has been cost of living as the pandemic cast a shadow over

02:11 urban employment.

02:13 Faced with uncertainties, the appeal of big cities like Beijing and Shanghai is fading

02:19 for young people.

02:21 I long for a life where I don't have to work overtime and can see the sunset on time.

02:26 I also bought a small rental apartment.

02:28 After two years of thinking, I finally found the right direction, which is to return to

02:33 the city.

02:34 In the last decade, the number of migrant workers under the age of 30 living far away

02:41 from their homes have almost halved, and over 12 million young Chinese people chose to return

02:47 to their homes to start businesses.

02:49 And there are practical reasons that make rural life more attractive.

02:55 So how has rural China changed?

02:58 China's sustained economic growth, coupled with wealth redistribution through the government's

03:03 rural revitalization policies, have massively improved rural life.

03:09 Digitalization has arrived in rural China, and internet use has doubled in a decade,

03:15 with 60% of rural residents active online in 2023.

03:20 All these changes are essential to bring the young Chinese back to the land, and they intend

03:25 to leave their marks in rural areas.

03:28 How is Gen Z changing the countryside?

03:40 New farmers are embracing the internet enthusiastically.

03:44 Using live streams, they provide a window into growing practices and processes to give

03:50 consumers and buyers across China a missing connection with the food that they eat.

03:56 Using e-commerce giants like Alibaba and JD.com, the world's largest rural e-commerce network,

04:04 they market directly to consumers.

04:07 When these young entrepreneurs choosing to relocate are not just farmers, they're working

04:12 tourism, open up B&Bs, rejuvenating heritage crafts, and renovating ancient villages.

04:20 Is rural migration a sustainable move or a blip caused by an economic downturn?

04:26 Will the attitudes of Gen Z reshape China, giving people the choice of a rural or urban

04:32 lifestyle?

04:33 I guess the answer resides in the life choices of their own children.

04:38 [MUSIC PLAYING]

04:45 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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