China's used its most important political meeting of the year to project economic strength to the world, as it attempts to jumpstart sluggish growth. But the economic malaise is hitting China's young population hard and leaving families who dreamed of homeownership out of pocket. East Asia correspondent Kathleen Calderwood reports from Beijing.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00 Beijing's iconic hutongs. Hundreds of years old, they are one of the few reminders of
00:07 China's past in the capital.
00:10 They're now a drawcard for tourists who want to shop and get a cheap meal, so we've come
00:15 to see how the economic downturn is affecting them.
00:19 Business is now very average. We're actually losing money.
00:25 The economy of our country is very good. It's increasing. It'll definitely increase this year.
00:31 This is what the government wants the world to see. Wealth and a thriving economy setting
00:36 a 5% growth target for the year. But the data suggests more rocky times are ahead.
00:43 Across China, the property sector has collapsed, international investors are bailing and the
00:48 post-COVID recovery has been slower than expected.
00:53 It's a political problem, but one that is increasingly hurting families who invested
00:58 in real estate. Millions of everyday Chinese people who thought they were doing the smart
01:03 thing have been left paying mortgages for homes that haven't been finished.
01:09 With fewer construction jobs around, China's vulnerable migrant workers are facing an increasingly
01:14 precarious future. While youth unemployment was so bad last year that the government temporarily
01:22 stopped reporting it after hitting a record high of 21% in June.
01:29 The employment environment is not that good. Beijing has its advantages because it's metropolitan.
01:34 Give more opportunity to the young people. I think we have a lot of flyers.
01:40 Something being felt across all walks of Chinese life.
01:43 For more UN videos visit: www.un.org/webcast
01:48 [BLANK_AUDIO]