Fair wages: China’s young jobseekers take their résumés to trade expos

As China’s youth continue to struggle to find jobs suited to their skills and background, some enterprising hopefuls are making use of an unorthodox channel to unearth new opportunities: the country’s sprawling trade fairs and expos.

“I go to these expos to explore and broaden my view of what’s out there, then I go through these companies’ websites to send out job applications,” said An Ran, who earned her bachelor’s degree in English in 2024. She was recently laid off by her first employer, a small foreign trade firm.

“The employment environment is horrible,” she added. “Many of the smaller companies are just screening young people, not really training them.”

Her complaints are a familiar refrain for the millions of young Chinese on the hunt for stable work. Their unemployment rate – consistently landing in double digits since 2019 – poses a headache for Beijing as it works to keep economic growth steady and restore public confidence.

The urban jobless rate among those aged 16 to 24 eased slightly to 17.7 per cent

in September after climbing to 18.9 per cent in August. The latter was a 20-month high

for the metric, underscoring the strain felt by young career aspirants as they attempt to acquire an entry-level position.