China's export boom hurts the job prospects of Asia’s Gen-Z

Manufacturing jobs are vanishing as cheap Chinese goods flood in

- KARISHMA VASWANI

Labour-intensive industries that employ younger workers are the hardest hit.

(AFP)

China’s new economic model is putting the future of Asia’s Gen-Z at risk.

The continent is home to some of the world’s most trade-oriented economies that rode globalization to lift the live and livelihoods of hundreds of millions. But it’s now being hit by a double whammy: an export base that has come under pressure from a flood of cheap goods from China, unquestionably the region’s dominant power, and US President Donald Trump’s trade war.

It is frustrating a generation already struggling with stagnant wages and soaring living costs. They are having to face the fact that the manufacturing jobs that powered prosperity for their parents are becoming scarce, while the white-collar ladder is increasingly crowded for graduates too.

To sustain growth as domestic demand stalls and its property sector continues to act as a drag, China has doubled down on manufacturing. Its annual trade surplus is now over $1 trillion, despite a deepening plunge in shipments to the US. Its exports are swamping neighbouring economies and stirring resentment abroad. French President Emmanuel Macron has warned that the EU may take strong measures if Beijing fails to address the imbalance.