| Welcome to Next China. Each week, we take you inside the economic giant. If you haven't received this newsletter directly, you can subscribe here. This week, we explore why some Chinese bankers are having to give back their bonuses, dissect Beijing's move to raise the retirement age, and look at what's going viral behind the Great Firewall. China's weakening private sector has put a lot at stake for a generation of its best-paid workers. As President Xi Jinping reshapes the world's second-largest economy, industries such as finance, consumer tech and property — key drivers of growth for much of this century — are now out of favor. Instead, resources are funneled toward endeavors such as electric vehicles and chip production. "High quality" growth is the new mantra, not "high speed." On the ground, the picture is bleak for millions of people in sectors now cast adrift. Middle-aged people in these industries are facing the brunt of the burden.  A pedestrian on a footbridge in front of the Oriental Pearl Tower in Pudong's Lujiazui Financial District at night in Shanghai, China. Photographer: Raul Ariano/Bloomberg With threats like job losses, salary cuts (or even clawbacks) and missed mortgages — not to mention children and older folks who need supporting — a generation of people are dealing with a crisis in their personal lives. One person who used to work in real estate received only a few job offers after 70 interviews – then the offers were rescinded. Another who once sold almost 1 billion yuan ($141 million) of property for Country Garden is now peddling health supplements on social media. Some people in state-backed finance firms are facing up to 40% cuts in pay, while foreign companies retreating from the country are laying off staff. That's led to a wave of people dealing with issues related to mental health or their marriage. Some are turning to sleeping pills to cope with anxiety and depression. At the heart of the biggest changes in China in decades, there's also a clash of values between those in power and the generation of people who grew up in the reform era. They are accustomed to a China that integrated with Western societies in terms of retail, capital and values. The world they knew lauded individual ambition, the idea of "the entrepreneur" and wealth accumulation. But it's no longer glorious to get rich. All of this underscores a serious problem for China and the world. The sense of malaise among many of the country's best-educated workers risks exacerbating the gloom enveloping China's $18 trillion economy. To be fair, some of the challenges that China is experiencing stem from long-term structural problems — its aging population and its overreliance on debt that fueled an unsustainable property boom. Yet what's becoming clearer for these people is that what they thought of as a lifelong career and their status in an affluent middle class was a moment in a bubble. What We're Reading, Listening to and Watching: The dream of retirement for many Chinese people will just have to wait. Lawmakers have approved a plan to push back retirement by up to five years to help deal with China's shrinking workforce and support the pension system. Men will retire at 63 instead of 60, and women at 55 instead of 50 for ordinary workers (even later if they're managers). This is the first increase in the retirement age since 1978, when China was mainly an agrarian society under Deng Xiaoping, and the average life expectancy was just 66. Today, it's a manufacturing powerhouse with life expectancy reaching 78, similar to developed economies where people often retire well into their 60s.  People exercise at a park in Beijing, China. Photographer: Na Bian/Bloomberg Delaying retirement is also crucial for tackling the demographic challenges caused by the one-child policy, which resulted in a generation of single children now responsible for supporting a growing elderly population. Efforts to encourage more births haven't made much difference, with the fewest babies born last year. China's top legislative body also said that employees will need to contribute more to their pension accounts before they can start receiving benefits. With the pension pot running dry, the country is under pressure to build enough of a fund to support its rapidly growing elderly population. Even though the retirement age will be raised gradually over 15 years starting in January, many people are upset about having to work longer. They're worried about facing more competition for jobs, especially with the economy slowing down and future prospects looking less promising. Their dissatisfaction is clear on Chinese social media, where the news quickly became a top trending topic, racking up over half a billion views within a few hours. "Are you asking me, when I'm 60, to compete with young people for jobs?" a Weibo user said on the X-like social media platform.
Another one said: "When I was born they said there were too many. When I gave birth they said there were too few. When I wanted to work they said I was too old. And when I retire they say I'm too young.'' | 
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