The Guardian-What is neijuan and why is China worried about it
December 24, 2024 4 min 665 words
西方媒体的报道常常充斥着对中国的偏见，他们喜欢用放大镜去观察中国，以渲染中国的负面问题。这篇报道的主题是“内卷”，反映了中国年轻一代在经济放缓和社会压力下的一种心态。报道以一个骑自行车同时在笔记本电脑上工作的学生为例，解释了“内卷”在中国互联网上的流行。报道提到，中国领导人似乎也意识到了“内卷”的负面影响，在中央经济工作会议上提出要“纠正‘内卷’竞争”。报道还指出，“内卷”主要影响的是中国千禧一代和Z世代，他们面临经济困难和就业压力。 评论： 这篇报道有其真实性的一面，但也存在一定程度的偏见和过度渲染。内卷化确实是中国社会中一个客观存在的现象，反映了中国年轻一代在社会高速发展下的压力和焦虑，也体现了他们对社会现状的一种不满。但是，将“内卷”简单地等同于“社会无法进步”或“个人无法发展”是有失偏颇的。内卷化也反映了中国年轻一代的竞争意识和进取精神，他们不愿躺平，而是选择在激烈的竞争中不断提升自己。报道中提到的中国政府对“内卷”的担忧和重视，也体现了中国政府对社会问题的关注和积极应对。但是，将“内卷”简单地归咎于中国经济放缓和政府政策，是忽视了其他复杂因素的影响，比如全球经济形势的变化技术进步带来的产业调整等。此外，报道没有提到中国政府在促进就业改善社会保障等方面所做的努力，过于片面地强调了中国年轻一代的负面情绪。总的来说，这篇报道有其一定的参考价值，但存在一定程度的偏见，需要客观地看待和分析。
On the Chinese internet, the country’s current predicament – slowing economic growth, a falling birthrate, a meagre social safety net, increasing isolation on the world stage – is often expressed through buzzwords. There is tangping, or “lying flat”, a term used to describe the young generation of Chinese who are choosing to chill out rather than hustle in China’s high-pressure economy. There is runxue, or “run philosophy”, which refers to the determination of large numbers of people to emigrate. Recently, “revenge against society” attacks – random incidents of violence that have claimed dozens of lives – have sparked particular concern. And there is also neijuan, or “involution”, a term used to describe the feeling of diminishing returns in China’s social contract.
What is neijuan?
Neijuan is the Chinese term for “involution”, a concept from sociology that refers to a society that can no longer evolve, no matter how hard it tries. Applied to the individual, it means that no matter how hard someone works, progress is impossible.
In China, the term has been used to describe the feeling of diminishing returns in China’s economy. The characters “nei” and “juan” literally mean rolling inwards. After decades of rapid growth, many Chinese millennials and Gen Z people feel that the opportunities that were available to their parents no longer exist, and that working hard no longer offers guaranteed rewards.
Is China worried about neijuan?
Yes. China’s leaders have made it clear that they don’t want the idea of neijuan to catch on more than it already has. In December, top economic policymakers gathered for the annual Central Economic Work Conference, which sets the national economic agenda. According to the readout of the closed-door meeting, the cadres pledged to “rectify ‘involutionary’ competition”. And speaking at Davos in June, China’s premier, Li Qiang, warned against “spiralling ‘involution’” in the world economy.
Who is affected by it?
It’s primarily a concept among millennials and generation Z. The latter group has been hit hard by China’s economic difficulties. Youth unemployment hit a record 21.3% in June 2023, after which the government stopped publishing the data. It has since resumed publishing the statistics with a revised methodology. The latest data shows that the jobless rate for urban 16-24-year-olds is 17.1%.
Neijuan is also increasingly used to describe certain industries. China is investing massively in what it calls “new quality productive forces”, which means focusing more on research and manufacturing in certain hi-tech sectors, such as solar, electric vehicles and batteries. But overproduction, coupled with sanctions from the US and other western markets, has led to a price war in some sectors, hurting their profitability.
What are its origins?
Although the term has been around for decades in academic circles, it went viral on China’s internet in 2020. A student from Tsinghua University, one of China’s most elite schools, was filmed riding his bicycle with his laptop open, propped up on the handlebars. Soon he was crowned as “Tsinghua’s involuted king”, and a meme was born.
The meme of the involuted king came to represent the perhaps pointlessly intense pressure of China’s rat race, and the impossibility of catching a break. During the Covid-19 pandemic, many people felt physically as well as economically trapped.
The term was particularly popular in China’s hyper-competitive tech industry. Despite a workforce that is more educated than any previous generation, many graduates have found it difficult to find jobs in profitable sectors. This became even more of a problem when the Chinese government announced its “double reduction” policy in 2021. Designed to ease the pressure on school students, the policy banned for-profit online and offline tutoring, torpedoing a sector that had previously been a major employer of young graduates. One study suggested that 10 million people lost their jobs as a result of the policy.