Jobless youth vanish from China’s official data Censorship of bad news, already stricter under Xi Jinping than his predecessors, has worsened as China’s economic recovery from the “zero-Covid” era proves much weaker than Beijing hoped. Xi and his team seek to pump up public confidence at home by withholding negative economic information, but end up increasing anxiety abroad. The prime example came last month. The National Bureau of Statistics temporarily suspended publishing youth joblessness data, with no timeline for resumption. The youth unemployment rate, which covers urban 16-24 year olds, hit another record high in June (21.3%). It was expected to worsen in July. But no new figure emerged, because Beijing chose this summer, with a record number of college graduates entering the job market, to revise the method of calculating unemployment among young people. “The economy and society are constantly developing and changing,” explained spokesman Fu Linghui. “Statistical work…

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What to expect from the rest of the “Two Sessions” (March 4-13) Who forgot to stop the smog? For such a choreographed show as China’s brief legislative session, Beijing’s air quality was surprisingly poor on Sunday. The annual meeting kicked off amid the worst air quality in at least a decade. But inside the Great Hall of the People, the Party-state had plenty of positive data to showcase and officials are plotting the recovery of the world’s second largest economy, freed from the shackles of zero-Covid controls. The “Two Sessions” now underway, from March 4 to 13, comprise the “parliament” (NPC) and the top advisory body (CPPCC). Despite their performative nature, and lack of opposition voices, this twin event always serves up plenty of interest. Especially this year, the start of another five-year political cycle, following October’s Party Congress, when Xi Jinping’s new economic team will be appointed. Li’s swansong…

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How Is the Year of the Rabbit Kicking Off? What pandemic? Beijing’s strict zero-Covid policy spelt disaster for too many Chinese firms. But not Henan Mine, a crane manufacturer in central China. To reward the staff who raked in sales revenue of $1.36bn in 2022, a 23% jump on 2021, the boss had $9m stacked on stage, in bundled banknotes, for their Lunar New Party on January 17. The cash mountain was handed out to 40 sales managers as year-end bonuses. The top performers needed colleagues’ help to haul their loot home. Video of the stunt went (predictably) viral, as intended: new orders are flooding in, so we must hire aggressively, and calls to our HR department haven’t stopped, publicity manager Feng Xiaobei told The Paper. For most companies, and the citizens who power them, the third year of the Covid era was brutal. China’s economic growth in 2022 slumped…

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