The country is not just facing record-high levels of youth unemployment - more than 20% of 16-24 year olds in urban areas at the latest count.
It is also facing growing discontent among many young people about the type of work they can find, often involving long hours, no overtime pay, and insecure contracts.
It is prompting some to opt out of the rat race altogether. And many experts think the current problems aren't just prompted by the global slowdown. They're structural.
Even the government's economic advisors think it may be time for a new economic plan if China is to avoid years of stagnation.
That change could slow and painful though. Will Xi Jinping and the country's other Communist Party leaders go for it?
Produced and presented by Ed Butler.
(Image: College students choose jobs at a job fair for 2023 graduates in Huai 'an City, East China's Jiangsu Province. 01/07/23. Photo credit: CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Image)