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 and rode globalization to lift the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions. But it’s now being hit by a double whammy: an export base that has come under growing pressure from a flood of cheap goods from China, unquestionably the dominant power in the region, and U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war.
It’s frustrating a generation already struggling because of stagnant wages and soaring living costs. They’re having to face the reality that the manufacturing jobs that powered prosperity for their parents are becoming harder to find, even as the white-collar ladder is increasingly crowded for university graduates, too.
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