How AI Helps, Hurts China’s Job Market: Tang Min

A senior Chinese economist, Tang Min, argues that artificial intelligence is reshaping job tasks in China more than it is eliminating positions outright, while acknowledging that entry-level white-collar roles are shrinking as companies consolidate junior tasks once split among several hires into one AI-assisted employee.

China's youth unemployment rate for 16-24-year-olds hit 14.9% in June, roughly triple the national rate, with about 12.7 million university graduates entering the job market this year. Tang simultaneously cites an estimated shortage of more than five million workers skilled in AI-enabled roles, a paradox he attributes to educational systems adapting slower than the technology itself.

Tang points to Beijing's 'AI+ Action Plan' and calls for university-industry partnerships, warning against superficial collaborations and urging targeted support for non-elite universities and inland regions, the groups he says are most exposed.

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