China’s Looming Crises | CNBC Marathon

CNBC Marathon examines China’s crises, encompassing real estate collapse, population decline, and soaring urban youth unemployment. China is facing a growing list of problems — real estate, semiconductor bans and labor market gyrations. The world's second-most populous country also has a major youth unemployment problem. China's urban youth unemployment rate has risen to 21% as of May 2023, up from 15.4% two years earlier. China remains home to 1.4 billion people. But that number is getting smaller. The country's National Bureau of Statistics reported China's population slipped to 1.412 billion last year from 1.413 billion in 2021. The last time China saw negative population growth was in the 1960s. Many experts believe that China's one-child policy, introduced in the 1980s, is one of the main reasons for the population decline. China's real estate industry is collapsing in slow motion. Major developers like Evergrande and Country Garden remain stuck in spiraling debt problems. So-called 'ghost cities' dot the Chinese countryside. And now the International Monetary Fund just cut its global growth forecasts for 2024 and called out China's real estate crisis as a big reason why. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 00:48 Why Youth Unemployment Is Surging In China (Published September 2023) 12:32 What China's Shrinking Population Means For The Global Economy (Published March 2023) 21:21 Will China's Real Estate Crisis Hit The Global Economy? (Published October 2023) Produced by: Christian Nunley, Anuz Thapa Narration by: Jordan Smith Additional Editing by: Kevin Heinz, Brad Howard, Jack Hillyer Graphics by: Christina Locopo, Jason Reginato Production Support: Kate Sammer Supervising Producer: Jeff Morganteen Additional Footage: Getty Images Additional Sources: Getty Images, Reuters