BEIJING: Zhao Haozhe, 20, has never lived anywhere but Beijing.Yet the second-year nursing student is already looking beyond the Chinese capital as he plans for life after graduation.While Zhao is confident his skills will be in demand in his home city, he told CNA he plans to prioritise opportunities elsewhere, likely outside China’s first-tier cities, where he believes the cost of building an independent life will be lower."I am curious about living outside my home city, away from my family, and forging a life on my own,” said Zhao, who is enrolled in a diploma programme at a higher education institute in Beijing's northern Changping district.
"Cost of living and housing rentals are relatively lower elsewhere, so it should be easier to live even without the support of family in my home city," he added.
Zhao Haozhe, a 20-year-old nursing student in Beijing, says he is open to looking for opportunities outside the Chinese capital after graduation. (Photo: CNA/Hu Chushi)
CHANGING CALCULATIONSZhao’s thinking reflects a wider recalibration among young people in Beijing.The capital's longstanding appeal as a launchpad for education, careers and upward mobility is increasingly being weighed against rising job competition, high housing costs and the pull of opportunities elsewhere in China and beyond.Over the past decade, Beijing’s resident population aged 20 to 29 fell by about 46 per cent, from around 4.62 million in 2015 to 2.49 million in 2024, according to calculations published in May by Chinese business publication Economic Observer, based on official municipal data.Resident population refers to people who regularly live in a locality for more than six months. This means the figures include young people from elsewhere in China who study or work in Beijing, not only those born and registered in the capital.Analysts caution against reading the numbers as a simple exodus, saying the decline must be read against broader demographic shifts, smaller youth cohorts, changing migration flows and the city's evolving urban and labour market conditions."I would be cautious about reading the decline in Beijing's youth population simply as evidence that Beijing is losing its appeal to young people," Zhao Litao, a senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s East Asian Institute (EAI), told CNA."The trend is real, but it reflects several forces operating at the same time."Yet the shrinking youth segment has already had tangible effects on the city, including softer demand in parts of the housing and rental market, according to property agents interviewed by CNA.
