Foreign forces are using social media to spread the notion that young Chinese people should be “lying flat” and not working hard as they seek to undermine China’s development, the country’s top anti-espionage agency has warned.The Ministry of State Security cautioned that anti-China forces were trying to magnify social anxiety by continuously “promoting negative notions” that effort was futile and hard work made no gain.The intention was to “erode the spirit of perseverance among China’s youth and even undermine the foundational values of our society”, the ministry said on its official social media page on Tuesday.Foreign organisations had been found to have helped to fund anti-China media and think tanks to create a narrative that described people who worked hard in China as being exploited, it said, without naming the organisations concerned.These organisations had also helped influencers to produce videos advertising that “lying flat is justice” and “anti-overwork is equivalent to anti-exploitation”, the ministry added.Meanwhile, their home countries had been busy introducing bills to revitalise their economies and attract global talent, it said, again without specifying which these were.