A new buzzword has taken China’s internet by storm: neijuan. Translated as “involution”, it encapsulates the growing sentiment among Chinese millennials and Gen Z that no matter how hard they work, meaningful progress remains out of reach in an increasingly competitive and slowing economy.
The term went viral in 2020 after a Tsinghua University student was filmed riding his bicycle with a laptop propped open on the handlebars, desperately trying to multitask. Crowned as “Tsinghua’s involuted king”, he became a meme representing the intense pressure and diminishing returns of China’s social rat race.
The Origins of Neijuan
While neijuan has academic roots, it exploded in popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic as many Chinese felt physically and economically trapped. The characters nei and juan literally mean “rolling inwards” – a society stuck in a loop, unable to evolve no matter how hard it tries.
This sentiment is particularly acute among Chinese youth. The unemployment rate for urban 16-24 year-olds hit a record 21.3% in June 2023 before the data was revised. Many feel the opportunities available to their parents’ generation no longer exist, and that working hard is no longer a guarantee of success.
Dwindling Opportunities
Despite being more educated than any previous generation, many Chinese graduates struggle to find jobs in profitable sectors. The problem was exacerbated by the government’s “double reduction” policy in 2021, which banned for-profit tutoring and torpedoed a major source of employment.
One study suggested that 10 million people lost their jobs as a result of the double reduction policy.
The hyper-competitive tech industry, once a beacon of opportunity, has also been hit hard. Overproduction and sanctions from Western markets have led to price wars and dwindling profitability in sectors like solar, electric vehicles, and batteries – the very industries China is betting on for future growth.
A Worried Government
China’s leaders are clearly concerned about neijuan taking hold in the national psyche. At the annual Central Economic Work Conference in December, which sets the country’s economic agenda, policymakers pledged to “rectify ‘involutionary’ competition.” Premier Li Qiang also warned against “spiralling ‘involution'” in the global economy at Davos.
The government is investing heavily in what it calls “new quality productive forces”, aiming to lead in hi-tech manufacturing. But the challenges of slowing growth, unemployment, overproduction, and geopolitical headwinds remain daunting.
A Generational Malaise
For many young Chinese, neijuan reflects a broader disillusionment and sense that the implicit social contract – work hard and prosper – is breaking down. Other viral terms like tangping (“lying flat”) and runxue (“run philosophy”, the desire to emigrate) capture a similar malaise.
As China grapples with a falling birth rate, a strained social safety net, and increasing geopolitical isolation, the spectre of an involuted society looms large. Rectifying “involutionary competition” will require not just economic reforms, but a renewed sense of hope and opportunity for China’s youth.
Neijuan may have started as a meme, but it has become a mirror reflecting the deep anxieties and desires of a generation. How China addresses their concerns may well determine the country’s trajectory in the years to come.
