As China enters the Year of the Horse in 2026, economic challenges loom large, especially for young university graduates facing a tough job market marked by layoffs, declining salaries, and youth unemployment above 15%. Despite official reports of steady 5% growth driven by high-tech industries and exports, many sectors struggle, and automation limits new job opportunities. This economic strain has sparked viral social media phrases like “cry cry horse,” symbolizing widespread disappointment, and “the kill line,” a metaphor for precarious livelihoods, reflecting growing anxieties about job security and social welfare. Graduates increasingly turn to gig economy jobs, such as delivery driving, as traditional career paths become inaccessible, while many adopt a resigned attitude known as “lying flat,” giving up ambitions amid harsh work expectations like the “996” schedule.

The economic malaise signals a fracturing of the social contract that once underpinned the Communist Party’s legitimacy, which relied on economic progress to offset political restrictions. Anthropologists note a generation questioning the meaning of a “good life” amid stagnation and inequality. The concept of “neijuan” or economic involution captures a vicious cycle where increased work leads to deflation and diminishing returns, trapping workers in hardship despite China’s industrial prowess. While no immediate social upheaval is expected, the mood is one of quiet disillusionment. Amid this, a rare success story emerged from the viral “cry cry horse” toy, whose upside-down smile inadvertently captured the zeitgeist and made its creator wealthy, symbolizing unexpected fortunes in uncertain times.