Speaker: Zak Dychtwald, Founder and CEO, Young China Group

There is enormous discussion of China’s hundreds of millions of young people.  Consumer, competitor, collaborator, and most recently political participant – this young generation will define China’s role on the world stage in the decades to come.  They have grown up with enormous economic progress, relatively free everyday life, and the intensive focus of the world’s brands as the leading growth consumer. They have also faced relentless pressure—to get into the right school, to make money, to please their parents.

On the tail end of three years of COVID measures, three decades of a speeding economy is beginning to slow, job markets are stagnating, and some are choosing to “lie flat,” 躺平， essentially opting out of the rat race.

How resilient is the younger generation to a slowing economy that no longer offers instant opportunity? And do the White Paper protests suggest they want more, in terms of freedom and their relationship with the government?

Zak Dychtwald is the author of critically acclaimed Young China: How the Restless Generation Will Change Their Country and the World and founder of market insights firm, Young China Group. A fluent mandarin speaker with a decade in China, Dychtwald’s goal is to bring a people-first approach to China and understand how evolving youth identity drives economic and political outcomes. 

Also available on Zoom. Register at: https://harvard.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_8i5vdJ8UQ_SgrTBWyEog-g.