Source: The Wall Street Journal (paywall)
China's job market has become so saturated that 42% more young people are choosing AI-assisted solo entrepreneurship over traditional employment. These are practical escapes, not aspirational choices. AI tools have lowered the barrier to viable self-employment enough to compete with formal job hunting. At scale—7 million individuals—this is a mainstream career path, not a fringe phenomenon. The shift has immediate consequences for labor statistics, consumer spending patterns, and how China measures productivity outside formal employment.