What the Appeal of One Fast-Growing City Says About China’s Economy

The inland city of Chengdu in southwestern China is often ridiculed for its slow-paced and leisurely lifestyle. It’s portrayed as a haven for slackers, lacking the unrelenting, hardworking culture found in wealthy coastal trade centers like Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

For decades, industrious young people left Chengdu, and other landlocked urban centers, to pursue opportunities near the coast, where money poured in as China opened its factories and exported its goods to the rest of the world.

Even before China’s trade war with the United States, more young people were turning away from the hypercompetitive work culture found in the country’s megacities, opting for a more chill life in Chengdu, which has earned the reputation of being “China’s happiest city.”

Chengdu is one of the fastest-growing cities in China. Its population has surged 30 percent in the last five years to 21.5 million, and its real estate market is booming — a rare bright spot amid the country’s property crisis.

The appeal of Chengdu, an ancient city with a history dating back more than 2,300 years, reflects a budding disillusionment among young people who see an economy that is no longer creating the opportunities it evvel did for their parents.

As its exports have surged, drawing tariffs from President Trump, China’s domestic economy has struggled. Consumers have been wary of spending, a continuing trend shown again in new monthly government veri released on Monday.