Read the storyPresident Xi Jinping’s move to reorient China’s economy from “high speed” to “high quality” growth has upended the lives of millions of ambitious Chinese professionals. As salary cuts, redundancies and pushback against affluent lifestyles become more common, a sense of malaise among the country’s best-educated workers risks exacerbating the gloom enveloping the world’s second-largest economy. “This signifies a dangerous undercurrent in the nation’s workforce,” said Christopher Marquis, Sinyi professor of Chinese management at the University of Cambridge. “These individuals were key drivers of China’s economic miracle, but their disillusionment could lead to a broader societal crisis as it challenges the Communist Party’s narrative of prosperity through hard work.” Read The Big Take. Listen to the Big Take Asia podcast. | 
