As China accelerates its transformation into a cutting-edge tech and services economy, the country’s youth is equally nimble to carve out novel jobs marked by digital, social-first, and hobby-driven needs for their generation. If livestream, short-video content, and social commerce were any indication, it’s clear that these burgeoning jobs will flourish into bigger and more sophisticated industries in the future, from China to the world. In 2023, the city of Shanghai alone amassed 437.1 billion yuan from live-streaming retail sales, accounting for 10.7 percent of the national total. Shanghai aims to raise that number to 600 billion yuan by 2026, with plans to establish 10 leading live-streaming platforms with international competitiveness.
