China's Youth: The Thornton Center Chinese Thinkers Series

A broad ranging and in-depth look at China's millennials
Prominent Chinese sociologist Li Chunling explores how China's youth will influence thecountry's future. Focusing on millennials¿those born between the early 1980s and themid-1990s¿the book examines the status, lifestyles, attitudes, values, and behaviors of this key segment of the country's population. Li's study presents a native Chinese perspective on the increasingly diverse generation that at some point will assume leadership of the country.
Among the key questions Li addresses are: How do Chinese millennials differ both from preceding generations in China and from their counterpartsaround the world? How can we assess current and future relations between Chinese millennials and the Chinese government? And, what are the factors or fault lines that have shaped intragenerational differences among China's young people?
The ascent of this unique age cohort has accompanied five historic and far-reaching developments. These include China's rapid economic rise, the adoption of the one-child family policy, the largest domestic rural-to-urban migration in Chinese history, the opening of extensive educational opportunities abroad, and the arrival of the digital era. Young Chinese citizens have developed a comprehensive understanding of the world much faster than previous generations; millennials see themselves not as extensions of the past, but rather as the innovators of the country's future.
Through expansive and in-depth empiricalresearch on Chinese millennials and younger age cohorts (people in their late teens and early 20s), Li's book illustrates how China's younger adults reflect the country's growing diversity and persistent inequality. The book also explores how their distinct characteristics and views will shape the country's trajectory. For the outside world, developing a betterunderstanding of this unique generation is an urgent task, since China now has more influence on the global economy and regional security than at any other point in modern history.