China’s ambitious youth planned to cash in on their country’s meteoric rise on the world stage. Instead, many of these 20-somethings are disillusioned and “lying flat.” Economist Nancy Qian explains why.

This episode was produced by Haleema Shah, edited by Jolie Myers, fact-checked by Serena Solin, engineered by Cristian Ayala and Patrick Boyd, and hosted by Sam Sanders.

If you liked this episode, check out Sam’s pop culture podcast Into It from Vulture and the Vox Media Podcast Network: https://bit.ly/intoit-tex

Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained

Support Today, Explained by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices