The rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) across China is reshaping the country’s labour market, leaving some workers unemployed while others are scrambling to find ways to adapt to the technology.
For computer programmer Fei Zhaojun, 40, the threat became real after his boss asked whether AI could eventually replace human programmers. Two weeks later, Fei was among about 160 employees laid off from his Beijing workplace.
China has emerged as one of the countries at the forefront of AI adoption, helped by government policies encouraging businesses and individuals to incorporate AI and robotics into everyday activities. Economists, however, warn that the technology could also deepen employment pressures in the world’s second-largest economy.
Shujing He, a Beijing-based senior analyst at research and advisory firm Plenum, said anti-AI sentiment appeared relatively low in China, with many people viewing the technology positively or with curiosity. Workers who fear displacement are increasingly experimenting with AI-powered businesses and independent ventures.
Fei, who once doubted that AI could perform programming tasks effectively, now believes workers have little choice but to learn how to use it. During a career break, he has begun producing vlog-style videos about ordinary people’s lives, although he is not yet earning an income from the project.
The impact is also being felt in other professions. Part-time translator Du Qinchun has been helping train an AI translation model, which has temporarily created additional work for him. However, he said wages in the translation industry had fallen by more than half compared with previous years.
The growing use of AI has also affected education and training choices. Foreign-language programmes at Chinese universities have become less popular as AI-powered translation tools become more widespread.
According to market intelligence firm IDC, the proportion of Chinese industrial companies reporting the use of AI models and “agents” rose sharply to 47.5 per cent last year, compared with just 9.6 per cent in 2024.
AI and robotics are also moving into physical jobs. Humanoid robots have been deployed on a small scale to sort parcels at postal centres, while other machines are being tested for tasks such as directing traffic and preparing coffee. Delivery robots are likewise becoming more common, potentially putting pressure on the livelihoods of millions of food delivery workers.
China’s short-drama industry is another sector undergoing major changes. Generative AI is increasingly being used to create, produce and distribute content, while the number of live-action short and vertical video series for mobile phones reportedly dropped by around 75 per cent during the first quarter of this year compared with the same period last year.
Plenum analyst He said jobs centred on specialised tasks such as software development and multimedia production could face greater displacement because AI tools allow people without specialised training to perform some of the same work.
The International Labour Organization has also warned that women could face greater employment risks from AI because they are more likely to work in occupations suited to automation and remain underrepresented in science and technology.
AI Brings Both Risks And Opportunities
China’s government is actively promoting its “AI Plus” initiative and its five-year plan through 2030, with the aim of integrating AI across industries and strengthening the country’s position in its technological competition with the United States.
Zilan Qian, a research associate at the Oxford China Policy Lab, said China’s government-driven push could lead to AI spreading across different sectors more quickly than in some other countries.
The development comes as China’s economic growth slows, with weak consumer spending partly linked to concerns over job security. A prolonged downturn in the property market has also affected household wealth.
Economist Eswar Prasad of Cornell University said AI could increase productivity but may not necessarily create enough new jobs to offset those being lost.
China’s overall urban unemployment rate remains around 5 per cent, while unemployment among people aged 16 to 24, excluding students, is roughly three times higher. Major technology companies have also restructured or cut tens of thousands of jobs, with AI contributing to some of those changes.
However, some experts believe automation could eventually help address China’s shrinking workforce. The country’s rapidly ageing population means there will be fewer working-age people available to support retirees in the coming decades.
Xuenan Cao, a professor at San Francisco Bay University, estimated that by 2050 China could have fewer than two working-age adults supporting each retiree, compared with more than 2.5 in the United States. She said automation could therefore partly compensate for the shrinking workforce rather than simply threaten employment.
Workers Turn To AI To Stay Relevant
Some Chinese workers are already embracing AI as a way to create new career opportunities.
Wang Zhicheng, 32, previously used AI to brainstorm ideas and fact-check scripts while working for a company producing 3D educational videos and interactive exercises for children. After the company cut around half of its 13 scriptwriters, Wang resigned and began working independently on illustrated children’s books.
While AI has helped him save time, Wang said its output could still be repetitive, formulaic and inconsistent in detail. He believes humans remain responsible for deciding which ideas generated by AI are worth pursuing.
“It can be treated as a tool just like Word,” Wang said, stressing that people still make the final decisions.
Meanwhile, high school chemistry teacher Yang Zheng, 29, does not see AI as an immediate threat to his profession despite students increasingly using it for homework.
He said AI could benefit students by providing instant responses and allowing them to ask follow-up questions, although the technology still makes mistakes.
For workers across China, the rapid rise of AI is therefore creating a mixed picture — one in which some jobs may disappear, while new opportunities emerge for those willing to adapt to an increasingly automated economy.
