Internet censors have taken down a speech by a top Chinese economist that went viral after he warned that a widespread
lack of opportunities for young people was dragging down growth, which he said had been overstated by several percentage points in recent years. Instead of embarking on promising careers and pouring their disposable income into the economy, young people in today’s China are tightening their belts and “turning off the lights and eating noodles,” Gao Shanwen, chief economist at SDIC Securities, told an investor conference in Shenzhen on Tuesday.
“Turning off the lights and eating noodles” is a catchphrase typically used to describe someone who is down on their luck after failed investments in the stock market, according to Baidupedia.
Gao’s warning, which had been widely shared on social media, was apparently considered sensitive enough to be removed from the “Economist Book Club” public account on WeChat, on which had posted the speech in full.
