Zhou, who wanted to only be named with his surname, said: “As long as my income was decent, I didn’t complain…But now the economy is in bad shape, the leadership needs to show us some hope.”
Neil Thomas, a fellow on Chinese politics at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis, also told the outlet: “Everyone in society, and in government, seems to know there’s a problem.
“But there’s not been any decisions made about new approaches to solving those problems.”
Yun Sun, director of the China program at Washington-based think tank Stimson Center, also said that one issue with the leadership in China is “people cater to Xi’s preference for information and policies, which make objective assessment really difficult.”
Headlines this week have created another headache for the Chinese government as factory activity shrunk for a fifth month. Some foreign investors have also taken their money out of the country amid the ongoing crisis.
The country’s Ministry of Commerce met with foreign investors this week to get their feedback on the Chinese economy.
Jens Eskelund, president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China, said: “The impression that most of us were left with was there’s a genuine desire by MofCom to deliver on these measures.
“I think authorities were actually encouraging openness, and I think a number of participants were fairly direct in the comments they provided.”
