China’s manufacturing push is flooding Asia with exports—and choking Gen-Z jobs

China’s new economic model is putting the future of Asia’s Gen-Z at risk. The continent is home to some of the world’s most trade-oriented economies that rode globalization to lift the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions. But it’s now being hit by a double whammy: an export base that has come under pressure from a flood of cheap goods from China, unquestionably the region’s dominant power, and US President Donald Trump’s trade war.It is frustrating a generation already struggling with stagnant wages and soaring living costs.

They’re having to face the fact that the manufacturing jobs that powered prosperity for their parents are becoming scarce, while the white-collar ladder is increasingly crowded for graduates too. To sustain growth as domestic demand stalls and its property sector continues to act as a drag, China has doubled down on manufacturing. Its annual trade surplus is now over $1 trillion, despite a deepening plunge in shipments to the US.

Its exports are swamping neighbouring economies and stirring resentment abroad. French President Emmanuel Macron has warned that the EU may take strong measures if Beijing fails to address the imbalance. Southeast Asia and other countries in the Global South are absorbing a disproportionate share of Chinese exports.

The members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) are particularly vulnerable as their own low-cost markets are struggling to compete with the scale of China’s output. Import curbs and other measures have done little to stop the flow.Labour-intensive industries employing younger workers are hit hardest. Around 60 textile factories have closed in Indonesia since 2022, leading to the loss of an estimated 250,000 jobs.