北京——维维安·魏正在关闭她的生意。作为猎头工作了十多年后，她的工作已经枯竭。曾经支付魏高薪招聘数百名工程师的大型中国科技公司如今正在裁员，而不是招聘。
BEIJING—Vivian Wei is shutting down her business. After more than a decade as a headhunter, work has dried up. The big Chinese tech companies that once paid Wei to recruit engineers by the hundreds have been laying off employees instead.
46岁的魏估计，她的收入在过去几年里已经减半以上。最近，她和丈夫削减了非必需开支以节省资金。她以前会大肆购买护肤品，但现在改用更便宜的国产品牌。
Wei, 46, estimates that her income has more than halved in the past few years. Lately, she and her husband have cut down on nonessential spending to save money. She used to splurge on skin care products, but switched to a cheaper domestic brand.
她的一些邻居失去了工作，成为中国主要叫车平台滴滴的司机。魏现在最大的担忧是，她12岁的儿子长大后是否能找到工作。“我不知道未来会怎样，”魏说。
Some of her neighbors lost their jobs and have become drivers for DiDi, China’s main ride-hailing platform. Wei’s biggest concern now is whether her 12-year-old son will be able to get a job when he grows up. “I don’t know what the future holds,” Wei said.
对于中国各地的人们来说，经济担忧正在加剧。多年房地产低迷没有尽头，稳定工作变得越来越少见，尤其是对年轻人而言，许多人似乎正在囤积金钱，为未来可能更糟的时光做准备。
For people across China, economic worries are mounting. A multiyear real-estate slump has no end in sight, steady jobs are becoming rarer, especially for young people, and many people seem to be hoarding their money in preparation for worse times ahead.
这意味着中国必须向国外寻求经济增长，这又加剧了与贸易伙伴的紧张关系。9月份，中国出口激增36%，得益于电动汽车和机械等商品需求的激增，中国有望超过去年创纪录的1.2万亿美元贸易顺差。
That means China has to look abroad for economic growth, which is in turn raising tensions with trading partners. Exports surged 36% in September, putting China on track to surpass last year’s record $1.2 trillion trade surplus, thanks to surging demand for goods like electric vehicles and machinery.
出口一直是中国今年经济增长的主要动力。根据周一发布的官方数据，中国第三季度国内生产总值同比增长4.5%，高于第二季度的4.3%，符合北京今年4.5%至5%增长目标。
Exports have driven much of China’s economic growth this year. China’s gross domestic product expanded 4.5% in the third quarter compared with the same period last year, according to official data released Monday, up from the second quarter’s 4.3% growth and in line with Beijing’s target of 4.5% to 5% growth this year.
尽管中国在人工智能和机器人等前沿技术方面取得了飞跃进展，但其国内经济大部分仍在挣扎。固定资产投资——即用于房屋、工厂和道路等资产的支出——今年前三季度相比2025年同期下降7.2%，其中房地产投资单独下降了21%。
While China is making leaps in cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics, much of its domestic economy is struggling. Fixed-asset investment, which tracks spending on assets such as homes, factories and roads, in the first three quarters of the year fell 7.2% compared with the same period in 2025, with property investment alone falling 21%.
消费者支出仍然低迷。零售销售额是衡量家庭支出的指标，9月份增长1.1%，较8月份的0.4%有所回升，但较去年同期的3%有所下降。
Consumer spending remains muted. Retail sales, a gauge of household spending, rose 1.1% in September, up from 0.4% in August but down from 3% a year earlier.
北京一家批发市场的服装摊主李燕表示，她去年没有盈利，而今年的销售额下降得更厉害。她每件毛衣的售价相当于约15美元，每件仅能赚几美元的利润。要想保本，她每天需要卖出约30件。大多数日子，她都达不到保本。
Li Yan, a clothing seller at a wholesale market in Beijing, says she didn’t turn a profit last year, and sales are down even more this year. She sells sweaters for the equivalent of around $15 each, earning only a few dollars of profit per item. To break even, she has to sell around 30 items a day. Most days, she isn’t breaking even.
她也削减了个人开支。过去，她会犒劳自己一些珠宝之类的东西，但现在她避免购买任何不需要的物品。
She has also cut back on personal spending. In the past, she would treat herself to things like jewelry but now avoids buying anything she doesn’t need.
“如果生意不好，赚不到钱，你就不会花很多钱，”52岁的李燕说。“这是一个恶性循环。”市场上的另一位皮革制品摊主表示，她已经有一年多没有进新货了，因为去年的库存她卖得不多。一位工具和其他家居维修用品的摊主说，她以前一天的销售额大约有300美元，但现在一个好日子的销售额只有大约50美元。市场上最忙的摊位正以每件5元——不到1美元——的价格出售衣物。
“If business isn’t good and you’re not making money, you’re not going to spend much,” said Li, 52. “It’s a vicious cycle.”Elsewhere at the market, a leather goods seller said she hasn’t bought any new inventory in more than a year because she hasn’t sold much of the last batch. A vendor of tools and other home-maintenance supplies said she used to bring in about $300 in sales a day, but now a good day is around $50. The busiest stall at the market was selling clothing for 5 yuan—less than $1—a piece.
“今年做生意真的很困难，”市场上28岁的服装销售员杜月平说。
“It’s really difficult to do business this year,” said Du Yueping, a 28-year-old clothing salesperson at the market.
尽管中国官方的城镇失业率一直稳定在约5%，但一些经济学家认为，随着零工工人队伍的不断壮大，实际的劳动力市场情况被掩盖了。根据中国新就业形态研究中心（一个智库）的预测，中国灵活就业人员——即没有固定合同的工作人员——的数量预计将在2026年增长到3.2亿，占城镇就业的40%以上。即使是那些有工作和稳定收入的人，也在感受到整体经济的焦虑。
Though China’s official urban unemployment rate has remained steady at around 5%, some economists believe the actual labor-market picture is hidden by a growing army of gig workers. The number of people in China with flexible employment—work without a permanent contract—is expected to grow to 320 million in 2026, accounting for more than 40% of urban employment, according to China New Employment Forms Research Center, a think tank. Even those with jobs and steady incomes are feeling the overall economic anxiety.
弗赖达·范，猎头魏的朋友，表示她作为保险代理人的收入一直保持稳定，部分原因是很多人在存更多的钱，并将资金存入保险产品。但她仍然用更便宜的替代品换掉了一些日常购物，因为未来感到不确定。
Fryda Fan, a friend of the headhunter Wei, said her income as an insurance agent has remained stable, in part because many are saving more and stashing money away in insurance products. Still, she has swapped out some of her daily purchases with cheaper alternatives because the future feels uncertain.
“我对生活方式做了一些改变，”范说，她最近一个星期五下午选择在当地连锁店M Stand买一杯3美元的咖啡，而不是在星巴克买一杯6美元的饮料。
“I’ve made some changes in my lifestyle,” said Fan, who opted for a $3 coffee at local chain M Stand on a recent Friday afternoon instead of a $6 drink at Starbucks.
国内外经济学家一直敦促北京实施政策以提振消费并减少对出口的依赖。最近，政策制定者推出了诸如按揭补贴和一些新的基础设施投资等措施，但尚未达到许多经济学家认为必要的深层改革和刺激力度，以实现经济再平衡。
Economists at home and abroad have urged Beijing to implement policies to boost consumption and reduce reliance on exports. Recently, policymakers have rolled out measures such as mortgage subsidies and some new infrastructure investment, but have stopped short of the deep reforms and stimulus many economists believe are needed to rebalance the economy.
北京过去几年提振消费的主要举措之一是推出一项补贴计划，鼓励消费者用新产品替换旧家电和其他商品。该计划去年帮助提升了零售销售额，但今年效果不佳，因为许多家庭已经完成了大额采购。
One of Beijing’s main efforts to perk up spending in the past couple of years has been a program offering subsidies for consumers to replace old household appliances and other products with new ones. It helped boost retail sales last year but has been less effective this year because many households have already made big purchases.
猎头魏正在翻新她的公寓，她很高兴获得了新橱柜15%的补贴。但她表示，如果她本来就没有在进行翻新，仅靠这些补贴也不会促使她增加支出。
Wei, the headhunter, is renovating her apartment and is happy she got a 15% subsidy on new cabinets. But she said the subsidies alone wouldn’t have encouraged her to spend more if she hadn’t already been doing renovations.
“你必须提升就业，让收入增长，”魏说。“你需要解决根本问题。
“You have to boost employment so incomes rise,” Wei said. “You need to address the root problem.”
请写信给汉娜·米奥，邮箱：hannah.miao@wsj.com
Grace Zhu contributed to this article. Write to Hannah Miao at hannah.miao@wsj.com