China needs its youth to spend but they are embracing frugality

A young man, also in his 20s, says there are low-level jobs available but it's hard to find decent work in one's area of expertise.

"Some of my friends are unemployed, still living at home and looking for a job," he says.

"They had all kinds of majors at university from financial services to product sales. The economy is a bit off right now. I hope it gets better so we can all have a better life".

And how does he rate the chances of this happening soon? "I'm not very optimistic," he admits.

A big concern for China's recent graduates is that the country is making a difficult transition from being a mass producer of cheap goods to a high-tech economy. And many of these new industries don't require as many workers.

Economist George Magnus, an associate at the China Centre at Oxford University, has been tracking this phenomenon.

He cites figures from two big recruitment firms in Beijing showing a high level of university graduates, even with master's degrees, taking jobs as delivery drivers.

"It reflects the skills mismatch between the qualifications which people are leaving higher education with and what's out there in terms of demand for labour," he says.

"Of course, that's not being helped by the push to become a champion in robotics and AI because, at least for the time being, this is something of a dampener on job opportunities. Tech isn't really that labour intensive."

Helena Lofgren has been studying China's consumption patterns for the Swedish Institute of International Affairs and believes its economy is relying too heavily on pouring money into preferred industries and focusing on selling products overseas in a time of considerable geopolitical uncertainty.

"People save more than they consume, and you need consumption to make up a bigger share of the economy than it's doing today in China," she says.

"You have a very export-oriented and investment driven economy and what we see now is that these parts are too big for the economy to stay healthy."

It is all about economic imbalance. If, for example, China suddenly lost significant export revenue would it have the tools to counter this by financially empowering its enormous domestic population?

Some observers have questioned how serious the Communist Party is about increasing domestic consumption.

In recent decades, the country has thrived on an investment and export model but that approach is now facing a big challenge: deflation. Would-be customers are often waiting for the price of goods to fall.

If a young couple wanted to buy, say, a new lounge suite, it may make sense for them to wait to get a better deal.

The longer they, and many more like them, hold off from making big purchases, the more likely companies are to cut prices, leading people to wait even longer for an even better deal.

It may seem like a good idea to have cheaper goods, but deflation can force firms out of business and drag on growth overall.

This could be countered by somehow fuelling optimism amongst 20 or 30-something consumers. Building a better social safety net or increasing minimum wages might help.

There have been some attempts to do this by offering incentives to replace old cars, home appliances and other items but it has not significantly lifted consumption.

The influencer Zhang says being cautious with spending runs deep in her country's culture.

"My grandfather's generation was very frugal, very thrifty. It is part of Chinese tradition. For Chinese people to be economical is in their bones," she says.