China’s Overqualified Youth Taking Jobs As Drivers, Labourers And Film Extras 

China is now a country where a high-school handyman has a master’s degree in physics; a cleaner is qualified in environmental planning; a delivery driver studied philosophy, and a PhD graduate from the prestigious Tsinghua University ends up applying to work as an auxiliary police officer.

These are real cases in a struggling economy – and it is not hard to find more like them.

“My dream job was to work in investment banking,” says Sun Zhan as he prepares to start his shift as a waiter in a hot pot restaurant in the southern city of Nanjing.

The 25-year-old recently graduated with a master’s degree in finance. He was hoping to “make a lot of money” in a high-paying role but adds, “I looked for such a job, with no good results”.

China is churning out millions of university graduates every year but, in some fields, there just aren’t enough jobs for them.