AI could net 90 million new jobs in China, outpacing displacement

AI’s Job‑Jumping Journey: China’s 12% Boom

Picture robots doing the heavy lifting, drones handling deliveries, and autonomous cars zipping around cities—you’ll start wondering if your job might become a future relic. But in China, those high‑tech helpers are actually creating jobs faster than they’re taking them away.

What the Numbers Say

We’re talking about a 12% net bump in employment over the next twenty years.
That translates to roughly 90 million new jobs.
And because the tech boost to GDP is huge, the displacement effect is more than made up for.

China vs. the UK: Which Country Wins?

At the World Economic Forum in Tianjin, this fresh analysis shook up what PwC had previously thought about the UK. PwC’s earlier research found that in the UK around 20% of current jobs might vanish by 2037, but new AI‑driven roles would spring up to fill that gap, keeping overall employment fairly neutral.

Now compare that with China:

China expects a higher displacement—about 26% of existing roles—thanks to big plans to automate manufacturing and agriculture.
But the GDP lift from AI is even bigger, sparking a 38% increase in job creation, far outpacing the UK’s 20% bump.

Why the Difference?

It’s all about scale. China’s huge factories and vast farming landscapes offer a larger playground for automation, but the same level of tech deployment also supercharges economic growth, pulling in more workers across new sectors.