The political identity of China's emerging youth

Abstract Objective We examine the political identity and its determinants of China's young generation who are increasingly emerging from new industries and platforms. Methods Using survey data collected in China in 2020 from a representative sample, we employ Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and quantile regression models to analyze the effects of multiple factors on the political identity of emerging youth. Additionally, we employ the Shapley value decomposition method to compare the explanatory contributions of different factors. The instrumental variable method (2SLS) is also used to address the possible endogeneity between public participation and political identity. Results We find that the overall political identity of emerging youth scores high, and “authority resilience” rather than “identity decline” is a more suitable term to describe the political identity of this group. Educational enlightenment does not dissolve political identity; the higher the economic benefits and the stronger the sense of external political efficacy, the greater the political identity of China's emerging youth. Young people who are willing to participate in public affairs but lack access to the channels to do so have a lower degree of political identity. Conclusion Governance performance theory and institutional environment theory have more explanatory power than culturalism for understanding the political identity of emerging youth. Although postmaterialistic values prevail among the young generations, they are unlikely to challenge the legitimacy of the Chinese regime in the short term.