BEIJING – A harsh side economy is spreading across China’s capital. As unemployment digs in, especially for younger people and those who have been pushed out of stable work, reports point to a troubling rise in illegal blood-selling.
Homeless residents and unemployed workers gather in public areas, while brokers approach them in plain sight. Many offers sit around 800 RMB (about $110 USD) per session, which can cover food, a bed, or a few days of basics.
This underground trade grows where people already struggle to survive. Parks, underpasses, and train stations have turned into informal recruiting spots. Middlemen connect desperate sellers with buyers, often tied to medical demand for blood products.
Experts describe it as a clear sign of deeper problems, high unemployment that won’t ease, wages that lag behind costs, and weaker support for people who fall behind.
The Scale of Beijing’s Unemployment Crisis
China’s urban youth unemployment rate (ages 16 to 24, excluding students) sat near 16.5% in late 2025. Earlier in the year, it moved closer to 19%. The overall surveyed urban unemployment rate averaged about 5.2% for 2025. Still, critics say those headline numbers can hide sharper pain in big cities, including Beijing.
- Youth unemployment has stayed around 16% to 19% in recent months. A key driver is record graduation totals (over 12 million in 2025) and a gap between skills and open roles.
- Slower economic activity, along with deflationary pressure and property sector trouble, has cooled hiring. Services, tech, and construction have all pulled back, even though they once absorbed many graduates and migrants.
- Migrant workers and laid-off white-collar staff face rising city costs. As a result, more people fall into unstable, last-resort ways to make money.
In Beijing, the impact shows up on the street. Reports say homelessness has grown, with some estimates linking the rise to job losses and shifts in migration patterns. For many, blood has become something they can trade when nothing else pays.
Underground Blood Markets: From Streets to Elite Institutions
Brokers often focus on people with the fewest choices, including the homeless, unemployed migrants, and, at times, students or low-wage workers. They offer cash for plasma or whole blood, while avoiding official donation channels. Those formal systems still face supply shortages, even with government efforts to promote voluntary donation.
One of the most unsettling claims involves reports connecting the trade to prominent facilities. The PLA’s elite 301 Military Hospital, known as a top-tier provider, has been named in allegations tied to these illegal arrangements. Reports say middlemen bring donors there, using weak oversight to move blood products into the system.
- Brokers recruit near places where homeless residents gather, often promising about 800 RMB per session.
- Some donors return often, which raises the risk of anemia, infection, and longer-term harm.
- The trade feeds on ongoing blood shortages, since voluntary donation levels do not meet demand in many cities.
China has faced illegal blood-selling before. During the 1990s “Plasma Economy” scandal in Henan Province, unsafe collection spread HIV to thousands. Authorities banned commercial blood sales in 1998. Even so, underground networks have continued, helped by “mutual aid” loopholes and uneven enforcement.
Health and Social Risks: Trading Health for Survival
Public health voices warn that this renewed activity points to both economic strain and weak control. When people sell blood to cover meals or a place to sleep, they put their bodies on the line.
- Frequent blood or plasma selling can weaken the body and raise infection risk, bringing back fears tied to past HIV and hepatitis outbreaks.
- Criminal groups operating near respected institutions point to thin oversight, even around military and elite hospitals.
- The pattern also shows a predatory setup, where brokers profit while vulnerable people absorb the health damage.
Advocates add that voluntary donation rates remain lower than in many developed countries. That gap can keep shortages in place, which then helps black markets survive. Past crackdowns on “blood heads” (agents) have not fully stopped the trade.
Systemic Breakdown: Experts Warn of a Worsening Trend
Analysts tie the surge to larger pressures:
- Economic stagnation, slower growth, property instability, and global trade tension reduce job creation.
- Regulatory decay and weak enforcement allow illegal operations to work near regulated facilities.
- Social strain, more homelessness (with reports suggesting millions affected nationwide), a nd lower trust in institutions push people toward risky choices.
A health policy expert, speaking anonymously, said: “When people sell their blood to eat, it shows basic security has fallen apart. This isn’t isolated, it’s a warning that a more predatory order can grow out of economic failure.”
Officials have responded with periodic investigations and continued promotion of voluntary donation. Critics say those steps won’t work on their own unless unemployment and inequality improve at the same time.
A Call for Urgent Reform
As Beijing struggles with job losses and rising living costs, illegal blood-selling highlights the human price. Without more job opportunities, stronger social support, and tighter control over medical supply chains, these survival tactics may spread.
Brokers recruiting in public homeless hubs, alongside allegations tied to elite hospitals, create a bleak picture. Economic despair has turned people’s bodies into last-resort assets.
For now, in parts of the capital that few want to see, blood has become a kind of currency, and survival can demand a painful trade.
