China

Economic worries fuel interest in fortune telling

Worries about relationships and jobs are hardly unique to China. But as the country grapples with slowing economic growth, many young people are feeling particularly anxious about the future. So some are turning to xuanxue, or mysticism. Cece, an astrology app backed by Tencent, has been downloaded more than 100m times. The trend has been dubbed the “spiritual economy”.

“The most obvious sign of economic downturn is that, a few years ago, it felt like hardly anyone believed in metaphysics or fortune telling. But in the past two years, such beliefs have clearly become more common,” wrote one Weibo user.