Chinese state propaganda arms recently dusted off Mao Zedong’s campaign to send tens of millions of urban youths for reeducation in remote areas during the disastrous Cultural Revolution period, sparking concerns that authorities are preparing young people on the mainland for difficult times ahead amid economic uncertainty.

In a message posted on Sina Weibo on Tuesday, the state-run Chinese History Research Institute praised Mao’s radical campaign, known as the “Down to the Countryside Movement” as “a great achievement to promote social advancement.”

The campaign saw 16 million young people from China’s urban areas uprooted and sent to remote mountainous regions and rural villages to learn from farmers and workers. It disrupted formal education for many students and has since been recognized by historians as ruining young people’s lives.

The talk about reviving the movement showed that mainland authorities felt the need to resort to political slogans to solve job problems among young people living in developed cities, a similar situation China experienced in the 1960s, said commentator Wu Zuolai.

These were signs that the mainland was facing severe economic problems, Wu said.

The research institute sought to reframe the narrative: saying it was a mistake to see the campaign only in negative terms. Rather, it helped provide employment for excess job seekers and students created when many factories and universities closed during the Cultural Revolution, the institute said.

The institute also said that the campaign also helped prevent western imperialists from “transforming” China’s current generation of leaders.

President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang, Vice-president Wang Qishan, former chairperson of the National People’s Congress standing committee Zhang Deqiang are among the current crop of top leaders sent to rural areas during Mao’s campaign.

The institute’s message was echoed by mainland media outlets, which said in recent reports that many young people, including those with overseas education, cabin crew members and information technology workers, had moved to rural villages to seek jobs in recent years.

It would be difficult for Xi to solve China’s problems through a repeat of Mao’s campaign due to different circumstances, said mainland dissident Wang Juntao.

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