Healthcare workers at Shanwei City People's Hospital hold up white papers reading "We need to eat" in a collective demand for unpaid wages. (Video screenshot)
[People News] With China’s economy in continued decline, reports of strikes and wage protests have become frequent across the country. Recently, a public hospital in Shanwei City, Guangdong, witnessed a collective wage protest where healthcare workers held up blank sheets of paper to protest unequal distribution of bonuses. Some internet users dubbed this China’s “Blank Paper Movement” in the healthcare sector.
A circulating video from October 16 shows healthcare staff at Shanwei City People's Hospital holding white papers with the message “We need to eat” as they collectively demand their unpaid wages. They chanted slogans such as “Director, come out and give us our bonuses” and “I need to live,” voicing dissatisfaction with hospital leadership.
According to netizens, the protest stemmed from an unequal bonus distribution, with only three departments receiving their August bonuses, while other departments received nothing. This perceived unfair treatment fueled discontent among healthcare workers.
The video quickly went viral on Weibo, hitting the trending topics, but the content was soon censored. As of now, keywords like “Over 100 healthcare workers in Guangdong hospital hold signs to demand wages” have been removed from platforms like Weibo, NetEase, and Douyin.
Although only about 100 people participated, the protest drew significant attention due to the symbolism of the blank paper, echoing last year’s “Blank Paper Movement” protests. Some referred to it as a “Blank Paper Movement” within China’s healthcare sector.
Shanwei City People’s Hospital is a sizable public hospital in Guangdong Province. Although it operates on a self-sustaining model, it is a top-tier (Class III) hospital and usually well-funded, with a steady flow of patients. That it has now failed to pay bonuses has attracted public attention.
Chinese netizens noted the difficulties faced by hospitals nationwide, with comments like, “Healthcare workers need to live too—they have kids to raise and mortgages to pay. Basic wages are only around 3,000 yuan, so how can they manage without bonuses?”
“Many people assume hospitals have plenty of money due to the high number of patients, but the reality is that many hospitals are cash-strapped.”
In fact, incidents of unpaid wages for healthcare staff have become commonplace across China.
On October 11, a video surfaced showing healthcare workers at the entrance of the Fourth People’s Hospital in Xinxiang, Henan, demanding their unpaid wages. An office worker at the hospital reported that they, too, had been unpaid for eight months, making life extremely difficult.
On December 26, 2023, some healthcare staff at Suining City TCM Hospital in Sichuan threatened to jump off the building in a protest over unpaid wages, prompting authorities to place safety mats on the ground as a precaution.
On November 3, 2023, over 100 healthcare workers at Ruzhou Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital in Henan gathered at the hospital entrance in protest. A staff member revealed they had not been paid for over a year, and that health insurance and housing fund contributions had not been made.
Later that month, Yantai Pulmonary Hospital in Shandong was reported to be six months behind on wages, with employees lamenting that they were “nearly starving.”
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