潍坊警方宣称，在这座拥有约900万人口的城市中，有99.1%的居民对治安感到满意，且各种犯罪都在下降，但他们正越来越多地管控“消极情绪”。这种做法反映在针对批评农业政策的视频、抱怨学校霸凌的学生等个案上，说明警力被用于管理舆论和情绪而不只是传统犯罪。

在全国层面，中国正通过宣传“正能量”来压制悲观情绪，而经济压力使这种任务愈发艰巨：16至24岁非在校青年失业率约为17%。长期调查显示，对“努力必有回报”的信念从约62%骤降到28%，对贫困家庭子女向上流动的信心也在减弱，认为五年后会更富裕的人从接近四分之三降到“将近一半”，虽仍比许多西方社会乐观。

政府的应对集中在线上整顿，包含封禁三名颇具影响力的网红，以及在微博等平台上关闭或停用约1,200个账号，试图遏制“消极叙事”。然而，每当官方公布经济数据，批评与哀叹仍大量涌现，“正能量”一词在民间渐带讽刺意味，显示单靠审查只能遮蔽症状，而无法改变由经济困境催生的新悲观主义。

In Weifang, officials highlight that 99.1% of its roughly 9 million residents are satisfied with public safety and that crime is falling, yet police now devote significant effort to suppressing “negative” sentiment. Cases include forcing a man to remove critical videos about agricultural policy and reprimanding a student who publicly accused a teacher of bullying, showing law enforcement shifting from crime control to mood management.

Nationally, China’s campaign to promote “positive energy” coincides with mounting economic strain, including about 17% unemployment among 16–24-year-olds who are not students. Longitudinal surveys reveal that the share of people who believe hard work is always rewarded has plunged from about 62% to just 28%, expectations of upward mobility for poorer children are weakening, and the portion who think they will be better off in five years has fallen from nearly three-quarters to nearly half, even though Chinese remain more optimistic than many in the West.

The government’s response has focused on online crackdowns, from banning three prominent influencers to suspending or closing around 1,200 accounts on platforms such as Weibo in order to curb pessimistic narratives. Yet negative reactions still surge whenever economic data are released and “positive energy” is increasingly used with irony, underscoring that censorship can only mask the symptoms while the true roots of China’s new pessimism lie in its economic difficulties rather than in its apps.