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Residents Say Sudden Deaths Are Increasing in China

They told The Epoch Times that recently more young and middle-aged people around them have died suddenly.
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Residents Say Sudden Deaths Are Increasing in China
Mourners gather outside memorial halls for the deceased at a funeral home in Shanghai on Dec. 31, 2022. Qilai Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images
By Alex Wu
4/29/2025Updated: 5/4/2025
0:00

Residents in different regions of mainland China have reported to The Epoch Times recently that sudden deaths appear to be increasing.

A resident of Dalian city in northeast China’s Liaoning Province said that based on his observation, the recent death rate is apparently higher than the death rate during the period from December 2022 to early 2023, when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) lifted all COVID-19 pandemic control measures after nearly three years of draconian restrictions and lockdowns accompanied by a massive wave of COVID-19 infections and deaths across the country.

Wang, who declined to provide his full name out of safety concerns, told The Epoch Times on April 13 that many people in their 20s to 50s have suddenly died. At least two of his relatives have died, he said.

“Four or five of my colleagues have passed away. Those who were vaccinated against COVID-19 suffered more serious conditions. Many of my colleagues’ relatives have also passed away, and they have had to take time off from work to attend the funerals,” Wang said.

Cao, of Huadian City, in northeast China’s Jilin Province, who didn’t provide his full name out of safety concerns, also told The Epoch Times that many young and middle-aged people whom he knew have died, one after another.

He said that on April 2, a friend of his in Dongying, in eastern China’s Shandong Province, died without any warning signs.

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“He went to bed at night, and his body was cold the next morning. He was only 53 years old,” Cao said.

He said he knew another person, a truck driver, who died more than a month ago at age 56.

Cao said that the younger brother of a man in his village suddenly collapsed and died during work. He was 37 or 38 years old.

“The funeral homes have the best business” in recent years, Cao said, because of the sudden deaths.

Su, a resident of Siping city in Jilin Province, who provided only his last name for safety reasons, told The Epoch Times that many people died unexpectedly this winter. He said they are of all ages, with the majority in their 50s.

Su said that hardly any people are left in small towns and rural areas, and residents have been wondering, “Where have all the people gone?” Ten to 20 years ago, there were people everywhere, but now no one knows where they have gone, he said. Only a few elderly people are still in the villages.

In recent months, video footage shot by Chinese residents and circulating on social media show many seemingly abandoned towns and villages across the country and empty streets in big cities, with people questioning China’s real population in 2025.

Because of the CCP’s record of publishing unreliable data, including its underreporting of COVID-19 infections and related deaths since early 2020, anecdotal accounts by residents have become helpful supplementary information for understanding the situation on the ground in the authoritarian country.

Cao said he believes that the sudden deaths are related to the Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccine. He said many people’s blood pressure, including his own, soared after the vaccination, despite not having a medical history of the condition. Ever since, Cao has been taking blood pressure medications daily, he said, adding that he takes imported antihypertensive drugs because domestically made ones are not effective.

Wang also said many people suspected that the sudden deaths were related to the CCP’s mandatory use of Chinese-made inactive COVID-19 vaccines, but no one dared to talk about it in public.

On social media, some Chinese people said they had experienced various side effects after taking the COVID-19 vaccine, including hives, leukemia, and heart disease, among other health conditions.

After COVID-19 emerged in China at the end of 2019, Beijing mandated the use of domestically produced inactive COVID-19 vaccines and barred access to foreign mRNA vaccines.

The CCP also incorporated the COVID-19 vaccination record into its citizens’ health codes in 2022. If an individual did not complete the vaccination, his or her health codes would turn yellow or red, which would restrict their access to public spaces, transportation, and workplaces.

In July 2022, Beijing dropped the vaccine mandate for entering public spaces, while many workplaces in China still required vaccination for employees and in hiring until the end of 2022, when the regime suddenly ended its COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns.

Luo Ya, Fang Xiao, and Xiong Bin contributed to this report.
Alex Wu
Alex Wu
Author
Alex Wu is a U.S.-based writer for The Epoch Times focusing on Chinese society, Chinese culture, human rights, and international relations.
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