Newly rich Chinese are expected to spend the holiday, a time to celebrate the international labour movement, opening their wallets in far-flung destinations, reaping the rewards of higher paying jobs in the professions and financial sector.

Most technical vocational schools in Shanghai had closed or suspended classes due to lack of demand, the People's Daily said.

"Workers' contributions and their rewards do not match, and that is why people do not want the jobs," it quoted a researcher with a government think-tank as saying.

China loosened the reins on the state-controlled economy in the late 1970s and then sought to make good on the words of late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, who encouraged the masses to get rich.

Only 0.1 percent of the children in Shanghai said they wanted to join the proletariat when they grew up, the People's Daily said, citing a media survey.

"It is understandable they are not willing to be workers," the paper quoted steel worker Han Mingming as saying. "Who wants to work with high risk, low pay and no respect?"