The project of Jean-Baptiste Pettier is named “Desire Economics: Affect and Social Competition in Chinese Megacities.“ It consists in writing a book which will provide a sensitive analysis of the affective economy behind the social competition for economic success operating amongst today’s Chinese new generations. It will focus on questions of intimacy, sexuality, social pressures to attain success, self-sacrifice, and individual engagement in professional careers. It is based on a several-years long ethnographic research previously held in two major cities in China. Allying a long-term ethnography of China with the most recent theories of affective economy and politics, this research will focus on the affective drive behind the extreme level of socio-economic competition experienced by Chinese new generations.