What's funny is that the original source is using the 300 million number to argue against market liberalization lol. It clearly states multiple times that the number of "vagrant" or actually unhoused people is somewhere under 17M because that's how many people received assistance between 2012 and 2019. Probably significantly lower if someone received assistance more than once in those 7 years.

Using the 300m number is basically trying to call to attention the Chinese precariat. Urban peasants who still don't have the same treatment as urban natives. This is something they tried to fix with the Cultural Revolution, but it still exists.

If you count the Chinese precariat (employed and houses, but in unideal conditions) you have to count the precariat of every nation. Which means you'd have to include Americans who are at or near the poverty line meaning at least 100,000,000 people (making $54k or less for a family of 4).

Meaning China's precariat is actually a lower percentage of their population than America's.