China is in a full real estate crisis: I don't know what to do next.

In the Chinese city of Xi'an, an imperial city in Shaanxi province, the crisis in the real estate market is also having a negative impact and putting many people at risk, extending beyond just the workers in this key sector of the country's economy.

Madam Liu has lost her patience. The construction of her apartment has been delayed for over a year. In mid-September, she carefully inspects her future home, located halfway up a 30-story building that is still in raw concrete condition. "Look: for such a large building, there are only two workers; it seems like they are playing a secondary role," she says, pointing to the silhouettes actively moving on a suspended platform on the facade. When Madam Liu (she does not want to reveal her name to maintain anonymity) bought an apartment in this complex, located thirty kilometers from the center of Xi'an, a major city in Shaanxi province in central China, for 1.06 million yuan (135,000 euros) in 2020, the real estate market was in good shape. For her and her husband, becoming homeowners was a way to settle down in their adopted city and ensure their children's education, thanks to the three schools and a college promised by the developer of this massive project, which is expected to contain 17,000 apartments upon completion. Today, the family, who hoped to move in this summer, not only has to pay their mortgage but also rent for their current housing, totaling 8,000 yuan. "And I need to add 500 yuan for gas to take my sons to school," Madam Liu calculates, worried. The problem is that her husband, who used to earn well as a plumbing sales representative, has also been affected by the real estate market crisis: "Today he barely earns 20,000 yuan [2,500 euros, which is three times the average salary in Xi'an].

Month after month, the real estate crisis in China is intensifying, leading to a decline in most sectors of the economy. In August, real estate investments fell by 19.1% compared to the previous year, marking the eighteenth consecutive month of decline. One of the main engines of the economy is coming to a halt: until 2020, real estate and construction accounted for about 25% of China's economic growth. Moreover, if we consider furniture and raw materials, the impact is even greater. As a result, despite the end of the zero-COVID policy in 2022 and the expected conclusion of quarantines in early 2023, recovery has not occurred: growth was limited to 0.8% in the second quarter, exports are declining, and the youth unemployment rate has now become a mystery after reaching a record high of 21.3% in June.