Xi’s housing spree
EditorialThe Economist
More than three years into China’s property crisis, the difference between struggling private builders and flourishing state-owned firms is increasingly stark, says The Economist. While the biggest private firms are collapsing under huge debts, state-backed firms, which enjoy “tight links with banks”, are “buying more land, selling more homes” or being bailed out, with some continuing, “miraculously”, to make profits. This dynamic reflects a broader strategy by president Xi Jinping to turn the state into China’s “biggest homebuilder”
