Housing
Economy
China’s housing market flashes signs of life in core cities
China’s property market shows signs of life with sharp luxury project rebounds in Shenzhen and Shanghai. Yet this fragile recovery remains highly uneven; mid-tier markets still languish while growth relies heavily on bargain hunters.
Caixin Global
05 Jun 2026
Society
[Vox pop] Can young people in China afford a home today?
In China, the price-to-income ratio has long been among the highest in the world, with home prices in some major cities reaching levels that would take over 30 years of income to match. And now, after four years of declining prices triggered by the country’s real estate crisis, ThinkChina’s Lu Lingming and Yi Jina speak with some Chinese to hear how they view the housing market today.
Lu Lingming, Yi Jina
28 Nov 2025
Economy
The fourth plenum and the future of China’s economy
As Beijing readies its 15th Five-Year Plan, the fourth plenum sets the tone for China’s next decade — a vision of growth fused with security and social equity. The goal: modernisation by 2035, not through disruption, but through disciplined reinvention. East Asian Institute senior research fellow Bo Chen explores the economic strategies in the communique.
Bo Chen
27 Oct 2025
Society
[Big read] From 80 square feet to a home: New hope for Hong Kong’s poor?
Hong Kong’s persistently high property prices have left hundreds of thousands of its residents with little choice but to rent subdivided units with terrible living conditions. Lianhe Zaobao journalist Tai Hing Shing speaks to residents to find out if government initiatives are helping.
Tai Hing Shing
08 Oct 2025
Society
[Video] Why foreign students get better dorms in China’s universities
China’s summer heat has turned campus life into a battle of comfort. While international students lounge in cool, air-conditioned dorms, local students bake in crowded, fanless rooms, with some even sleeping in corridors, libraries or minimarts just to find relief. The stark contrast has left many asking in frustration, “Why are foreigners treated better than us in our own country?”
Yi Jina
01 Sep 2025
Economy
[Big read] With real estate’s heyday over, China hunts for its next growth engine
From a plot of land to a new home, it does not just involve China’s real estate sector alone, but an entire system. If a critical link in the system goes wrong, related parties would come under pressure. Lianhe Zaobao journalist Liu Sha takes a look at how the upstream and downstream real estate industrial chain has been affected by the sector’s slump.
Liu Sha
20 Aug 2025
Society
[Big read] Planting vegetables in ruins: The residents still living in China’s longest unfinished project
It was a dream retirement home for many, and even after 30 years, some may not live to see its completion. Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Li Kang speaks with the homeowners of Guangzhou’s largest and oldest unfinished project.
Li Kang
07 Jul 2025
Economy
China’s trillion-RMB personal debt hangover weighs on banking system
China’s personal lending market is under mounting pressure while banks across the country are scrambling. What began as a slow-burning concern in early 2024 has become an acute worry in 2025, as personal loans slip into delinquency at rates not seen since the 2008 financial crisis.
Caixin Global
16 May 2025
Economy
Cash-strapped governments, struggling developers: China’s land surrender dilemma
With China’s property market in a slump, some property developers have no choice but to “surrender” previously acquired unused land to local governments. However, cash-strapped local governments are slashing buyback prices significantly, leaving struggling developers in a dilemma. Lianhe Zaobao Shanghai correspondent Li Kang tells us more.
Li Kang
31 Dec 2024