Archive of content related to the real estate bubble burst.
On November 6, a netizen in Qinhuangdao, Hebei, posted a video of the unfinished Dongfudian Xincun project, stating that the project was originally marketed as providing wedding homes for older youth, but it has remained unfinished for 16 years. Many buildings are still in a rough state with exposed brick walls and no doors or windows installed.
Huafa Shares released its Q3 report, showing a net loss attributable to the parent company of 6.437 billion in the first three quarters. As of September 30, the owner's equity attributable to shareholders of the listed company was only 3.093 billion, a sharp decline from 19 billion within one year.
On October 23, the Ministry of Finance released fiscal revenue and expenditure data for the first three quarters. In September, national land transfer revenue was 233.4 billion yuan, down 23.2% year on year; individual income tax revenue was 138.4 billion yuan, up 10.5% year on year. In the first three quarters, land transfer revenue decreased by 621.5 billion yuan year on year.
On October 22, the CSI 300 index closed down 1.84%, falling about 20% from its June high and entering a technical bear market; according to Bloomberg, the STAR 50 and ChiNext indices have both fallen about 40% in the second half of the year, and analysts believe the national team may need to buy more and for longer.
According to a report by Yicai on October 22, from January to September 2026, nationwide urban and rural residents' household electricity consumption was 123.46 billion kilowatt-hours, down 0.3% year-on-year — the first decline for the same period in nearly ten years.
An in-depth Financial Times report on October 21 pointed out that China's population decline, deflation, weak consumption, and slumping property and stock markets resemble Japan in its day; after the property bubble burst in 2021, new housing starts fell 78% from their peak. Economist Richard Koo argues for stimulating demand through fiscal spending, while Adam Slater does not rule out growth slowing to 2% to 2.5% over the next decade.
Economic data released on October 19 showed that from January to September 2026, China's real estate development investment fell 20.6% year-on-year, a wider decline than in January–August; national fixed-asset investment fell 7.2% year-on-year; and total retail sales of consumer goods rose 1.1% year-on-year in September, with the growth rate picking up from August.
On October 17, netizens posted that several real estate developers in Chengdu suddenly held all-staff meetings, announcing a work suspension and furlough, with employees not needing to report to work the next day. Multiple project companies in the Chengdu area were affected, and employees had already received furlough notices.
Statistics from JPMorgan at the end of October showed that multiple offshore bonds of Huafa fell by an average of 54 points, causing Huafa Shares' stock price to hit the daily limit and sparking widespread market concern over its debt crisis.
From January to May 2026, Beijing's total retail sales of consumer goods fell by 2.5% year-on-year.
Simulations and calculations show that, in order to hold to the general budget target, the government's continued intensification of tax collection would make the tax base and corporate profits unable to bear the load, and the moment the red line is burned through falls around October 2028.
According to data cited in the video, in the first five months of 2026, China's land transfer revenue fell by nearly 30% year-on-year, a steeper decline than for the whole of 2025.
In the first half of 2026, the proportion of Chinese homeowners over the age of 60 listing their properties for sale soared to 22.7%, a significant increase from 11.3% in 2022.
Reports on September 21 showed that the unemployment rate among non-student youth aged 16 to 24 in China rose to 18.9%, amid a continuing economic downturn. Although multiple economists have warned that AI is unlikely to drive employment, Beijing still plans to invest approximately $295 billion over the next five years to build a national data center network. Xi Jinping emphasized the importance of focusing on "hard power" rather than just GDP.
On September 17, Evergrande Auto released its 2026 interim results, showing that the company has only 7 employees left, with total assets of approximately 182 million yuan and liabilities as high as 32.722 billion yuan. The company explicitly stated that it has exited the vehicle manufacturing business and has no intention to resume it, with the net profit for the first half of the year mainly derived from exchange gains on borrowings.