Xi Faces Surprise Revolt From Chinese Homebuyers on Mortgage Boycott
- Mortgage boycotts spread across 301 projects in 91 cities
- Chinese leader facing domestic unrest on a range of issues
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Over the past few years, President Xi Jinping has reined in China’s biggest tech companies, stamped out democracy in Hong Kong and locked down 26 million people in Shanghai to eliminate Covid cases.
Yet he now faces a surprise challenge from middle-class homeowners who are watching their family wealth slip away with a sustained slide in the property market, which makes up a fifth of China’s economic activity. Some 70% of household wealth in China is tied up in property, far more than in the US, making it one of the most sensitive political issues for the Communist Party.