A $7 Trillion Debt Pile Looms Large Over Chinese Households
- Household borrowing has risen sharply over the past decade
- Analysts see mortgage repayments hurting shift to consumption
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The next front in China’s crackdown on debt is the one closest to home.
On the back of a boom in property prices, household borrowing has been climbing for 10 years straight, at a pace that rivals any such run-up in major economies. At $6.7 trillion, and a record 50 percent of gross domestic product, private debt is now approaching developed-world levels and crimping consumer spending power.