In China, Home Buyers Occupy Their ‘Rotting,’ Unfinished Properties

In China, Home Buyers Occupy Their ‘Rotting,’ Unfinished Properties
Unfinished apartment buildings stand at a residential complex developed by Jiadengbao Real Estate in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang region, China, on Sept. 17, 2022. Eduardo Baptista/Reuters
Reuters
Updated:

GUILIN, China—For six months, home for Ms. Xu has been a room in a high-rise apartment in the southern Chinese city of Guilin that she bought three years ago, attracted by brochures touting its riverfront views and the city’s clean air.

Her living conditions, however, are far from those promised: unpainted walls, holes where electric sockets should be and no gas or running water. Every day she climbs up and down several flights of stairs carrying heavy water bottles filled with a hose outside.