I think this is a great write up. My own personal take is that the government is extremely, hyper-sensitized to any belief in their population "it went backward

I think this is a great write up. My own personal take is that the government is extremely, hyper-sensitized to any belief in their population "it went backwards" and so visible deflation in the value of the Yuan expressed in consumer experience is going to be a massive bummer for the CCP. The idea that the great housing stock billionaire scam is going to collapse is untenable. Blowing up tower blocks rather than admit the emperor has no clothes is performative but also functional? If they leave those units standing, the real value of my millionaire pad is probably worse. So the home owners sitting on empty houses as future bank are glad some other poor sucker watched their dream home go up in smoke. I think that most Beijing residents know they aren't going to drive the rolls royce they can see in shop windows in town. But they like having visible symbols of China's financial acumen laid out before them. Having a sign on the door saying RR has reclaimed that showroom won't make them feel as good.