No, it effects ‘ordinary’ Chinese people as many invested their life savings hoping to pay for a house or an apartment for themselves and their children. Their money is now gone for property that will never be built, or is half-build and’ll be finished.

As the article says:

Money flooded into real estate as the emerging middle class leapt upon what was one of the few safe investments available, pushing home prices up sixfold over the 15 years ending in 2022. … At its peak, the sector directly and indirectly accounted for about a quarter of domestic output and almost 80% of household assets.

The consequences are dire:

With household debt at a high of 145% of disposable income per capita at the end of 2023, homeowners are increasingly under financial pressure. The country’s residential mortgage delinquency ratio – which tracks overdue mortgage payments – jumped to the highest in four years as of late 2023. Some homeowners are being forced to sell their properties at a discounted rate, which is only exacerbating the problem … the situation could deteriorate further in 2026 as households struggle to repay mortgages and other loans.

The data for these inferences comes from official Chinese sources - which is, once again, a very bad sign given as China’s official statistics are ‘opaque’ to say the least. The article reads:

The property sector’s drag on inflation could even be greater than official data suggest [because] the methodology used to determine China’s official Consumer Price Index understates falling rents, and, by extension, the broader deflationary impact.

It could even be worse than the data suggests.

And it definitely effects a large number of Chinese people of the middle class, just like you and me.