China Dream Ends for Handan as Steel Slump Spurs Property Losses

Five months ago, Hao Liwei was living the good life, funded by a 36 percent annual return on a property investment. Then her nightmare began.

Interest payments ceased in August and attempts to recover her money failed. Her home town, the steel-production city of Handan, 450 kilometers (280 miles) southwest of Beijing in Hebei province, was grappling with plunging demand for steel and plummeting prices. Economic growth slumped to 5.5 percent in the first nine months of last year, from 10.5 percent in 2012.