China’s property crisis grinds on after Evergrande sentencing

BEIJING – The one-time billionaire who came to personify the boom and bust of China’s property market was sentenced to life in prison last week by a Chinese court. But the collapse of the sector, entering its sixth year, remains a drag on the world’s second-biggest economy, a pain point for millions of households and a force for export-reliant growth and trade friction for China. Analysts say there is no clear end in sight. Many angry homeowners and creditors – in comments that went initially uncensored on Chinese social media – asked why Hui Ka Yan, once Asia’s richest person…