China's real estate industry grew at lightning speed from the late 1990s and was a major driver of the country's turbocharged economic expansion. But with growth slowing and debts swelling, authorities cut off access to easy loans in 2020, creating a bigger crisis for embattled property developers that continues to today. Here is a look at how the crisis in the property sector -- one of the most important pillars of the nation's economy -- has affected the lives of people in China.