BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Chased by debt collectors over a mortgage delinquency in a southern Chinese city, former finance worker Lei Xiaoyu no longer answers her phone as she tries to delay the inevitable.

“It’s my only house and I don’t want it foreclosed. But what can I do?” said the 38-year-old, who in late 2022 lost her job and stopped repaying the mortgage and credit card debt she took to buy a 1.3 million yuan ($181,139) home in Huizhou.