Shadow banks were China’s private lenders; filling the gap when traditional banks refused risky developers. They raised billions from wealthy investors; promising 10% annual returns, guaranteed. For a decade, it worked. Developers built endlessly, investors got paid, everyone got rich. Then the property market collapsed. Evergrande fell in 2021; Country Garden in 2023. Zhongzhi Enterprise Group; one of the biggest shadow banks; had $64B in promises and only $28B in assets. A $36B hole. Classic P