A Hong Kong court in late January ordered the world's most indebted real estate developer China Evergrande into liquidation.

The ruling follows a failed effort to restructure its 300 billion dollar debt.

The company has come to symbolize the rollercoaster ride of China's property boom and bust.

Founded in 1996, Evergrande expanded fast by borrowing heavily to finance new apartment construction.

But it ran into trouble after the government began to clamp down on excessive borrowing in 2020 to cool the market.

The move was a major blow to Evergrande.

It defaulted on some of its debts in late 2021.

Now with the liquidation order, the company is expected to start selling off its assets to repay outstanding debts.

"It's quite likely that Evergrande will be broken down into much smaller companies

if it still survives in the future."

"So, maybe it's not the end of the world for the macro economy,

but I still think on the corporate level it can be quite painful."

It remains unclear how much sway the court order in Hong Kong will hold in mainland China,

where the vast majority of Evergrande's assets are located.

A China expert says Beijing has to tread carefully.

"Roughly a quarter of Evergrande's debt is in contract obligations totaling over 80 billion dollars."

"That's the amount people have paid for apartments that are not yet ready."

"If these obligations and other debts are dealt with in the same way in terms of liquidation,

it could lead to a major social problem."

"So the courts in mainland China will of course consider this aspect."

As Evergrande's investors wait for the response to the ruling to play out,

more trouble for the real estate sector is already lying in wait.

China is undergoing demographic changes that could further dampen the industry,

both in the near term and down the road.

"In China, many people in the 25 to 34-year-old-age bracket buy homes."

"But this group has been on the decline since 2017 and 18."

"The data shows that this demographic will have shrunk by 70 million by 2030."

"I think demand for housing will fall going forward in line with population trends."

China's robust economic expansion has long been fueled by a housing boom

based on a growing population and rapid urbanization.

With the sector in crisis and facing further weakness ahead,

it could spell long term trouble for the country's growth.

"It looks like the Self-Defense Forces are already here."

Two days after the earthquake struck central Japan,

a professor arrived at this shelter in Ishikawa Prefecture's Wajima City bringing relief to its over 450 evacuees.

They had been facing tough conditions, living in a large gymnasium without any partitions and limited privacy.

But a small change was about to make a big difference: temporary houses made of cardboard.

The double-ply structures come with roofs and have good heat and sound insulation.

"They can be used as a space to change your clothes or a child's diaper."

Assembly is easy.

These kids were able to put one together in fifteen minutes.

It's designed to look like a house from a picture book,

lightening the atmosphere of what can be a very difficult time for children.

"I want to draw a picture on the wall!"

"Let's make another house tomorrow!"

Professor Kitagawa Keisuke of the Nagoya Institute of Technology developed and provided the structures.

"When we brought these cardboard houses, the children and their parents came to see right away."

"It made me happy because they were eager to work together to put them up."

Kitagawa started on a quest to build simple housing

after being issued a challenge of sorts by elementary schoolchildren in an evacuation shelter.

They were staying there after the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami.

"Boys in the 3rd and 4th grades told me they couldn't understand why it took half a year to build temporary housing."

"They said, 'You're a college professor, you should be able to figure out how to do it more quickly.'"

Professor Kitagawa started working with a private firm to develop inflatable homes.

He provided them to communities affected by the 2023 Turkey-Syria earthquakes.

Then when he saw the situation on the Noto Peninsula, he immediately sprang into action.

Kitagawa personally delivered his temporary home solutions to the area,

answering the challenge he'd received all those years ago.

He brought the tents for those not allowed to stay in evacuation centers, like volunteers and medical workers.

Meanwhile, those inside the centers were given Kitagawa's cardboard houses.

There are currently twelve indoor and outdoor temporary houses being used in Wajima.

Kitagawa hopes to soon increase the number to several hundred,

as thousands of people still remain in evacuation centers in the city.

"I think Japan is good at delivering basic amenities to evacuees,

but it still struggles to provide a livable environment quickly enough."

"It's a problem that I'm working to address."

A national high school entrepreneurship competition is showcasing the business ideas of Japanese students.

"This not only solves an environmental problem,
it also results in reduced CO2 emissions!"

"I wanted to come up with an idea that
would help narrow the gender gap."

The products and services they presented were all in answer to issues they felt there still wasn't a proper solution for.

Today's On-Site Report features the business ideas of some of Japan's brightest high school students.

"And that's my plan! – Ka Ching!!"

The final round of the entrepreneurship competition features 10 business plans

selected from over 5,000 entries submitted from high schools across Japan.

One of the students whose business idea stood out, was 16-year-old Sakajiri Shiho

and her "HelPy" app that she designed to assist elderly people.

"The inspiration for my idea resulted from an
experience I had with my grandmother."

She's currently a 1st year high-school student in Fukuoka Prefecture.

Check this out! My grandma made lunch for me!

Sakajiri always looks forward to eating her home-made lunches!

After school, she often drops in to visit her grandmother.

Since she doesn't have much strength in her legs, Sakajiri convinced her to try using a robot vacuum.

If you press this button here, it will automatically clean for you.

Oohh?

Unfortunately, her grandmother didn't feel comfortable operating the robot vacuum by herself.

This inspired Sakajiri to create an app that lets elderly people who need help

reach out to young people who are more comfortable with modern tech.

I've been asked why I didn't make it volunteer-based.

By giving students the opportunity to earn money for their services,

I felt I could quickly grow the support base and increase the reliability of the service.

Having studied programming since she was in elementary school, Sakajiri developed the app from the ground up!

Even elderly users who aren't comfortable using smartphones

can reach out for assistance with large and easy to understand buttons.

Students registered with the service can see what requests have been entered

and respond to the ones they want to provide help for.

She plans on capping the service fees at a maximum of $25.

Her company will receive a 10% commission and the rest will go to the helper.

Today Sakajiri is practicing her presentation in front of a group of teachers.

I think you should tell them when you plan on starting your business.

I want to start before graduating from high school.

She even practiced nearly every day during her winter vacation.

And now the big day has arrived.

"Have you ever had trouble using a smartphone
app or home electronics?"

"I've come up with a way for elderly people to ask
for help with the simple press of a button!"

The judges' panel is made up of entrepreneurs and economics experts.

"I plan to start this business before
I graduate from high shcool."

"By providing just a little help to elderly users,
I hope to make them feel happier!"

I think you should also try partnering with local governments.

Although she didn't win the top prize, Sakajiri's desire to start her own company has grown even stronger!

Running your own business gives you the freedom to do what you want.

It's really exciting for me to think about how I might be able to change the world through my own company!

Nagahama High School is located in Ehime Prefecture.

Its large aquarium makes it stand out from other high schools across Japan.

Run by students who are members of the aquarium club, it has been in operation for nearly 30 years.

It hosts about 150 species of marine life, which the students spend time both caring for and studying.

One of the most notable areas they conducted research in

led to the development of a cream that can help prevent jelly fish stings.

This line of research began 10 years ago with a simple question from a student:

"Why can clownfish swim within the tentacles of sea anemones without getting stung?"

After some repeated testing and research, the club members learned

that the mucus that coats a clown fish's body contains magnesium ions that inhibit the anemone's stinging response.

In 2015, this research earned club members prestigious national and international science awards.

Shortly after, new club members decided to carry on their predecessors' research

and discovered that magnesium ions also have the same effect on jelly fish -

which are related to sea anemones.

This is actual footage from some of their experiments.

When a tentacle comes into contact with something, it reacts by shooting out thousands of tiny toxic barbs.

However, when a cream containing magnesium ions is applied, there is hardly any response at all.

In 2018, club members participated in the national entrepreneurship competition.

We developed a Jelly Fish Sting Preventing cream called,

"Jelly's Guard!"

The team worked with a cosmetics company to produce a prototype cream containing magnesium ions

and was awarded second place in the competition.

Shortly after, the product was commercialized and is currently on the market.

16-year-old Hashimoto Naoto, moved from Tokyo to Ehime prefecture to join the aquarium club

and is continuing the club's research into jellyfish.

While participating in a life-guarding competition, Hashimoto was stung by a jellyfish.

This experience caused him to be particularly interested in the mysterious marine creatures.

I felt this was a place where I could do some serious research at.

Hashimoto is now conducting research to find effective ways to exterminate problematic jellyfish.

This request came from the Ehime prefectural government,

which was already aware of the aquarium club's various research endeavors.

Recently, jellyfish have been overly abundant in the waters off the coast of Ehime,

causing problems for the local fishing industry.

Fisherman use special grates made of sharp blades to cut up the jellyfish before dropping them back into the sea.

However, this method doesn't appear to be effective.

In response, Hashimoto is conducting research to find out if there are ways of cutting the jellyfish

to ensure they are dead and can no longer reproduce.

I'm currently conducting experiments and have narrowed it down to a few methods that appear to have potential.

Yakushiji Fusanori is the local government representative who reached out to the aquarium club.

I think these young students can offer unique perspectives.

That's why I wanted to collaborate with them and try and come up with an effective way to deal with the jellyfish problem.

Just like serving my community as a lifeguard,

conducting this type of research is another way for me to provide extremely important help to people in my community -

I think that's why I find it so enjoyable and rewarding.