China's Ghost Cities & Malls

Don't agree with your conclusion. If anything a sinking economy does'nt direct its funds towards military. And in terms of economic prowess China is already at war with India or rather I feel that way.One more thing,international funds are channelised by powerful military/govt. officials to their advantage and since it never goes in capital markets, money always floats in the system. So it is too early to decide the outcome.

Ofcourse not! If China's economy fails it will have a disastrous consequences! And I am afraid the worst affected would be it's neighbours, especially India. If China goes down they are sure to take India down with them. Atleast they will attempt to do so. They will start to spend more on covert activities and sponsor other states like Pakistan to destabilize the subcontinent and rekindle the territorial disputes. If for no other reason it will just be to reassure them that India's economy doesn't surpass theirs....so they will make sure that India spends more on weapons. I think it may trigger a huge arms race.

It will affect the US too albeit in a different manner. For the US the consequences will not be so dire, as only the consumer market paradigm will change. But in the long run it may even bring some jobs back to the US. So it may not be as bad for the US as it will be for China's immediate neighbours.

live there even for sometime and you will know the real score. How many people did they interview for that program?  How many people who knows what is economy in the program?It was even implied or directly said that the marketing people are scripted in their ways of handling leaflets? Was that needed in the program?Whether it's propaganda or not, it's still working for them.  At least, China is not that secretive as it was before. Even doing business with them is already not one way but beneficial to outside investments.  If they collapse due to these unoccupied condominiums, or ghost cities as reported, for sure there will be good and bad consequences.  MAybe they stop bullying their Asian neighbors on terrritorial disputes. How I wish!

It may be an internal affair of China but anything going wrong with the economy of China would have severe ramifications world over. An excerpt from the recent IMF's "spillover over" report on China's economy states "any economic disruptions there would have material adverse consequences for the rest of the world". Yes, China is sitting on a precarious property bubble, but hope they know what they are upto and are able to contain this bubble else a bubble burst in China would bring some very difficult times as it has increased its sway over the global economy and holds "an important stake for the world in its stability", as per IMF.

I wouldn't call it biased. If it were reported by a US news agency or even an Indian news agency I would be more inclined to agree with you.

But coming from a Austrian News agency....I believe it is as neutral as it could be!

Any reports coming out of the Chinese Ruling Party is termed as propaganda.

china's  debt is starting to have an impact on top of a housing bubble thats about to burst.

it's internal affair of China!

So afterall China's bubble may burst soon!

It's not my opinion. It's from SBS dateline, an independent source from Austria.

the problem of the world?

That's the point Dohaknight....I absolutely agree.

China is no doubt a great economy and its called the factory of the world but it only makes business sense to invest if the payback is better than the bank rates ( in case of individual investors).

If the buildings are owned and directly funded by the government, this will finally pinch them hard if they are not able to sell them off or rent them out suitably. Does this mean, finally it will come as a burden to individuals and the private sector as additional taxes?

but I can't say evrything is fine there. Although I stayed in one of the best cities of China (Sjanghai), I had the opportunity to travel to many provinces as part of the job. True, there is an oversupply of residential structures as of now (I was there 4 years ago) but opening the countries for business opportunities and the growing number of youths who were encourage by the Central Government to be young enterpreneurs, China will remain a great economy.  As for these subject post, we can all just speculate what the plan is.

flor, If you have been to China, probably you would be able to say who fund these constructions and on what basis..

Looking from the point of investment, Its a lost game..

in major cities of China.

Looking at these, I feel, capitalism is much better than such inefficient state of affairs.

 GDP is one part but the project feasibility based on the payback period should be also considered to begin a project with..doesn't matter who the owners are.

everything is owned by the gvernment, at least in essence.  So that's the answer to your question.

OK Agreed 'migration can be initiated'....but who pays for the units?

The one visible from moon. I have always marvelled (and mostly jealous of) the civil engineering of chinese. The govt. in China can get the "cooperation" of its people for such projects.

yep.. just look at the story of The Three Gorges Dam :o)

Agree. A comme govt. is already obligated to provide work to its people - even on gun point :-(

Due to the systems in place - migration can be initiated / forced by the government. I think in the long run, most of the cities will be populated and blossom. 

In the short term, the building boom fuels the economy and provides the work for the people.

Atta girl.In China you will never die of hunger - comme govt.

knew about the real CHINA is far from what you might experience when you experience living there, even for not so long.  In two years time, you'll know the way and the way the government is handling the whole affairs of the country.Views I post here are based on what my two eyes have seen there and working with the locals.My belief remains intact, in China, you will not die of hunger! And about this post by my friend, the government is trying to decongest major cities by creating more urban areas.  I really do hope that they succeed since current major cities are really overcrowded that they don't allow now detached housing unit be built.  They prefer medium to high-rise cndominiums!

flor1212, it appears that you have been there. I remember you making a similar remark when I raised the issue of lack of values in most chinese kids which most posters rebuked in another thread. I found your comment appropiate in that thread since one needs to be in that society to understand the intricate details.Sorry Edifis :-p 

I think that one needs to consider the socialist background of China which is not comparable to Qatar. Although Edifis does raise an interesting question.My first comment was just an aside, although it is still linked to the topic  as most of China's GDP (bump) is from billions of dollars taken as loan.

to know the real situation!

Britex, to migrate to these new cities they need huge money which they don't have. There are millions of empty homes and millions of homeless Chinese living on a meagre income.

Who will shell out millions to live in those cities where even the malls are unoccupied.

You said there are ghost here...i did not find any

Chinese politburo is not transparent and have fooled economist. We cannot be sure the figures they give are actually true.  

there is a difference. The population is huge. The chinese middle class is growing, the economy is booming and people are willing to migrate.

Does the Pearl Qatar bear a striking resemblance with situation in China?

I think Yes, to some extent but there are some basic differences. Here millions are not living in slums and dreaming of decent homes. And many people here can actually afford to live in the Pearl.