"New" ghost towns in China

[Area52]

Look out below when this boom goes bust.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/bu...host.html?_r=1

[hugegrowth]

I doubt there will be a total bust. They are trying to get millions of people to move into cities from rural areas, so this 'ghost town' could fill up over time. In the last century the economic booms and busts were based on Western countries, now we have people in China, Russia, and Latin America trying to improve their living standards - it isn't something that will fade away, new economies are being created based on real demand. China just passed Japan as the world's second largest economy. Sure it won't all go straight up, there will be ups and downs, but this is a major kind of change that shifts how the world works.

[DomainsInc]

I doubt there will be a total bust. They are trying to get millions of people to move into cities from rural areas, so this 'ghost town' could fill up over time. In the last century the economic booms and busts were based on Western countries, now we have people in China, Russia, and Latin America trying to improve their living standards - it isn't something that will fade away, new economies are being created based on real demand. China just passed Japan as the world's second largest economy. Sure it won't all go straight up, there will be ups and downs, but this is a major kind of change that shifts how the world works.

the thing is, can these people in rural areas afford to move into cities?

[Area52]

China isn't immune to a bad recession.
That's a huge amount of debt that has to be serviced one way or the other.

I love this part.

“I started my company in 1988; before that, I was a low-level government official,” said Zhang Shuangwang, 66, chairman of the Yitai Group, one of the region’s biggest privately owned coal and transport companies. “Back then, I had a team. The government gave us $7,500 and then loaned us $60,000 and said, ‘Do whatever you want.’ We bought a coal mine.”

Two decades later, Mr. Zhang is a billionaire, and Wall Street is courting his $4 billion company to help one of its units prepare a public stock listing.

In communist China no less. I'm aware that they supposedly allow private ownership, but it sounds fishy.
I'm suprised they allow millionaires, much less billionaires.
That would be interesting to look into. It seems contrary to the whole principle of communism.
I wonder what his tax rate is? LOL

[hugegrowth]

I guess my point is just that there are hundreds of millions of people that are upgrading their standard of living right now, and infrastructure is being built to support it. Their economies are maturing. They want many of the things that people in western countries think of as normal. 10, 20, 30 years ago how much did China's, Russia's or Latin American economies factor into worldwide trade? How much were those countries importing then compared to now? The next 10-20 years should be interesting to watch as it all unfolds.

We have been used to economic cycles that largely depend on how the US is doing. The growth isn't happening in the US, Canada, and western Europe anymore, it's happening in the BRIC countries. It is a major world shift we will be dealing with through this century, quite amazing when you really look into it.

Many people in the rural areas of China will move into the cities because that's where the jobs will be, just like what happened in North America over the last century.

[DomainsInc]

I guess my point is just that there are hundreds of millions of people that are upgrading their standard of living right now, and infrastructure is being built to support it. Their economies are maturing. They want many of the things that people in western countries think of as normal. 10, 20, 30 years ago how much did China's, Russia's or Latin American economies factor into worldwide trade? How much were those countries importing then compared to now? The next 10-20 years should be interesting to watch as it all unfolds.

We have been used to economic cycles that largely depend on how the US is doing. The growth isn't happening in the US, Canada, and western Europe anymore, it's happening in the BRIC countries. It is a major world shift we will be dealing with through this century, quite amazing when you really look into it.

Many people in the rural areas of China will move into the cities because that's where the jobs will be, just like what happened in North America over the last century.

until china stops paying slave wages the people will never be able to afford to move there. there are lots of billionaires and millionaires in china but the gap between the haves and the have nots is so huge..