On the Supposed ‘Ghost Towns’ of China
Interesting highlight from the above piece:
“But according to CLSA
analyst Nicole Wong, those reports might be missing the forest for the trees—or
in this case, missing the people for their timing. Ms. Wong, who recently
returned from a tour of 137 projects in three Chinese cities often cited for
their ghostly developments, says that the presence of empty apartments is
thanks to some unusual quirks of China’s real-estate landscape.
Specifically, she
noted at Tuesday’s CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets Investors’ Forum in Hong Kong, new
Chinese apartments are typically sold as virtual concrete shells that buyers
must outfit, installing everything from showers to flooring to kitchen sinks to
make them move-in ready. Accordingly, Ms. Wong notes, many such “ghost”
developments take awhile to gain traction—especially as it’s often the sale of
the land they’re sitting on that allows the city to fund subsequent facilities
and transportation links that will eventually help make them mature
neighborhoods.
“When buildings are
first completed they are actually not that habitable, so it takes a long time
before most people want to move in,” Ms. Wong said.”
China’s Impressive High Speed Train System
Apparently, China is already seeing macroeconomic benefits
from the high-tech transportation system. From the above article:
“For example, Chinese
workers are now more productive. A paper for the World Bank by three
consultants this year found that Chinese cities connected to the high-speed
rail network, as more than 100 are already, are likely to experience broad
growth in worker productivity. The productivity gains occur when companies find
themselves within a couple of hours’ train ride of tens of millions of
potential customers, employees and rivals.”