Infrastructure

More than one hundred of the biggest and most impressive infrastructure projects on the planet are taking place in China. These include projects such as the longest sea bridge in the world and a network of extremely high-speed trains. China is modernizing very rapidly and this infrastructure will put in place the needed energy production, transportation and communications links required to move forward. In addition to improving transportation and communication, the country is also making a big commitment to science and technology by building enormous research facilities.

One advantage the government of China has compared to the governments of other countries is that it can simply command an infrastructure project to be built and it will be done. There are no project delays for feasibility studies, or concerns about neighborhoods or entire cities being destroyed. Millions of poor peasant farmers can be forcibly displaced from lands their families lived on for centuries in order to build a massive hydro-electrical dam project and they have no recourse. Uncounted numbers of rare species can be wiped out due to environmental destruction and degradation, and no one is there to protest or document the losses.

Another reason for China to undertake massive infrastructure projects at this time is because these projects will provide jobs for hundreds of thousands or perhaps even millions of Chinese workers who need to be absorbed gainfully into the economy. The economic model that China has embraced is one that requires very rapid growth for years to come. Once the infrastructure projects are completed, they will allow China to become a very different place than it is today.