Videos showcasing the unsustainable nature of China’s construction-led economy are nothing new.
In 2009, AlJazeera posted an explosive video showcasing China’s most famous ghost city – Ordos in inner Mongolia – which exemplified the “build it and they will come” approach that has underpinned the Chinese economy. AlJazeera provided a follow-up in 2011, which was equally revealing.
Then Business Insider posted a slideshow of China’s empty cities, headlined by Ordos.
And in late 2011, a video from NTD Television showed how Ordos’ home prices were crashing, having fallen by almost one-third. Meanwhile, construction had finally ground to a halt, leaving many construction workers unemployed.
Then in 2012, a video from the Atlantic followed a group of skaters through Ordos, showing a city that appeared almost completely empty three years after Aljazeera’s first ground-breaking report.
And who can forget US 60 Minutes’ explosive video last year showcasing China’s ghost cities, or SBS Dateline’s two eye-opening reports from 2011 and 2013 (here and here).
Earlier this week, the BBC screened another video report (above) entitled How China fooled to world, showcasing why China’s economy could be in trouble, with its epic construction drive built on ever-rising debt.
The report features interviews with the former American treasury secretary Henry Paulson, Lord Adair Turner – former chairman of the FSA, and Charlene Chu – a leading Chinese banking analyst.
Enjoy!
