Entire City Sitting Empty in China

[Rajiv]

Entire City Sitting Empty in China

Al Jazeera’s Melissa Chan reports from Inner Mongolia, where a whole town built with government money is standing empty.

[Jay]

Re: Entire City Sitting Empty in China

I live in Ordos. Anyone got the number for the plumber?

[touchring]

Re: Entire City Sitting Empty in China

The Chinese do this all the time as the cost of labor, capital, and material is cheap - it doesn't cost much to build entire cities and leave them empty. They do this with their products as well. So as you can imagine, if they are not sold within China, they will flood the world markets.

[doom&gloom]

Re: Entire City Sitting Empty in China

If you build it, will they come?

[touchring]

Re: Entire City Sitting Empty in China

If you build it, will they come?

People will definitely come, it's only a matter of price. I've read about Chinese factories being given out for free to any foreign investor willing to put in a certain amount of money and setup shop.

So the land is free, the building is free, and the labor is also almost free (80 cents per hour). The factory owner only needs to buy the machinery and provide the working capital. If you're a big company, state banks will provide you with working capital without collateral.

[Wild Style]

Re: Entire City Sitting Empty in China

Me thinks the city planners for downtown Miami must have been from China.