In little more than a year, two gigantic infrastructure, chinese have fascinated the world. And with reason, because they have broken numerous records in their respective categories. First, at the end of October last year, was inaugurated the longest bridge over the sea, that connects the excolonias of Hong Kong and Macao with the city of Zhuhai, in mainland China. Then, days before the last October 1 the people's Republic celebrated its 70 anniversary, opened its doors on the second Beijing airport, the largest terminal on the planet. Both are spectacular works of engineering, in whose construction we have employed new technologies and innovative designs. But its future it predicts very different. Enough tour of the facility to certify it.

on the one hand, the airport in Daxing receives each day more flights, and the tourists flocking to photograph its impressive central atrium are being replaced by a growing number of passengers, who praise the speed with which they move through the tentacles of this sea star was designed by the late architect iraqi Zaha Hadid. With its 700,000 square meters, Daxing is achieving decongest the airport Beijing-Capital, which in 2008 also opened by the then achieved the title of the biggest terminal in the world. If the forecasts are true, in 2021 approximately 45 million people roam the bright hallways of this building which has cost about 10,000 million euros. Their economic viability is more assured.

on the other hand, 2,000 kilometres south of the capital of china, the dragon of concrete and steel that spans over 55 kilometres from the South China Sea appears to be almost desert. Once in a while they will travel a bus or a truck, but its six lanes are clearly excessive for the traffic that it receives. The day of highest traffic since its opening it was used by 4.791 vehicles, half of the expected. “Currently, their use is not even covering the cost of maintenance of the bridge,” says Li Jiang, chief engineer and manager of this pharaonic work that has cost more than 18,000 million euros and has involved the construction of two artificial islands and a tunnel under the sea of 6.7 kilometres.

Inside the airport in Daxing, designed by Zaha Hadid. Z. A

however, Li remembers that the useful life of the bridge will exceed the century and that the economic is not the only variable that China has in mind at the time of approving infrastructure projects, for which this year has allocated approximately 134.000 million euros. “The bridge has as an objective to strengthen the model ‘one country, two systems’ -which has served to integrate Hong Kong and Macao in the country while respecting their particularities-, and articulate the project of regional integration of the Pearl River delta. Both from the perspective of economic policy,” he says. That latter is what has led to tensions in the excolonia british, where the bridge has been perceived by some as an attempt of China to increase its control over the financial centre, weighed down now by six months of anti-government protests.

it Is evident that the construction of infrastructure in the second world power also serves political objectives. Good example of this is the high-speed line linking the capital of the northwestern region of Xinjiang with Gansu. Both cities are separated by 1.776 kilometers of desert plains buffeted by strong winds and extreme temperatures, and join them together cost almost 18,000 million euros. Taking into account the load factor of the trains and the price of the tickets, the project will never be profitable.

But the territory they populate the uighurs, the ethnic minority which suffers from the mass internment in camps of re-education, is a priority geo-strategic for Beijing, which is justification enough to give the green light to the project. It's unclear what said Yin Xindong, engineer of the National Railway Company in Urumqi, to the national chain CCTV: “Bring high speed rail to Xinjiang aims to promote the economic development, ethnic unity, and stability at the national level”. Yin also emphasized another important element: “it Is a reflection of the strength of China and their mastery of technology”.

Museum futuristic built in Kangbashi. Z. A.

Xu Bin, a professor of Finance at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) of Shanghai, adds two motivations for the launch of projects of unprecedented proportions. “In the first place, are used to counteract the effects of the crisis and encourage the economy. In the second place, that they also create jobs that are key to the Communist Party because their legitimacy lies in the ability it has to improve the well-being of the population. Finally, leaders are convinced that, although on paper the numbers do not justify their plans, what they build will end up attracting users and serving as a catalyst for development,” he adds.

But it is not always the case. What shows Kangbashi, one of the ghost towns that China has erected in the middle of nowhere. Specifically, in the plains of the province of Inner Mongolia. The Authorities were convinced that there was a market for gigantic blocks of dwellings capable of accommodating a population the size of Barcelona, and that the different incentives approved fill companies the gleaming skyscrapers of offices. The province, they have moved on, also was to become one of the main centres for the extraction of coal and rare earths, the oil of the TWENTY-first century.

So, using the great economic stimulus package of 2010, with more than 400,000 million euros, Kangbashi was built in the superlative, with avenues of six lanes, a palace of the opera and a museum futurist whose design is inspired by the dunes of the Gobi desert. But many developments do not came to its end, and, a decade later, a staff member who prefers to remain anonymous, recognizes that the expectations have not been fulfilled or far away. “Kangbashi is no longer the ghost town that the western media both exploited for years, but it has been shown that it should be to sustain these projects in the plans of economic viability, more solid,” he says.

deserted Streets in the city of Kangbashi. Z. A.

however, the past month of August, the official news agency Xinhua pulled chest to report that in Kangbashi reside 150,000 people, half of the estimated more pessimistic made a decade ago. And this is a situation usual. According to a study from the University of Oxford, the costs of the infrastructure investment made by China in the last three decades far outweigh the benefits, and generate a mountain of debt dangerous. In two-thirds of the projects, the under-utilisation reaches 40%.

a Good example of this ands the construction of airports without just planes. Not in vain, builds an average of ten a year, and not all are viable. The of Erenhot, a terminal is large and modern also located in Inner Mongolia, you can travel in complete solitude, as it is usual that its only security guard is asleep in a bank, waiting to reach the few passengers of the few regular flights that operate daily and depart half-empty. When he wakes up, he praises the Government to create jobs like his in deprived areas who now enjoy improved connections. It is what the Communist Party called national cohesion.

Date Of Update: 04 January 2020, 04:00