3 ms·

That's a big part of it. The other thing the government has done (at least in the last couple of decades) is a big push in to transportation infrastructure - b

by imron 9y ago

That's a big part of it. The other thing the government has done (at least in the last couple of decades) is a big push in to transportation infrastructure - bridges, highways, high-speed rail. All of these things help in opening up the economy of previously isolated regions.

seanmcdirmid 9y ago
Yes. But that isn't especially a communist thing. There is no special formula to China's success beyond getting out of the way and eliminating barriers. Ironically enough, much of China's transportation infrastructure is supposed to turn a profit, leading to still fairly high logistic costs.
- imron 9y ago
  > But that isn't especially a communist thing. It's not, however unlike other countries, by being authoritarian they can get things done. Compare for example a proposed high-speed rail line between Melbourne and Sydney, which has been under investigation since the 80's and it still hasn't gone beyond the basic planning stage. And it's not like there isn't demand, Melbourne->Sydney is currently the 5th busiest air route in the world.
  - seanmcdirmid 9y ago
    There are good reasons for that. Each time I rode the hsr in china, the car I was in was pretty empty. I'm not sure if this line (BJ to GZ) made much sense demand wise. Sure the government can push through face glorifying project, but whenever it rains heavily in southern china everything floods because investing in basic drainage isn't sexy enough.
    - imron 9y ago
      > whenever it rains heavily in southern china everything floods because investing in basic drainage isn't sexy enough. Same thing happens in northern China also :-)
      - seanmcdirmid 9y ago
        Yes, tough to be fair, beijing gets a bad storm once every 4 years that causes the subway stations to flood (I had nice flood pictures for zhichunlu stations back in 2008 but lost them...it was basically a huge swimming pool). Cities in southern china have to put up with it every year (that and bloody no indoor heating makes living there a no-no for me).

by imron 9y ago

seanmcdirmid 9y ago

Yes. But that isn't especially a communist thing. There is no special formula to China's success beyond getting out of the way and eliminating barriers. Ironically enough, much of China's transportation infrastructure is supposed to turn a profit, leading to still fairly high logistic costs.

imron 9y ago
> But that isn't especially a communist thing. It's not, however unlike other countries, by being authoritarian they can get things done. Compare for example a proposed high-speed rail line between Melbourne and Sydney, which has been under investigation since the 80's and it still hasn't gone beyond the basic planning stage. And it's not like there isn't demand, Melbourne->Sydney is currently the 5th busiest air route in the world.
- seanmcdirmid 9y ago
  There are good reasons for that. Each time I rode the hsr in china, the car I was in was pretty empty. I'm not sure if this line (BJ to GZ) made much sense demand wise. Sure the government can push through face glorifying project, but whenever it rains heavily in southern china everything floods because investing in basic drainage isn't sexy enough.
  - imron 9y ago
    > whenever it rains heavily in southern china everything floods because investing in basic drainage isn't sexy enough. Same thing happens in northern China also :-)
    - seanmcdirmid 9y ago
      Yes, tough to be fair, beijing gets a bad storm once every 4 years that causes the subway stations to flood (I had nice flood pictures for zhichunlu stations back in 2008 but lost them...it was basically a huge swimming pool). Cities in southern china have to put up with it every year (that and bloody no indoor heating makes living there a no-no for me).