Infrastructure Investment

This is a much different China than what Jim and I saw in 1985. Most bicycles are gone; cars are everywhere. Pot-holed dirt roads have been replaced with superhighways that crisscross the country. On our recent trip to Chongqing, we saw construction cranes in every direction we turned. They are building skyscrapers of New York City proportion.

Bridges, schools, water supplies, and electricity generation systems are being constructed. Every airport we've been at (Guangzhou, Xian, Guilin, Chongqing) has been modern and recently renovated. Around the country, there are currently ninety-seven new airports under construction! They are investing $20 billion into their rail system. They can definitely move goods and people well.

I am happy for China, but it saddens me to realize how under-invested the US has been during that same twenty year time period. While they’ve been investing in infrastructure, we’ve been investing in “homeland security” (if you can call it that), which will NOT pay the dividends that China’s investments will. (Connie)