China's Booming Construction Industry

China is experiencing a nationwide boom in the construction industry, providing hundreds of thousands of jobs, and displacing thousands of residents whose homes stand in the way of new high-rises. "More than 100,000 urban dwellers in Beijing have been displaced by massive projects." Property rights laws remain "primitive...property carries a 70-year lease rather than outright ownership. Land remains owned by the state...On Sept. 25, an unemployed 35-year-old Beijing man set himself afire in protest when his family was forced out of their home by redevelopment." Corruption and controversy abound as the country prepares for the 2008 Olympics.

Thanks to David Gest