China’s new Great Wall
The country is building barriers to protect millions of people from rising seas
CHINA’s Communist party likes to think it is good at long-term planning. A glance along the country’s coastline might suggest that it is. More than 40 years ago Deng Xiaoping, the late paramount leader, started letting coastal cities dabble in free-market policies and attract foreign investment. Now the gleaming skyscrapers and bustling ports of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Shanghai are at the heart of global supply chains. Locals’ wealth has increased a hundredfold. Immigrants from poorer inland areas have flocked to cities by the sea.
This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “A new Great Wall”
From the June 10th 2023 edition
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