Markets

16 Facts About China That Will Make Your Mind Melt

By Gus Lubin and Linette Lopez
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china kung fu

Probably the most significant development of the past two decades is the rise of China.

We've reached a point where China's every move can make or break global markets, in many areas with a bigger impact than the U.S. Pretty soon China may be the biggest economy in the world — if it doesn't crash.

We picked out some impressive and some terrifying facts about the Middle Kingdom.

Around 140 MILLION FARMERS have had their land forcibly seized by the government in the past 17 years

china farmer protest
ap

This estimate is based on data for farmland seizures from 1994 to 2006, cited in the New York Times. Since then land grabs have continued, as cities face growing pressure to sell farmland as lucrative real estate.

Indeed cities are relying more than ever on land sales for revenue, according to NBER.

Because of land grabs, Chinese farmland has shrunk by 8.33 million hectares — an area the size of South Carolina — in the past 12 years.

Beginning in 2008, China's local government loans exploded from $235 million to $1.6 TRILLION

wenzhou
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yakobusan/3981724225/

Source: Caixin

You think America was in a housing bubble? Since 2003 Hong Kong home prices have TRIPLED

chart

If he spent his entire yearly income on housing, the average Beijing resident could buy 6 square feet of residential property

chinese property

Obviously he can't spend his entire income on housing...

A square meter of residential property in Beijing averages 12,793 yuan ($2,000) per square meter, according to Le Monde. Meanwhile the average per capita income is only 24,000 yuan, according to Asia Times.

16,810 CHINESE COAL MINERS have died in accidents in the past five years

chart
Xinhua State Administration of Work Safet via Sweet and Sour Socialism

China consumes 53% of the world's cement... and 48% of the world's iron ore... and 47% of the world's coal... and the majority of just about every major commodity

china construction
http://www.flickr.com/photos/neilspicys/2349721108/

Source: Jeremy Grantham via Michael Pettis

By 2025, China will build enough skyscrapers to fill TEN NEW YORK-SIZED CITIES

chart

"[By 2025,] 40 billion square meters of floor space will be built — in five million buildings. 50,000 of these buildings could be skyscrapers — the equivalent of ten New York Cities."

Source: McKinsey, "Preparing for China's urban billion"

By some estimates China has 64 MILLION VACANT HOMES, including entire cities that are empty

chinese ghost town

Source: Chinese Academy Of Social Sciences

More amazing photos of Chinese ghost cities here >

Chinese credit card debt is projected to SURGE BY 600% in five years

china credit

Already this year total debt exploded from $63 billion to $93 billion.

Source: Celent, Shanghai Daily

There are nearly 500 MILLION CHINESE who live on less than two dollars a day

china poor
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rivard/155455037/

Source: World Bank

China averages 493 mass protests EVERY DAY

protest

Chinese academics estimate there were 180,000 protests, strikes and other mass disturbances last year, according to the Telegraph. Civil unrest is increasing in the face of food inflation, corruption and other pressures.

China's enormous Gobi Desert is the size of Peru and expanding 1,400 square miles per year due to water source depletion, over-foresting, and over-grazing

gobi desert

Source: Wikipedia

Chinese consume 55,000 cigarettes EVERY SECOND

china smoking cigarette

Source: WHO

When you buy Chinese stocks, you are basically financing the Chinese government. Seven of Shanghai's top ten stocks are government owned

hu jintao

Seven of the ten largest stocks on the Shanghai Stock Exchange are nothing but state-controlled companies:

  • PetroChina
  • Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
  • Sinopec
  • Bank of China
  • China Shenhua Energy Company
  • China Life Insurance Company
  • Bank of Communications

China executes three times as many people as the rest of the world combined

china execution van

China carried out at least 1,718 executions in 2008, three times as many as the rest of the world, according to Amnesty International. Some analysts put the yearly figure closer to 6,000.

To speed things up, they use mobile execution vans, according to USA Today:

"Makers of the death vans say the vehicles and injections are a civilized alternative to the firing squad, ending the life of the condemned more quickly, clinically and safely. The switch from gunshots to injections is a sign that China "promotes human rights now," says Kang Zhongwen, who designed the Jinguan Automobile death van in which "Devil" Zhang took his final ride."

China has THE WORLD'S LARGEST MILITARY, with 3.5 million active and reserve personnel. By comparison America has under 3 million people.

China Military
http://www.flickr.com/photos/x-ray_delta_one/4318701333/

Source: SIPRI

So what happens if China crashes?

Chinese army
Wikimedia Commons

These Are The States That Would Get Crushed In A Trade War With China >

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gus lubin
Gus Lubin
Gus worked at Business Insider from 2009 to 2017. Starting as an intern, he did a bit of everything, launching sections covering lifestyle, science, personal finance, military, and more, eventually serving as executive editor of Business Insider and editor-in-chief of Tech Insider.As a writer, some of his favorite stories looked facial bias, the philosophy of Peter Thiel, Chinese ghost cities, self-driving car ethics, the average family on earth, Wikipedia hoax-hunters, income inequality, bleak futurism, global communication patterns, and the worst hotel in New York.As an editor and executive producer, some of his favorite stories include photo essays from the Canadian tar sands to the streets of Cairo, features about Vine stardom and dog cloning, and a documentary on hacking the grid.Gus graduated from Dartmouth College. He interned at Boston Review, 826 Boston, and Yes! Weekly.
Linette Lopez
Linette Lopez
Linette was a senior correspondent at Business Insider who focused her writing on tech, finance and economics as well as international relations. She also conducted investigations into controversial companies, like Tesla.She joined BI in the summer of 2011 after graduating from Columbia University's School of Journalism and holds a BA from Columbia University, where she finished her undergraduate education in 2008.In 2017 she won the Folio 'Rising Star' award for top women in media. In 2020 she won the 'Excellence in Financial Journalism' Award in opinion writing from NYSSCPA for a piece on US-China relations, 'The Huawei indictment marks the end of US and China's cycle of trust.' In 2023 she won the New York Press Club award for commentary in digital journalism for a series of stories about the stock market's decline in 2022.She contributes to "Marketplace," a radio show from American Public Media, and can be seen on MSNBC and CNN.Some stories by Linette:
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