China's north-east in search of new growth model

Beijing

ABANDONED stucco and fibreglass unfinished housing decorations litter Xuefu Hany's workshop in Qiqihar, a second-tier city in north-east China's Heilongjiang province. A few years ago, the company, which makes polyester balconies and antique-style columns for real estate developers and construction companies, generated 100 million yuan (S$22.4 million) in sales. Today that figure has more than halved.

Further down the road from the workshop, other plants and ateliers have completely closed, leaving behind unsold window panes and mounds of coal.