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China's north-east in search of new growth model
Local governments are heavily in debt and are at a loss on how to adapt to the "new norm" of value-added growth
Add BT as a preferred sourcePublished Tue, Nov 10, 2015 · 09:50 PM
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.
