Monday, October 29, 2007

Chinese Relocating 4 MILLION People?


Four million more Chinese will be forced to relocate to make way for the Three Gorges Dam, the Chinese government announced on Friday.
Heralded as a showcase of Chinese engineering, the $23 billion dam has already displaced 1.4 million people since construction began in 1994. Nearing completion, the world’s largest dam -- and perhaps the biggest civil engineering feat ever -- will push millions of Chinese out of rural life and into Chongqing, a city on the western end of the dam’s 400-mile-long reservoir.
“All told, China intends to relocate 400 million people to newly developed urban centers between 2000-2030,” says our international investing adviser Christopher Hancock.
Criminy, this thing is big. The Three Gorges Dam
“Think about that… 400 million! That means China plans to move a population 33% larger than the total population of the United States into urban centers over the next 23 years.
“That's going to require a construction project like nothing the world has ever seen. The United States needs $1.5 trillion just to maintain its existing infrastructure. We suspect the Chinese plan to spend much, much more.”
Chris’ play on the trend? In a word: steel… pretty tough to build much of anything without it. China will need to build hundreds, if not thousands, of steel-supported high-rises in the coming years to support this demand.

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