Sieren's China: The World Needs More Massive Projects

Construction on China's massive infrastructure projects hasn't slowed. Even though the economic benefit is waning, DW columnist Frank Sieren says these projects are still China's best showcase for the world market.

As the details of China's 13th five-year plan came into focus earlier this month, one thing was clear: China will still be doing a lot of building in the second half of the decade, even if some of its megaprojects won't end up benefitting the economy as much as earlier developments.



One example of such a planned project is a $36-billion (31.7-billion-euro) underwater tunnel planned to link the northeastern port city of Dalian and the business center of Yantai beneath the Bohai Sea. At 120 kilometers (75 miles), it would be the world's longest underwater tunnel, nearly two-and-a-half times longer than the Channel Tunnel between France and the UK. Once completed, it would shorten a 10-hour trip to just one hour. Its economic value, however, is hard to estimate. No one knows how many cars will choose to use the tunnel or what the price will be. Still, a 10-hour journey shortened by a factor of 10 is hard to resist.



In Sichuan province, work is wrapping up on the Jinping-1 Dam. At just over 300 meters (around 985 feet), it is now the highest dam in the world. After construction costs of approximately 6 billion euros, the prestige project will produce 3,600 megawatts of electricity. But it won't be the only such project: By 2020, China plans to build around 20 new dams and hydroelectric power plants, some high up in the Tibetan Plateau.







In Shandong province, work is currently under way on the world's largest nuclear power plant. And in four years, at a cost of about 10 billion euros, the Daxing Airport in Beijing will start to welcome flights on its seven runways - the third airport in the Chinese capital.



Western China still needs infrastructure



When Beijing's second airport opened in 2008, some were complaining that it was just too big - like many other megaprojects in the country. That accusation may now have a ring of truth for individual cases in China's coastal cities. But China's west still needs plenty of infrastructure, and such projects help stabilize economic growth.



The Chinese government also has another factor in mind when it plans its stunning megaprojects: They are the country's best showcase for international orders. Large infrastructure projects have always been China's strength, and Beijing has developed an excellent reputation as an international project partner that the government does not want to lose.



China is already the first choice when new train connections are planned in Africa. Last year, China was also able to sell its trains to India. And when something has gone wrong, it's often the fault of foreign partners.



Take Greece, for example. China had planned to invest 320 million euros in the country's national railway and the port of Piraeus, near Athens. But in his first week in office, new Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has decided to cancel the project to please his constituents. In Mexico, China had been tasked with building a high-speed train route, but competing companies will now have another shot after irregularities were discovered in the initial tendering process.



Largest coup to date



Such setbacks annoy Beijing but don't actually hurt China economically. If a proposed project falls through, China usually has another international commission waiting in the wings. The country's largest coup so far has been to land the tender for "El Gran Canal," Nicaragua's ambitious $50 billion project linking the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Sea. Work on the 280-kilometer canal began in December and is due to be completed in 2019.



The canal will bring an end to a monopoly enjoyed by US-controlled Panama Canal, the sole shipping route between the Atlantic and the Pacific for more than a century. Ten years ago, many doubted that such a project could ever be realized - and certainly not by the Chinese. But now, that thinking has been flipped on its head. No one but the Chinese is able to finance and implement such a large-scale project so quickly.



DW columnist Frank Sieren has lived in Beijing for 20 years.