After 40 years of record growth, the People’s Republic is at a turning point: downwards. The dream of becoming a world power could burst. This has consequences for the regime – and our prosperity.
As the Year of the Tiger ends and the Year of the Rabbit begins, a new construction project awaits completion on the coast south of Shanghai. The “Royal Sea World” blocks of flats soar more than 25 stories into the New Year’s sky, a good 8,000 apartments with a view of Xiangshan Bay, many of which were sold before construction even began. In the rapid pace of three and a half years that is typical of the country, a small town was stacked vertically, grouped around three European-style castle imitations, in which restaurants, shops and a cinema are to be housed.