Tianjin is one of the most modern and richest cities in China. But that is precisely where the economic crisis is manifesting itself. Empty skyscrapers symbolize the problems the country is struggling with.
Drive through Tianjin-Binhai. An impressive skyline – about 80 kilometers east of the core city of Tianjin. The metropolis is located in the north of China, near the capital Beijing. Here there are skyscrapers next to skyscrapers, criss-crossed by wide streets.
The driver tells us a little: This high-rise building is empty, that one too, they stopped building here. He estimates that around 70 percent of the houses here are empty. The statement cannot be verified. However, if you look closely, you will notice that many of the buildings are unused or have not been completed.
The New York of China?
Michael Pettis is an economics professor at Peking University. He quotes a common legend. Ten or 15 years ago it was decided in Tianjin: We want to become the New York of China, the financial center.
“And they asked themselves: What makes New York a financial center? Skyscrapers, that’s what it has to be! And so they built as much office space in high-rise buildings along the river as in all of Manhattan. And the idea behind it was: If the buildings Once we get there, we’ll be like New York. In the end it didn’t work. Now it’s a tourist attraction. All the beautiful empty buildings.”
Even Chinese state media repeatedly talk about the Manhattan of the East. In contrast to the New York district, you hardly see any people on the street here.
The Goldin Finance 117 skyscraper is the third tallest building in China – and the tallest ruined building in the world.
597 meters: The highest ruined building in the world
At the other end of the city, not far from Tianjin South Station, there is a ruined building that even made it into the Guinness Book of Records. The Goldin Finance 117 – a skyscraper, 128 floors, 597 meters high. The third tallest building in China, the tallest ruined building in the world.
The tower stands alone, all the other buildings in the district are significantly lower. The cladding is missing on large parts of the facade. The skyscraper was never finished. In 2015, construction work was stopped because the investor ran out of money. Residents say they have gotten used to it.
25-year-old Chen Guozhen lives in an apartment building right next to the ruins: “Sometimes I look up, it’s really huge. When I go home, I can always look for the building on the horizon first, and then I’ll find my house.” She has never seen such a tall building in her hometown of Anhui. “When I first came to Tianjin, my father-in-law said it was the tallest building in the city.”
The Goldin Finance 117 skyscraper in the west of the city and China’s Manhattan in the Binhai district, in the far east of Tianjin. Different projects that are nevertheless symbolic of China’s economic and real estate crisis. Ruins and empty buildings, even entire abandoned ghost towns, can be found all over the country.
Over-indebted real estate developers such as Evergrande are fighting for survival in China.
Real estate crisis burdens economy
Over-indebted real estate developers such as Country Garden or Evergrande are fighting for survival, and construction has been halted in many projects. Buyers of apartments are worried about their investments because many real estate developers work with advance payments, which are paid before construction begins.
After real estate prices have skyrocketed for many years, they are now falling again in many places in China; prices for living space are also falling in the modern metropolis of Tianjin, with its more than ten million inhabitants. The real estate sector, which is in crisis, is putting a lot of strain on the Chinese economy, as it has so far accounted for around a quarter of the gross domestic product.
But it’s not just real estate developers who are over-indebted; many cities are also running out of money. They used to earn a large part of their income from selling land to real estate companies. Tianjin, one of China’s richest cities, hit the headlines this year because the city was unable to pay bus drivers their salaries on time.
The economy is only recovering slowly after Corona
During the almost three-year-long strict zero-Covid policy, many Chinese cities have become even more indebted. They had to pay for mass PCR testing and build isolation facilities.
After China’s Covid policy failed and measures were lifted in December, the economy is recovering more slowly than initially hoped. Recent data suggests that the economic situation in China is improving somewhat. But in addition to the real estate crisis, there are other uncertainties.
Youth unemployment at record high
Lunch break at Tianjin University of Technology campus. Thousands of students stream out of the lecture halls towards the cafeteria at the same time. Many young people are worried about their future. Youth unemployment in China is currently at a record high. 23-year-old Ling Yi is studying for a master’s degree in computer science.
“I didn’t do very well in my undergraduate studies,” says Ling. “So I thought it would be difficult to find a job and decided to continue studying and then look for a job with my master’s degree.” So far her decision appears to be the right one. The job market is really not good. Some of Ling’s older fellow students were looking for work: “The situation is really serious.”
Will data become available? unemployment secreted?
According to official information, 21.3 percent of people between the ages of 16 and 24 were unemployed in June – the number of unreported cases is likely to be significantly higher. The government has stopped publishing figures on youth unemployment since July. Observers suspect that China’s state and party leadership is hiding the data because it does not fit into the political picture.
But not everyone on campus is worried. Zhou Jiaxu is pursuing a master’s degree in marine electronics. For him, the pressure to find a job is not so great because his family is wealthy, said the 21-year-old: “Whether it is difficult to find a job also depends on your personal abilities.” If you’re good, you can find a job, says Zhou. “Although our university is not among the best, in some subjects we can compete with good universities.”
Tianjin-Binhai: “Once the buildings are there, we’ll be like New York. In the end it didn’t work.”
“At least we survived”
A café in the historic city center of Tianjin. The European-looking building dates back to the colonial period in the early 20th century. The Italian concession is now a popular tourist destination. But the district doesn’t seem really lively. The café is almost empty. Lü Xuan runs the shop, which becomes a whiskey bar in the evenings, with two other business partners. He also works as an architect.
In these years, the economic situation is not so good, says Lü, and the real estate market in particular is in crisis. “That’s why I have the opportunity to run this shop alongside my job as an architect.” Things didn’t go well at all during the three years of the pandemic, but this year they’ve been a little better. “But at least we survived.”
Many customers disappeared after the pandemic
2021 was the worst year, says Lü. Out of 365 days they were only allowed to open 60. All three managing directors cried out of despair. Now they are allowed to open again, but Lü notices that people are no longer spending as much money after zero Covid is over.
“After we opened, there was a brief upswing. The store was full, we were very busy. But then it immediately went down again. Before the epidemic, many regulars bought a whole bottle of whiskey, left it with us and kept coming back, to drink from. But those customers disappeared after the pandemic.
Some people come back now and drink a glass, sometimes I give them another one. But the fact that they buy a whole bottle, like before the pandemic, no longer exists.”