What is China up to?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail....-000-lying-empty.html

What is behind China's plan, surely they are far too smart than to build this accommodation costing £75,000 to move in, when these people are poorer than church mouses?

[youngmafbog]

Probably ready for them to move Chinese people in. China is making a big push into Africa, despite poverty caused by dictators it is a very rich continent.

[anotheoldgit]

Let them I say, at least it might stop our lot pouring millions into Africa, as we have done for years

[youngmafbog]

The difference is, China will spend the money and get something back whereas we pile money into dictatorships who lord it up while the population starves.

And we get nothing back either !

[anotheoldgit]

Wholeheartedly agree.

[Johnysid]

The Chinese government are not as clever as they are portrayed. The state controlled banks routinely over-lend and get no return for their money. Having spent about six weeks in China it was evident that just the sheer pent-up demand in a hard working and civilised population was driving Chinese growth despite mammoth mistakes that would have wrecked a smaller scale economy.

[FredPuli43]

And the problem seems a familiar one. There is difficulty getting 'credit'. meaning finance. That's true here and everywhere else; people who want to buy can't get the finance. Angola has plenty of resources, hence China's interest.

[Answerprancer]

This is the Daily Mail speaking - the story is probably warped and twisted beyond reason.

[jno]

"mouses"??!! aog, what are you doing to the English language??

Mind you, the Mail says "could lay empty for years" when it means "could lie empty".

Anyway, yes, China is busy buying friends all over Africa. Like all such purchases it's a bit of a gamble, but they're prepared to take the long view in matters lilke this.

[FredPuli43]

'Mouses', jno,is given in the OED as the plural of things, especially technical, resembling a mouse.I hope nobody is suggesting it's a Daily Mail plural. The paper seems to be fond of misusing language, but here it seems a typical lapsus calami (lapsus muris?) by a regular user of a computer mouse..

[jno]

computer mouses aren't poor, FredPuli, only churchmouses are.

Though some of the ones on my computer have been poorish, clogging up with dust and refusing to go where I put them.

[venator]

The Chinese are often very underhand in their business dealings. There is no concept of trust.

In this case, quite obviously, they have sold the Africans a lovely vanity project, and will have got far more than 2.2 billion dollars worth of oil in exchange

"....state-owned China International Trust and Investment Corporation, which built the 12,355 acres development in three years in exchange for oil....."

[sandyRoe]

Those buildings would remind you of the type erected to house people in Ceausescu's Romania. I'd guess they're not the type of home most Africans would want or could afford.

[Johnysid]

There are small towns in China with only a million people where buildings of this type march into the distance. It would be interesting to know the level of corruption in the deal on both sides...