Up to half of all country’s residential properties in need of demolition & rebuilding.
Chinese officials announced recently that they estimate up to half of the country’s existing residential structures will need to be demolished and rebuilt in the next 20 years in part because of poor quality building work – but also because many of the buildings were built without planning permission.
China annually sees more construction than any other country. In recent years, the nation has had up to 2 billion square metres of development annually. Each year, China uses 40 percent of the world’s cement and steel, the main ingredients of the construction industry.
But both experts and industry watchers have questioned the rapid speed of demolition and reconstruction, criticising poor building practices and a lack of consistent urban planning, along with a blind pursuit of economic gain on the part of developers.
In April, Qiu Baoxing, vice-minister of the ministry, said during an industry forum that Chinese buildings can only stand for between 25 and 30 years. In contrast, the average life expectancy of a building in Britain is 132 years and they last around 74 years in the United States.
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