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May 25th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda But with the country having finished building much of its infrastructure, it is having a harder time finding further projects that can pass cost-benefit analyses. The Chinese interior has been the biggest beneficiary of infrastructure spending over the last decade, but now shows signs of catching up with the more developed coast.
The Xi’an airport opened a third terminal and another runway on May 3, giving it the capacity to handle as many passengers as John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, despite considerably smaller daily traffic. Bullet trains connect Xi’an to Zhengzhou, nearly 300 miles to the east, while no fewer than three concentric beltways encircle Xi’an, although traffic jams continue to bedevil the ancient city’s core.
Video: China focuses on airlines, airports to help its growth (on this page)
One more big infrastructure project remains: the city opened its first subway line late last year, plans to finish a second line later this year and has begun construction on a third. But crisscross the city these days and there are fewer streets torn up for building projects than in the past.
At the same time, residential real estate construction has slowed sharply after the government imposed a stringent ban last year on the purchase of multiple homes in an effort to discourage speculation and make housing more affordable. Wei Li, a real estate broker in downtown Xi’an, said that prices had fallen 20 percent since the start of this year for new apartments in the hundreds of towers under construction on the city’s periphery, but she said downtown real estate prices were stable. Construction material vendors here, however, say that apartment prices are also falling in downtown neighborhoods.
Jason Lee
/
Reuters, file
Developers across the country have responded to the drop in prices by abandoning the longstanding practice of floodlighting construction sites and working around the clock. They have cut back to one daytime shift, sharply reducing the demand for construction workers.
“It’s getting harder and harder to find work,” complained Li Bo, a construction worker here.
Xi’an is best known in the West as an ancient capital of China, a Silk Road entrepôt that is home to the terra-cotta warriors. But modern-day Xi’an also plays an important role in the Chinese economy as a regional economic hub with eight million residents.
Store owners and other traders from across northwestern China converge at large covered markets here to buy goods, making Xi’an one of the best places to take the pulse of China’s interior. And now, that pulse feels weak for consumer spending.
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Until late March, Ma Xiechuan sold pork at his butcher shop here by hacking large chunks and handing them to lines of customers to take home and carefully slice and dice. But with sales now down by a third, he has so much extra time that he deftly wields his steel cleaver to produce thin slivers, ready for the customer’s wok.
“It’s the fastest downturn in business I’ve seen in more than 10 years here,” Mr. Ma said.
Yian Leilei, a wholesaler of tablecloths and car seat covers, said that sales nose-dived after Chinese New Year on Jan. 23 and had not recovered. Wang Heiyen, a wholesaler of insulated food and beverage containers said his sales were sliding steadily and customers were becoming ever pickier. Ding Lei, the co-owner of a paint and plaster store said his sales had halved since the start of this year. “People are just not buying apartments,” Mr. Ding said. “It was O.K. in 2009. I’ve never seen it as bad as it is now.”
Mayor Dong Jun of Xi’an expressed worry in a post last week on the city’s Web site.
“The economic situation in the whole city from January through April this year is not that optimistic,” he said. “Maintaining the growth rate continues to be very difficult.”
This story, “After Barreling Ahead in Recession, China Finally Slows“, originally appeared in The New York Times.
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