Asia Economics Comment

Think Asia, think construction. Here’s a statistic that sums it up:China will this year complete 105 skyscrapers, the US in its entirehistory built only 189 (buildings of 200m or taller). Cranes, steel,cement. That’s what powered the Mainland economy over the pastcouple of decades, especially since the Global Financial Crisis. Inthis, China wasn’t unusual: it simply followed the path struck byeconomies like Korea and Taiwan, if at a vastly larger scale. Lookclosely, however, and listen to China’s leaders the last couple ofweeks, and it becomes clear that the big construction push mayease, with others in Asia unlikely to fill the gap in full, at least not inthe immediate future. This doesn’t mean construction activity willcontract, but it may settle into a steadier and less spectacular pace.

    What will replace it?