China refutes ghost city allegation
- By Guo Jiali
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E-mail China.org.cn, July 4, 2012
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Chinese workers train their Angolan colleagues to roll steel at a CITIC Construction Co Ltd worksite in Luanda, the capital city of Angola. [Photo/Xinhua] |
A giant new Chinese-built satellite city has sprung up on an isolated spot some 30km outside Angola's capital, Kuanda.
In a promotional video made by Angolan government, this city has been titled as the "jewelin Angola's post-war reconstruction crown." People will enjoy a new life style, different from the dust and confusion of central Luanda where millions live in sprawling slums.
This residential project was designed to house up to half a million people, however most of the buildings currently lie empty, and hardly any cars and even fewer people can be seen around. This satellite city is therefore called a ghost town for its isolation by foreign media. To back its argument, BBC correspondent reported that the apartment's prices were too high for almost two-thirds of Angolans who live on less than US$2 a day, and at the same time obtaining mortgages were difficult for a majority of Angolans.
As whether or not the reported situation is true, the Economic and Commercial Counselor's Office of the Chinese Embassy in Angola clarified that the whole residential project has not yet been completed, the sales of first batch construction, however, has gone very well. The office said: "What the foreign media reported is not the truth."
He Wenping, director of African Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told a journalist with Global Times, "China has constructed many economic housings and infrastructure projects for African countries, including roads and bridges, which are beneficial to all African people, and serve as a base for African economic growth."
Built by the state-owned China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC) in three year at a cost of US$3.5billion, this Angola residential project has completed 750 eight-storey apartment buildings, a dozen schools and more than 100 retail units.
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