[quote=CA renter]OCR, very interesting about the different regions having mandates for a particular growth target. Why is the government so hell-bent on forcing unsustainable growth? Where did they think all the people would come from? And how did they think that rural farmers would have the money to pay the kind of prices being demanded for some of these homes? It makes no sense to me. [/quote]
because continued growth gives the government its legitimacy. after all, the people must be willing to allow for the lack of political progress and lack of basic human right, and the reason for that willingness is the trade off of rapid growth.
if you look at countries like S.Korea and Taiwan, political progress and democratization started roughly at the level of economic growth point already achieved by Chinese tier 1 cities such as Shanghai and Beijing and Tianjin. But if you poll citizens of these cities, most will not favor democratization at this time because they still believe staying with an authoritarian government will bring them faster growth.
That belief system will be challenged very quickly when that rapid growth is no longer the reality.
