ports of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Shanghai are at the heart of global supply chains
China’s position in the western Pacific also exposes its southern and eastern coasts to about a dozen typhoons a year
The number of people dying from floods has fallen, thanks to better emergency warnings and faster evacuation. But the economic damage from floods is increasing, and few people are well prepared.
Coastal land, though, is China’s most valuable. Officials would prefer to continue building on it. Giant construction projects are ongoing all along the coastline. In Shantou, a port city on the south coast known for its fierce typhoons, a 22,000-seat stadium was recently completed beside the sea. It is surrounded by construction sites which will become industrial parks and residential buildings.
Officials are betting on sea walls to protect such assets.
