This is a 3 part report. Links to the other 2 are found at the bottom.
China's development dwarfs Latin America's
ANDRES OPPENHEIMER
aoppenheimer@herald.com
BEIJING -- I came to the People's Republic of China for a 10-day visit to find out how Latin America could best compete with this economically booming country. It took me about 30 seconds to know the answer: Unless it undertakes dramatic reforms, it can't. From the minute one lands in Beijing, even before one has a chance to be stunned by the capitalist fever that is gripping this country, the monumental dimensions of Beijing's newly remodeled, 38-million-passengers-a-year airport shocks even the most skeptical visitor.My plane pulled in at Gate 305 -- an eye-opener for someone used to arriving at Gate B-7 of Miami International Airport, which has only 107 gates. But that was only the first surprise. On the way to my hotel, I saw more high-rise construction cranes than I've ever seen anywhere, let alone in Latin America. There are 5,000 high-rise construction sites in the Chinese capital today -- so many, that the latest joke making the rounds here says you should never blink while in this city, because you could miss a new building's inauguration.
PRESTIGIOUS NAMES
At street level of some of the ultra-modern skyscrapers, there are dealerships of Rolls Royce, Maseratti, Lamborghini, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi, next to Rolex, Armani and Louis Vuitton stores. I asked my taxi driver to stop in front of some of these car dealerships, convinced that they were representative offices to sell jet engines or tractors to the Chinese government. But no: They were selling luxury cars to rich Chinese. Last year, Mercedes-Benz sold 12,000 cars in China, BMW 16,000 and Audi about 70,000, the government-run China Daily reported recently, with obvious pride.