To understand how China’s economy is now experiencing both the best and the worst of times, consider the port city of Ningbo, a two-hour drive south of Shanghai.
Ningbo’s vast port handles 150,000 ships a year and is the world’s largest by cargo tonnage. A seemingly endless armada of tankers and bulk carriers arrives to discharge imported oil and grain, while other vessels pick up tens of thousands of containers daily.
Departing ships are packed with manufactured goods headed for global markets. Enormous car carriers, essentially floating parking lots with a dozen floors, transport China’s rapidly increasing car exports.
Teeming with factories that make everything from fabric and apparel to household appliances and electric vehicles, Ningbo offers a full display of China’s industrial prowess. Its port and manufacturing facilities are the engine that helped power China’s record trade surplus last year.
