Radio Free Asia reported that 37 bridges have collapsed in China since 2007, including the last one, Yang Ming Tan bridge in Haerbing, which collapsed on August 24. The incidents have made people wonder about the quality of China’s bridges, but experts believe that the collapse of the bridges was caused by overall mismanagement, including using substandard materials, excessive sand mining near the bridges, and overloaded trucks (driving on the bridges). Another contributing factor was the lack of openness in the official reports of the investigations of the incidents, as most of the reports focused only on the accidents themselves. According to Radio Free Asia, therefore, there is lack of public supervision, .

Source: Radio Free Asia, September 12, 2012
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/xql-09122012163445.html

Radio Free Asia published an article on September 18, 2012, titled “The Ratio of Chinese Residents’ Income to GDP Has Been Declining." The Labor and Wage Institute under the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the People’s Republic of China recently published the “2011 China Wages Report.” According to the report, Chinese residents’ income increased 14.1 percent last year. However, the actual growth was only 8.4 percent, 0.8 percent lower than last years’ GDP, after deducting price factors.

In 2011, the Chinese government’s fiscal revenue grew 24.8 percent and corporate income grew by 20 percent, all of which were much higher than the growth of Chinese residents’ income at 14.1 percent. The low increase in the growth of residents’ income resulted directly in the downturn in domestic consumption, leading to unbalanced and unsustainable economic development in China.

Source: Radio Free Asia, September 18, 2012
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/gdp-09182012165542.html