Why does China love megaprojects? The Climate Question podcast, BBC World Service

英国BBC：中国为何热衷于大型工程？

Huge construction projects are transforming China - think enormous dams, giant solar power farms and a vast high-speed rail network. Will Beiing's "engineering mindset" help it deal with climate change?

大型建设工程正在改变中国——比如巨型水坝、大型光伏电站，还有四通八达的高铁网络。

中国这种“工程思维”，能否帮助自己应对气候变化？

They have overseen megaprojects like the 50-kilometre bridge now joining Hong Kong and Macau, and a plan to move water from southern China to the much drier north.

The engineering mania extends to energy, where the world's largest polluter has invested trillions of dollars in wind and nuclear power, as well as high voltage transmission lines spanning the country.

中国人修建了很多大型工程，比如连接香港和澳门的50公里港珠澳大桥，以及将把南方的水资源调往北方的南水北调工程。这种超级工程也延伸到能源领域。作为全球最大排放国，中国已在风电、核电以及遍布全国的高压输电线路上投入数万亿美元。

三泰虎网注：中国十大超级工程来了，分别是青藏铁路，南水北调工程，港珠澳大桥，三峡水电站，白鹤滩水电站，中国天眼 FAST，北京大兴国际机场，西气东输工程，中国特高压输电工程和川藏铁路。中国从不是运气崛起，而是实干崛起。所谓大国，就是敢挑战极限；从不向天地认输

以下是各国网友的评论：

aurelliahassler
Because the people need it, something Westerners cannot understand.

是民众需要这些大型工程，西方人理解不了这点。

 

lguosantafe
Having a Chinese face doesn’t necessarily mean you understand Chinese history. Dan mentioned Yu the Great in the context of building dams, but Yu is famously known for controlling the floods by dredging and channeling the water rather than blocking it with dams. The damming approach was associated with his father, Gun, and was said to have failed. This is one of the best-known stories in traditional Chinese history, familiar to almost every Chinese person.

长着华人面孔，不代表懂中国历史。你在聊水坝的时候提到了大禹。但大禹治水，是疏通河道来泄洪，而不是筑坝拦水。筑坝拦水是他父亲用的办法，最后失败了。这是中国传统历史里家喻户晓的故事，几乎每个中国人都知道。

 

Jim-k5g-l1b
They did built the Great Wall and the Grand Canal. Mega-projects goes back centuries.

他们当年修了长城和大运河，修建大型工程的传统已经有几百年了。

 

ZweiZwolf
Of these, the Grand Canal is hardly mentioned in the West, even though it was truly transformative of Chinese economics.

在这些工程里，西方很少提起大运河，但它实实在在改变了中国的经济格局。

 

Liboch
The earliest part of the Great Canal was built more than 2000 years ago. Building mega projects in China is nothing new.

大运河最早的河段在两千多年前就修建完成。在中国，建造大型工程并不是新鲜事。

 

oligywang4568
This is not a matter of "love"; it is simply that China must build megaprojects to ensure that everyone has affordable access to resources such as electricity and highways.

中国不是“偏爱”大型工程，只是必须修建这类项目，保证所有人都能用得上平价电力、公路这类资源。

 

d1492ay
Building mega projects as a solution to of China's problems is certainly better than fighting wars as a solution to all of United States' problems.

靠建设大型工程解决民生问题，肯定比美国靠打仗来解决问题要文明得多。

 

IceCream-8888
If US don't care about Climate change then why bother about China. Duh

美国自己都不在乎气候变化，干嘛操心中国的气候变化。

 

steventan2550
China has "mega' population so need mega projects. Period. But at what cost? At a lower cost, of course.

中国人口规模庞大，所以需要大型工程，仅此而已。那代价大不大？当然不大

 

nuclearcatapult
Because China is run by engineers.

因为治理国家的是工程师。

 

Al-ng2wn
Either you lawyer your way out of climate change or engineer your way out.

应对气候变化，要么靠法治，要么靠工程建设。

 

MarceloFernandes-on8rf
It's not about love at all. China really NEEDS megaprojects.

不是中国人比较喜欢修建大型工程，而是他们真的需要大型工程。

 

drunkendurian
I guess the hosts should do a bit more homework in looking at the statistics of green energy globally. You would be surprised to see that the amount of energy produced by non-carbon means by China outsizes the the top ten 10 countries in the world. Researchers should be more forward looking instead of looking at the past. A country going through economic development would have to go through the same process as the developed nations, like Britain and the US which had contributed hugely to carbonisation of the earth when counted cumulatively. The hosts are not giving a fair view of the matter

我觉得节目主持人该多做做功课，查一下全球清洁能源的数据。你会惊讶地发现，中国的非碳能源发电量，比全球排名前十的国家加起来还要多。研究人员应该多放眼未来，不要总盯着过去。任何处于经济发展阶段的国家，都会经历发达国家曾经走过的路。英国、美国历史累计排放，对地球碳污染极大。

 

flamencoguy3000
The UK is small and geographically undifferentiated so there is not much need for major engineering. They should work on HS2

英国国土面积小，地理条件差异不大，不太需要大型工程。倒是HS2高铁项目应该好好推进了。

 

cooper1819
China been doing mega projects for thousands of years, from Great walls, to canals to channel water even Forbidden City - biggest palace complex in the world in 14 years. China been organizing lots of people to do work for long time. Its not just matter of engineers and lawyers, instead China is scholarly nation. Aim to be an "ideal Confucian state".

中国搞大型工程已经几千年了，从长城、引水运河，再到紫禁城——这个全球最大宫殿群只用14年建成。中国自古以来就擅长组织大量人力开展超级工程。中国是崇尚学问的国家，目标是建成理想的儒家式国家。

 

homan2329
In short China is ruled by builders while the USA by bullshitters .

简单说，中国是一群实干者，而美国尽是空谈之人。

 

BabalahMohammed
Of course, China is a marvel in the engineering industry. But they are also looking at the other side of what the engineering can cost them. They have the largest power station on the planet that produces clean energy. They have solar, wind and nuclear energy sources that continuously produce large sums of energy, and these are projects that are actively in production, besides being mega projects. And of course, right now at least 3 out of 5 produced cars are electric, and that is clean energy moving about. So, China is solving problems that benefit the Chinese, and if a problem solved come with another problem in it, they have shown that they can work on that problem as well.

毫无疑问，中国工程领域成就惊人。但他们也在正视工程带来的各类代价。中国拥有全球最大清洁能源电站。光伏、风电、核电持续产出大量电力，这些大型项目都在稳定运行。现在，中国每生产五台车，至少三台是电动汽车。中国在解决难题，发展果实惠及本国民众。就算解决旧问题时产生新问题，事实证明他们也有能力继续攻克。

 

aeroace
Because they can, you can not.

因为他们有能力修建超级工程，你们不行。

 

Andrew-rc3vh
My favourite is the Shanghai Tower. It's a fusion of art and engineering, and one of the most futuristic of constructions.

我最喜欢上海中心大厦。它融合艺术与工程设计，是最富未来感的建筑之一。

 

aleekamui
China has done more for green energy than any other country ... BUT AT WHAT COST

中国在清洁能源上投入比任何国家都多，但代价是什么？

 

imSoonHo-ku3yy
Enough of mega projects in China. Let's now focus on mega projects of producing industrial grade weapons of mass killing deployed in 800 bases around the world

别总盯着中国的大型工程。不如看看另一个国家：美国制造大规模杀伤性武器，部署在遍布全球的800个军事基地。

 

sjsupa
200 years ago, why does UK love megaprojects? 100 years ago why does the US love megaprojects?
Actually the most impactful megaproject is the "South Water tranferring to the North". 1/4 of population relies on it every day.

两百年前，为什么英国热衷于大型工程？一百年前，为什么美国热衷于大型工程？

实际上中国影响最大的工程是南水北调。四分之一人口每天都依赖这项工程供水。

 

Leo-h5g1f
Guizhou province has favorable climate due to its higher elevation and it's proxmity to green energy sources is a great place for data centres. The province thrives on this.

贵州海拔高，气候适宜，又靠近清洁能源产地，非常适合建设数据中心。该省份也依靠数据中心这个产业蓬勃发展。

 

DeepfriedDumpling-n1o
China in an agricultural country throughout our history, we are obsessed with canals. So basically we just can’t stop digging,even just for fun

历史上中国一直是农业国，一直重视运河的建设。说白了，我们就是爱开挖水道，就算单纯当作工程乐趣。

 

Yuvrajtyu
The main reasons for climate change are:
Overpopulation and over consumption. Until we address these two issues noone can overturn climate change, it's just not gonna happen.

气候变化的主要原因：人口过多与过度消耗。不解决这两点，没人能扭转气候变化的趋势，根本做不到。

 

huanghermann5207
This is miscalculate the situation. China is a huge country. Megaprojects are not unusual.

这么看待局势是误判。中国国土辽阔，大型工程并不稀奇。

 

Lionwith
The Chinese, who lived there in their time, preferred to invest in their ancestral lands rather than fund wars or occupy colonies.

古代中国人，更愿意把资源投入建设，而不是花钱打仗、占领殖民地。

 

lamencoguy3000
It's because of a need. Necessity is the mother of construction.

中国修建大型工程是出于现实需求。需求催生工程建设。

 

ames192599
A big concept that china exploits is learning by doing. At first building new developments is expensive but as your countries engineers and handyman learn more efficient practices the costs start to fall. However, you actually have to build. This is why china dominants because they are always building. In the States we have zoning laws because homeowners want property values to go up and limit housing which makes transport planning and homebuilding difficult.

中国很擅长在实践中积累经验。新建项目初期成本很高，不过中国工程师、技术人员掌握更高效的施工方法后，成本就会大幅下降。前提是要动手去建。这就是中国领先全世界的原因——他们一直在建设。而美国房主希望抬高房价，限制住宅开发，导致交通规划和房屋建造困难重重。