Part 10/12:
The root issues of this decline are structural and deeply entrenched. The Chinese government’s efforts at restructuring—debt swaps, financial maneuvers, and bureaucratic reforms—amount to band-aids on a systemic hemorrhage. The fundamental problem is that these towns are no longer sustainable; they are like leaky pipes holding water under pressure. Squeezing them only makes things worse.
Because these county systems are vital for maintaining control and extracting revenue, Beijing has little incentive to undertake the reforms needed to revitalize them. Instead, these towns are effectively trapped in a downward spiral, with no realistic pathway to meaningful recovery.