More eerie 'ghost cities' popping up -Why is China

More eerie 'ghost cities' popping up -Why is China building large, well-designed "ghost cities" that have no people? The city, Nova Cidade de Kilamba in the middle of Angola, was designed to hold up to a half million people and features 750 eight-story apartment buildings, 12 schools and more than 100 retail units.

State-owned China International Trust and Investment Corp took less that 3 years to build the city at a cost of $3.5 billion on 12,255 acres.

Angolan president José Eduardo dos Santos has touted the 'Kilamba social housing project' as an example of his social policy, and he has brought international policymakers including Chinese vice-president Xi Jingping to the site.

But the apartments in the complex cost somewhere between $120,000 and $200,000 according to online advertisements cited by BBC. Other anecdotal reports put the price of 3-bedroom apartment at about $250,000.

None of which helps the average Angolan given the country's per capita GDP of $5,144 per year, according to the World Bank.

And let's not forget, Angola serves as China's largest source of oil in Africa. Some like energy expert @pcdunham speculate this could be in preparation for oil money that is expected once the country begins developing new oil discoveries.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-built-...z2HrVPSzlp