Ordos City - The World's Most Famous "Ghost City" (That Isn't)
As soon as I knew I was going to be visiting Ordos City, Inner Mongolia in July 2025, I knew I was going to have to write an essay about “ghost cities” and whether Ordos is one (or not). This is that essay. Enjoy.
Kangbashi DID fill up! Not overnight, not suddenly, but slowly, over years. In 2024, Ordos’s Kangbashi District had an official population of about 130,000 people, and still rising. Is 130k the same as 300k? Definitely no. They’re still considerably trailing their targets, but it’s a process, and the process is clearly still moving forward. Very likely it'll be clean energy and industry that propels Ordos forward now, not coal, and there's no reason to be bearish on that sector’s long-term outlook…
That’s what I saw on my visit to Kangbashi in July 2025. The streets indeed were hardly thronging with pedestrians, and the massive 4-lane separated highways still feel too large for purpose right now, but the place clearly has more than a few people living there. The housing which used to be empty is now full, as are the office buildings. Owing to the distinct lack of walkability of the urban design, you still don’t see many people on the streets: just long streams of vehicles, ferrying humans from home to office. It’s more reminiscent of American strip-mall suburbia than an organic Chinese city. But it’s definitely inhabited by more than ghosts.
China woman trapped in cold storage freed by delivery rider, offers man company share | South China Morning Post
Desperate woman fears freezing to death in icy, locked unit, bangs box of frozen dumplings against wall to raise alarm
A Chinese woman who thought she was going to die after locking herself in her company’s freezer was saved by a passing delivery rider who heard her pleas for help.
The woman, surnamed Chen, from central China’s Hunan province, was sorting products alone in the freezer of her cold-chain logistics company on the evening of August 31.
Hong Kong woman, 58, gives birth to girl as congratulations flood social media | South China Morning Post
A 58-year-old Hong Kong woman whose pregnancy at an advanced age earlier caught citywide attention has safely given birth to a girl, her family announced on social media over the weekend.
Chan Lai-lai, the wife of local actor Brian Wong Chak-fung, delivered her second child on August 22 after conceiving through in vitro fertilisation (IVF), a type of assisted reproduction treatment.
In a heartwarming video posted on social media on Saturday, Wong is seen cutting the umbilical cord in the delivery room, greeting his infant and introducing the new baby to his six-year-old daughter.
China’s EV Pioneers: What China’s EV revolution looks like through the lens of XPeng’s founder (part 1)
This edition features He Xiaopeng, co-founder, executive director, chairman, and CEO of premium EV maker XPeng.
Like Li Xiang, the Li Auto founder and CEO I highlighted in a previous post, He Xiaopeng represents a generation of entrepreneurs who first made their mark in China’s internet industry before pivoting to new energy vehicles.
Both XPeng and Li Auto belong to the group colloquially known as “Hua-Mi-Wei-Xiao-Li” — shorthand for Huawei, Xiaomi, NIO (Weilai), XPeng (Xiaopeng), and Li Auto (Li Xiang). Alongside BYD, China’s largest EV maker, these firms represent the first tier of China’s new energy vehicle players, often setting the pace for innovation and competition in the world’s fastest-growing EV market.
China’s EV Pioneers: What China’s EV revolution looks like through the lens of XPeng’s founder (part 2)
Today’s edition features the second half of the 10 highlights I selected from a three-hour podcast conversation between XPeng CEO He Xiaopeng and Luo Yonghao — one of China’s best-known entrepreneurs-turned-internet personalities.
In the previous piece, He looked back on his early entrepreneurial journey and shared why he returned to build an EV company after financial freedom. He also reflected on XPeng’s brand positioning and the staggering scale of R&D investment he believes an AI-driven car company must commit to.
This time, the discussion turns sharper. He lays out why he expects China’s EV market to shift within five years from a knockout stage to an all-star game with only about five serious players left. He shares his perspective on automotive industrial design, offers a comparison of how autonomous driving may evolve differently in China and abroad, and describes his exploration into flying cars — from early trials to plans for mass production. He also delivers candid views on which Chinese companies are genuinely committed to AI and which are merely paying lip service.
Dandan Zhang: China’s factory workers go gig
The following article centers on understanding the scale, characteristics, profile, and policy implications of gig work in China’s manufacturing industry, particularly in the 3C (computer, communication, and consumer electronics) sector. Driven by smart manufacturing technologies, the platform economy, household registration restrictions, and fluctuations in export demand, the rise of a gig-based employment model under China’s existing institutional framework is an inevitable trend, Zhang says, and it is still essential to balance this flexibility with workers’ rights.
China backs Three Gorges megaproject in investment push, hot on heels of giant Tibet dam | South China Morning Post
China’s top economic planner has flagged a megaproject to expand shipping capacity on the Three Gorges, slated to span the coming five-year plan, while also calling for greater investment to drive strategic initiatives.
In a report submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on Wednesday, Zheng Shanjie, chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), underscored the need to push major infrastructure projects such as the new shipping channel on the Three Gorges, state news agency Xinhua reported.
The project would ease traffic at the Three Gorges-Gezhouba hub – a strategic link in the Yangtze Economic Belt – by building a new double-line, five-stage lock system and increasing Gezhouba’s shipping capacity, according to the NDRC and bidding documents.
This weekly newsletter is put together by DeLisle Worrell, President of the ABCF. Visit us at Association for Barbados China Friendship | (abcf-bb.com).
Thanks to everyone who sent contributions for this week’s Update. Please send items of interest to me via the contact page at ABCF-BB.com or to info@DeLisleWorrell.com
The ABCF mission is to build a deeper understanding between the Chinese people and Barbadians and Caribbean people from all walks of life. The association’s focus is on personal experiences, people-to-people contact, cultural exchanges and exchanges of ideas, and the facilitation of travel, business and study. From the outset we aim to learn from and build on the experiences of the Caribbean and China, and to develop mutual understandings and support that will be to the benefit of both sides.
