Zombie Factories Stalk Chinese Economy

Changzhi and its environs are littered with half-dead cement factories and silent, mothballed plants, an eerie backdrop to the struggling Chinese economy. Like many industrial cities across China, Changzhi, which expanded aggressively during the country’s long investment boom, has too many factories and too little demand. That excess capacity, many economists indicate, will have to be eliminated for the Chinese economy to return to healthy growth.

But rather than shut down, Lucheng Zhuoyue and other Changzhi companies are limping along in a kind of march of the undead.