'The Economy Is Slipping': China's Slowdown Hits Former Boomtown
He Qiang should be manning his convenience store, but today he's collecting tiny green berries along the road and shooting them at birds with his slingshot. The 26-year-old is distracting himself from his worries. He spent all his savings — the equivalent of $35,000 — on a store that no longer has any customers.
He bought the store a year ago after hearing the economy of Hechuan, this city of more than a million people just outside the metropolis of Chongqing in southwest-central China, was booming. Automobile factories in Hechuan employed thousands of people who churned out SUVs for China's consumer class.
"My shop did well for a month after I moved here," says He, taking aim at a bird atop a tree. "But then, everyone left. Now, they're all gone. Every day, more people leave."
Assembly lines have shut down, workers have left, and
