Three Chinese Citizens Killed After Windstorm Pulled Them Out Of Closed Windows In New Housing Development. Is Public Corruption To Blame?

Four people were killed when a powerful storm swept through Nanchang in China's Jiangxi province and damaged over 5,000 homes. Three of the victims were killed when the high winds sucked them through the closed windows of their new apartments. Another 1,600 people were evacuated, and the winds, estimated to be near hurricane strength, ripped air conditioning units out of windows and knocked down over 2,000 trees.

Questions About Building Quality

Although the storm packed a punch, the extreme damage it did to brand-new buildings led many observers to question the quality of their construction and whether corruption played a role in allowing the homes to come online in the first place.  Aside from the destruction that led to the three fatalities, the storm ripped stainless steel fixtures from interior walls and dislodged entire building frames.

It's extreme damage for a storm that checked in with winds just below Category 1 hurricane strength and angry citizens speculate that developer Wei Meng Group may have used substandard materials to build their many projects in Nanchang, according to Vision Times. Even before the storm, residents of Wei Meng developments complained about load-bearing walls with cracks and balconies that shook during high winds.

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A Real Estate Developer With A Troubled Past

Wei Meng Group has already been the target of a successful anti-corruption probe and trial that led to the company's founder Li Mengpeng being imprisoned on bribery charges, according to Vision Times. That case, which was only part of a highly publicized government crackdown on corruption in China's real estate industry, uncovered a longstanding culture of cronyism and kickbacks that are plaguing the entire industry.

The corruption stems in part from the high levels of control the local and central governments exert over private industry in China, including real estate. This leads to a situation where the most expedient way to get a project greenlit is to garner the support of a political apparatchik with clout in the regional and central government.

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Once developers obtain this support, their benefactors can get all kinds of rules changed or eased to keep projects on track, including things like raising maximum occupancy limits, lowering material quality standards or expediting occupancy permits over the objections of local building and safety officials. Naturally, the developers pay a fee for these services, and most people would refer to that fee as a bribe.

The Downside Of Real Estate Corruption

This type of corruption and collusion between private developers and government officials has become accepted as part of doing business in China. In many ways, the ease with which developers could leverage government officials to help them obtain loans, building permits and other considerations is one of the primary reasons for China's real estate boom.

The Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago studied China's private industry boom and concluded, "Private firms succeed in China by obtaining a special deal from a local political leader, which allows them to either break the formal rules or obtain favorable access to resources. This practice is common in countries with poor formal institutions, and China is no different." 

It's not entirely clear that the disaster at the Wei Meng Group development in Nanchang is a by-product of that corruption, but people have begun examining all of Wei Meng Group's Nanchang building permits. Whatever those investigations turn up, this incident is another black eye for a Chinese real estate industry that already seems like it's under siege from all sides. 

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