How the Post-disaster Reconstruction Led to Economic Development in Sichuan

Abstract

The earthquake that occurred May 12th 2008 in the South West of China, and specifically in Sichuan Province, is ranked as the most devastating natural disaster in the past 59 years in China. It registered a magnitude of 8.0 on the Richter scale, with a high intensity and with a large number of aftershocks. It affected a vast area of that Province, among the most prominent being Beichuan and Wenchuan Cities which were almost destroyed. Although the earthquake occurred in a remote southwestern Chinese region, with a small population and where local agricultural production was not damaged, the impact on China's economy as a whole has not be too great. Post-disaster reconstruction work and the injection of financial investment in the region has had the effect of promoting local economic development in the province. In this paper we will look at the challenges and opportunities that Sichuan province had to deal with in the aftermath ofearthquake and how this led to opportunities that have resulted in economic development in the Province.