The number

460 billion yuan

The equivalent of $75.08 billion was wasted each year from 2011 to 2015 by the demolition of buildings that were not close to their service lifespan, according to a China Academy of Building Research report. Researchers found that the practice also adds 400 million metric tons of construction garbage each year, accounting for 40 percent of the annual trash produced nationwide. Qiu Baoxing, former deputy minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, said in 2010 that the average service lifespan of such buildings is only 30 years.