China's infrastructure lesson for Africa

There is a saying in China that if you want to be rich, you need to build a road and a bridge. Which is true, as the infrastructure facilities China has built over four decades of reform and opening-up have boosted its economic growth and helped it lift more than 800 million people out of poverty.

Infrastructure facilities are public goods that help improve productivity and people's living conditions, even in poverty-stricken areas. For China, infrastructure has facilitated economic development, and vice-versa.

First, the strengthening of water conservancy facilities has helped prevent floods and minimize the damage caused by natural disasters, and thus promoted agricultural development.