By host Tom Ashbrook:

In 1988, all of China had exactly eleven miles of expressway. Today, a booming China has 23,000 miles of expressway — second only to the United States — and the Chinese people are going absolutely crazy for cars. The number of cars on Chinese roads has tripled in the last five years.

In 1949, the Chinese Communists confiscated all private cars. Now, half a century later, demand is exploding in Chinese auto-mania. It’s wild. With two percent of the world’s cars, China has 21 percent of all road fatalities. And that’s just the beginning of the impact on culture, on global environment.

Hear about China’s exploding culture of cars.

Guests:

Jennifer Turner, Coordinator of the China Environment Forum at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Ted Conover, Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University & Author of: “Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing”

David Lampton, Dean of Faculty & Director of China Studies at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.