What happens to humanity and the earth when millions of rural subsistence farmers are incentivised to sell their land, ditch their agrarian way of life and learn to live as middle class consumers in one of China’s newly constructed urban provinces?
Justin Jin travelled to Hebei province, the vast area surrounding Beijing, which is part of China’s current mega-scheme in social engineering. With a slowing economy, China’s central planners have decided that a massive rise in domestic consumption is needed to maintain the high rates of GDP growth. This is to be achieved by transforming the country’s rural dwellers into urbanised city dwellers keen to acquire consumer goods. These images are part of a larger body of work in which Justin travelled through Chinese cities, meeting people who have been caught up in China’s latest social upheaval.
