If Chinese buildings are suffering from structural failures stemming from their original construction period, residents need to know. Structures that have collapsed to date must be rigorously assessed, compared and then leveled against similar structures built in the same era that are still standing. It's quite possible that mass evacuations will be necessary, but many lives may be spared in this process.

It must be noted that buildings in China said to have an average lifespan of 25-30 years are also suffering from statistics that include the premature bulldozing of structures to make room for new construction. This is a result of scattered urban planning, not necessarily substandard construction. Nevertheless, according to the Chinese code for the design of civil buildings, as in the United States where the lifespan of residential structures is 74 years, Chinese buildings should last between 50 and 100 years. Even when compensating for urban redesign and quick transformation, this is simply not the case. These "old" buildings are falling down far too early.

Qiu Baoxing, China's vice minister of housing and urban-rural development, at an international forum on green and energy-efficient buildings explained that China has the most new buildings in the world each year. He was quoted identifying China's newly constructed areas to be equal to 2 billion square meters, thus accounting for 40 percent of the world consumption of cement and steel. That means only 22 percent of the country's structures were built before the year 2000.

Nevertheless, these "vintage" buildings may not be standing for long. If Xinhua's assertion of their "poor quality of construction and design" is accurate, then many more seismically unsafe buildings will crumble around us long before larger, nation-wide systems can be implemented to avoid such trends in the future.

If we take this another level, we must ask ourselves this question: If Chinese buildings only last 25-30 years, what about other Chinese products? How reliable is this overall market in terms of quality control and sustainability? In 2009, pictures of the famous 13-storey Shanghai apartment building that collapsed mid-construction and lay nearly perfectly intact on its side elicited many online commentaries to this effect. One post reads:

"Brought to you by the same folks that make your kids' toys and want to build your car. Now that, folks, is a SNAFU. Don't you feel better now, that these are the folks manufacturing nearly EVERYTHING we buy and use today?"

This is certainly a developing nation issue and not a Chinese issue, but it's one that must be gingerly handled and fast so as to avoid any other collapses.

The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.ccgp-fushun.com/opinion/emberswift.htm

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.