China: Beijing unveils mega-airport due to open in 2019

China's capital unveiled the "shining example" of its 80b yuan (GBP9.1b) new airport on Monday, tipped to become one of the world's largest when it opens in October 2019 amid a massive infrastructure drive overseen by President Xi Jinping. Representatives showed off the sprawling skeleton of "Beijing New Airport", which is made up of 1.6m cubic metres of concrete, 52,000 tonnes of steel and spans a total 47 sq km, including runways. It is expected to serve an initial 45m passengers a year with an eventual capacity of 100m, putting it on par with Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. "Lined up together there's roughly 5 km of gates," said project spokesman Zhu Wenxin. "It's a shining example of China's national production capacity." The project, which broke ground in 2014, is one of the region's largest infrastructure investments under Xi's rule, which has been plagued by fears of slowing economic growth, offset slightly by a construction spree.<br/>