Can anyone help me understand ’箱物’ in this sentence？

Question

近年の中国経済の牽引役は固定資本投資であるが、箱物に大きく 依存した成長には歪みが生じ易い。

The first half makes sense but I am really struggling with the second part, particularly the meaning of ’箱物’。In general it seems that in this case ’箱物’ is too do with buildings- specifically buildings built using public funds that may be seen in a negative light ie. as a waste of money.

However, I am having problems marrying this up with the start of the set which I believe means something like ' In recent years, the driving force of the Chinese economy has been fixed capital investment'. So the end of the sentence I think has something to do with growth being hindered by money wasted on public buildings but am not sure if this fits.

Thanks for your help．

Answer 1

Yes, 箱物 (literally "boxy thing", also written as ハコモノ) refers to non-essential public facilities like stadiums, convention halls, museums and "XYZ Center". This word has a negative implication of "built not because they are truly necessary but because they can create jobs and consume lot of money". See 箱物行政 on Wikipedia.

But you seem to have figured out this meaning, so I'm not sure why you found this sentence difficult... Maybe you've gotten the 歪みが生じやすい part wrong? Anyway, the last half means:

Economic growth heavily relying on 箱物 can easily result in (economical) distortion/strain/instability.