By Elaine Kurtenbach and William Foreman; Associated Press Writers
SHANGHAI, China Jan 30, 2008 (AP)
China’s worst winter storms in five decades have highlighted the vulnerabilities of the country’s booming economy, bringing transportation and much industry to a halt and prompting the government to deploy nearly 500,000 army troops to assist troubled areas Wednesday.
Snow and ice storms in east, central and southern China at no more than a foot of snow overall in some places have overloaded businesses, the electricity grid and other systems that normally keep the economy ticking at double-digit rates. The weather was unusual for those regions, and they were ill-equipped to handle it.
China’s already overburdened railways, coupled with an incomplete road system, buckled under the added pressure as tens of millions of Chinese….
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