> And we in the US struggle with getting anything built for less than eye watering sums - does anyone remember the recent bay bridge saga?
You mean the one partially built by the Chinese?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/26/business/global/26bridge.h...
Also, don't assume those bridges are built particularly well and will last for a long time. The Chinese have their own fair share of corruption, incompetence, etc...