The anecdotes in this article are fantastic. They're a great device for driving the story and making it digestible. Everything in it is fresh—I learned a lot reading this. But since I didn't know much about the topic going into it I'm left with a lot of questions, about the acquisition process, the effects on local economies, the treatment of the workers, etc. This story begs an elaboration on these and other points. A superbly reported and highly recommended trend/business story.

Good story, lots of facts, but not enough about overall living conditions US v China which of course affects what people get paid, and how profitable companies can be.

An excellent story focused mainly on Chinese companies coming to America. It would have been nice to have had some reaction from US industry, labor or government officials.

Great story! Something we don't hear about - but will probably hear on NPR now that the LAT has published it.

This is what happens when a nation that was once the world's biggest and most generous creditor reverses course and becomes the world's largest and most avaricious debtor nation. The Chinese are sitting on nearly a trillion dollars of US debt (bonds). As they become increasingly concerned about holding increasingly worthless dollars they will begin exchanging those dollars for hard assets like US real estate, companies and stock in US companies. That process has begun.