For decades, China's government has reshaped the country with dramatic displays of state power,

from vast infrastructure projects that have remade entire provinces to nationwide campaigns that attempt to shape citizens' behavior.

Ali Rogan takes a look at what those sweeping measures say about China's ambitions

and what they may mean for the future of U.S.-Chinese competition.

From high-speed rail to state-of-the-art factories and soaring bridges, China is building infrastructure projects at an unprecedented scale and pace.

The poor rural province of Guizhou is now home to nearly half of the world's 100 tallest

bridges.

This fall, cars crossed the newest tallest bridge in the world for the first time.

The bridge cut travel across the river from hours to mere minutes,

according to state media. Visitors and locals celebrated the grand opening with a water

and light display and base jumps from a special viewing platform, part of the record-breaking

project's tourism appeal. It shows several purposes, symbolic, political, economic,

in just terms of improving vastly the quality of life of people that use them.

Andrew Murtha is the director of the China Global Research Center

at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

I think it's difficult for people in the U.S. to understand just what a massive change

this type of infrastructure building over the past 30 years has meant for China.

In just a few decades, China has built highways twice the length of the entire U.S.

interstate highway system.

The country's first high-speed rail line opened in 2008.

Now high-speed trains crisscross China in a network 20 times more extensive than Japan's.

And China has built as much solar and wind power capacity

...