China's dilemma between pursuing higher economic growth and escalating pollution due to the industrialisation.

• Result of pursuing economic growth

o   China's economy is booming

§  The evidence of China's economic growth is everywhere - in construction, infrastructure, property, retail and large scale manufacturing. China's economy seems certain to maintain its average growth rate of 8.5% p.a since 1978, despite the dire predictions of late last year, and 2009 will surely be remembered as the year in which China "de-coupled" from the US. To use a well worn analogy: the train has most certainly left the station - either get on it or get out of the way! 

o   The Chinese Government is making all the right moves to ensure confidence, stability and national pride in the country's achievements

§  The timing, size and impact of last year's US$586 billion stimulus package has delivered an immediate return to the economy but the greatest benefits have been delivered in so many other ways, including: 

Ø  The upgrade in infrastructure in the first tier cities, notably Shanghai and Beijing, which are now as impressive as any city in the world. 

Ø  The investment in the second tier cities such as Chongqing (population 20m) is large, significant and impressive. 

Ø  The English language is widely spoken at all levels of society, particularly amongst the younger generations. 

Ø  The quality of service in shops, hotels, restaurants and even in the markets is now at an international level. Many regular travellers to China (myself included) used to complain that, whilst the "hardware" (i.e. hotels, airplanes, shops, roads) was often world class, the "software" (i.e. service, language, skills, training, attitude) was often lacking. This is now changing very rapidly. 

o   China is moving up the value chain

§  China is looking to upgrade the quality of its exports by moving into higher value manufacturing capabilities. The collapse of low value exports to the developed world has forced the whole country to accelerate its move down this path. 

“ The evidence of China's economic growth is everywhere - in construction, infrastructure, property, retail and large scale manufacturing. ”

• Pollution caused due to industrialization

o   Air pollution

§  Thick haze blown off the Eastern coast of China, over Bo Hai Bay and Yellow Sea. The haze might result from urban and industrial pollution.

§  Zhong Nanshan, the president of the China Medical Association, in 2012 warned that air pollution could become the biggest health threat. Lung cancer and cardiovascular disease were increasing because of factory and vehicle air pollution and tobacco smoking. Lung cancer was two to three times more common in cities than in the countryside despite similar rates of tobacco smoking. Zhong stated that while transparency had increased in recent years much more information was needed and called for detailed epidemiological research. He questioned official data stating that air pollution was decreasing. Until recently the governmental air quality index did not include ozone and PM2.5 despite being the most dangerous to human health.

§  Measurements in January 2013 showed levels of air pollution, as measured by the density of particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometres in size, was literally off the chart – higher than the maximum 755 μg the US Embassy's equipment can measure. Smog from mainland China has reached as far as California.

§  Sulfur dioxide emissions increased until 2006 after which they began to decline. This has been accompanied by improvements on several related variables such as the frequency of acid rains and satellite measurements of aerosol optical depth. This is likely mainly due to adoption of sulfur reducing technology by power plants.

§  Large scale use of formaldehyde in construction and furniture also contribute to indoor air pollution

     o   River exploitation and deforestation 

§  In 2008, China began an era of infrastructure and real estate construction campaign. Rivers are often exploited for soil and rock. To do this, trees and grassland along a given river is cleared, then the riverbed is deepened by a few dozen meters. The river is usually littered with numerous small deep lakes and sand/rock heaps. The ground water level can easily be reduced by 5 meters in nearby villages. Excavators and crushers work all day and night kicking up dust and making noise pollution a problem. Factories may dump their chemical emissions into river, or inject it into the groundwater. This practice is so widespread that many rivers in northern China are dry, with many rivers in southern China being polluted to the point of toxicity. The complete ruin of rivers and forests in many parts of China underscores the current severe pollution. Youth in China are beginning to show their resentment towards mistreatment of the environment, accompanied by an exodus of wealthy Chinese. It is unknown whether the latter is caused by environmental problems on a large scale. 

  

o   Electronic waste

§  In 2011, China produced 2.3 million tons of electronic waste, second largest in the world. The annual amount is expected to increase as the Chinese economy grows. Large amounts of electronic waste are imported from overseas, as well. Disassembly and processing of electronic waste can create jobs and recycle valuable materials but also harm humans and the environment by releasing pollutants. Legislation banning importation and requiring proper disposal of indigenous waste as well as providing for governmental subsides for proper disposal has recently been introduced but has been criticized as insufficient and susceptible to fraud. There have been local successes, such as in the city of Tianjin where 38,000 tonnes were disposed of properly in 2010, but much electronic waste is improperly handed.

§  Guiyu may have one of the world's largest electronic waste sites. The electronic waste in Guiyu and recycling operations have created many jobs but also many health and environmental problems.

Conclusion: Even though China has achieved a lot and was able to pursue higher economic growth, China still needs to take note about the environment since quite a lot of pollution has been happening already. It is important for China to develop economically as a country but it is also of equal importance for them to take care of the environment.  

REFERNCES:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollution_in_China

http://www.flyingsolo.com.au/working-smarter/growth/china-s-economic-growth-seven-lessons

Done By: Owi Ming How (30)

 

China's dilemma between pursuing higher economic growth and escalating pollution due to the industrialization.

Environmental pollution in China is a profoundly urgent concern— and for good reason. China is faced with severe environmental challenges that must be met in order to prevent the destruction of the forests, the extinction of species,the loss of land to desert, and the disappearance of potable water.The impact of environmental damage is not limited to the environment; it also affects the people that live there. China’s lack of legal environmental protection results in toxic living conditions and leaves environmental advocates without tools to protect the environment and themselves. For instance, some citizens wear gas masks to get to work,while other citizens are arrested for photographing illegal chemical discharges.

China’s economic growth has come at a high price: environmental and natural resource destruction. Presently, China’s legal system is not prepared to protect China’s environmental resources.Inefficient resource use, population pressure and economic growth have put China's environment under severe stress. Inadequate resources for upgrading technology and for enforcing regulations and inadequate incentives for improving environmental performance have resulted in environmental degradation despite progress in establishing environmental policies and administrative structures. Economic restructuring may improve resource allocation and reduce waste, but also poses risks if the need to employ laid-off workers results in continued lax enforcement of environmental regulations. The relationship between economic development and natural environment is shown as follows: first is the impact of economic development on the natural environment, including extortion of natural resources and spaces to enjoy the eco-system services, discharge waste into the environment; second is the counteraction of natural environment on human being, including limitation of resources and environmental on human’s economic development; negative impact of natural disasters, environmental pollution and ecological degradation on the economy.

Statistics from the National Development and Reform Commission show that China's economic development has been very strong in the recent 50 years, particularly in the last 20 years, and is related to growing trade with overseas countries as well. Since 1949, China's GDP has increased by 10 times, which was a remarkable achievement, and consumption of mineral resources has also increased by over 40 times. According to the study Ren Haiping (2007), China's economic growth has gone through an unprecedented 20 years from 1985 to 2004, GDP’s average annual growth rate is about 8.7 percent, and is still growing, a period often called the most glorious history of China. However, China has paid a high price for these achievements, particularly in the ultra-conventional use of natural resources and extraordinary loss of eco-environment. Since 1980, energy efficiency has always been China's national policy. Still, in the late 90's, the rate of increase in energy demand was 1.5 times that of economic growth per year, and China’s energy consumption was more than three times that of the world average to produce per dollar of GDP. And Alice Hams den (1996) point out that the pollution of environment is uncontrollable, especially waterways pollution, include inland and coastal. And it also costs enormous to clean up the pollution. Furthermore, John Warburton and Leo Horn (2007) suggest that China has a bad prospect. The environmental crisis of China’s threatens the domestic growth of future. According to research by the World Bank, the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) and a team of international experts, the combined economic costs and human health impacts costs of outdoor air and water pollution for China’s economy amounts to around $US100 billion a year, or about 5.8 per cent of the country’s GDP.Other estimates range from 3 to 20 per cent, the comment from China’s President, Hu Jintao, that China’s economic growth is depended on an excessively high cost of resources and the environment.

According to Yang Xingguan (2006), the rapid economic growth has resulted in over- use and over-exploitation of natural resources and destruction of the eco-system. And Xia Guang, Pei Xiaofei and Yang Xiaoming (2008) point out the economic growth in addition interacts with natural environment, population, industrialization, urbanization and energy. And its scale, speed and modes have been closely related to the causes and characteristics of environmental problems. All these cause the severe environmental problems of China. Such problems as destructions of land and forests resources as well as waste of water resources are increasingly serious, plus environmental pollution caused by industrial and agricultural waste water and gas, and the emission of waste residue and the use of chemical fertilizer, are all closely related to the economic development.

Qu Yan (2009) said, in recent years, with the accelerated progress of industrialization and urbanization, more land resources should be objectively offered for industrial manufacturing, infrastructure and urban construction. But in terms of management, some local governments pursue political achievement unilateralism by abuse of land, and take land resources as a local "primitive accumulation" and fiscal resources of government consumption, and also they take much advantages in the transform of land-use and a large number of added values of land capital for their primitive accumulation, resulting in the unreasonable utilization of land resources, especially in grim situation of farmland protection.Only about half of the area in China is habitable. so the most population among 1.3 billion lives around the arable land, which only accounts for 7% of the world. The development of industrialization and urbanization has exacerbated the seriousness of environmental problems. In the past 20 years, about 200 million people migrated from the rural to urban areas. It’s estimated that by 2020, 300 million people will migrate, which will cause increase in demand of residential land and put land resources on unprecedented serious situation.China's current per capita cultivated land is about 1.5 Mu1, less than half of the world average, and the arable land is still in decrease at the speed of ten million acres per year. According to the latest statistics by the Ministry of Land and Resources of P.R.C., during the last 7 years, China's total arable land has been reduced by 1 million Mu, and more than 600 counties and cities have less than 0.8 acres per capita which is below the warning level of the world per capita arable land.

China's industrialization begins after the developed countries. Yang Dongping (2006) point out, as China unilaterally supported economic growth during the traditional process of industrialization, and by long-term use of extensive economy growth mode which requires high material consumption, high energy consumption and high pollution, great damages was caused to the eco-environment. This extensive economic growth mode has resulted in an over-emission of waste and environmental pollution, and even aggravates shortage of energy and resources. In a study of study the relationship between the environment and economic growth, Tao song(2008)using Chinese provincial waste water and solid wastes and GDP data over 1985–2005, finds that economic growth is fast, but the problems of environmental pollution are becoming increasingly severe.

At present, China is paying the fiddler in respect of environment for the rapid development of the economy, and potential contradictions have emerged continuously, including environmental pollution and ecological imbalance. Ecological degradation puts China involved in environmental issues, constraining its sustainable economic development. Even in agriculture, it has done great damage on environment. Liangzhi You (2010) shows that with the increase in grain yields, it results in much environmental degradation. Furthermore, as the increasing demand of grain, it drives the intensive use of physical input. In return, the intensive use also leads to environmental degradation, such as soil degradation, water scarcity and severe pollution.

Water pollution has become the main factor that harms the public health.The water resource per capita is 2140 cubic meters in China, only a quarter of the world's average, ranking 110th among the world’s poorest countries of low water resources per capita.  Pang Pengsha (2004) points out that in 2004, China reported 753 incidents of water pollution, for which industrial waste plays the main role, and meanwhile, the non-degradable and toxic chemicals in the agricultural waste, sewage and solid waste have caused serious damage to soil and underground water resources. Small rural industries cause a serious water pollution problem in China. Water pollution and water shortages are"China’s No. 1 environmental problem.”One report indicates that the groundwater aquifers in 90% of Chinese cities are polluted, and more than 75% of surface water in urban areas is unsuitable for drinking and fishing.This leaves hundreds of millions of people without access to safe drinking water.Worse still, the Chinese government has categorized almost thirty percent of the country’s river water as unsuitable to use even for agriculture or industry.These high levels of water pollution result primarily from the use of dirty industrial processes without modern environmental controls combined with rampant industrial irresponsibility.In fact, "water pollution is so widespread that regulators say a major incident occurs every other day".In addition, more than forty percent of China’s cities do not have a sewage treatment plant.The lack of sewers and general scarcity of clean water cause “nearly 700 million people [to] drink water contaminated with animal and human waste.”Major instances of water pollution only exacerbate the country’s increasing water shortages. The country is so large that the availability of water varies depending on the region: the country’s northern region faces profound water shortages, while in the south there is often destructive flooding.The water quality of over half of all river sections monitored for water quality are rated as unsafe for human consumption, and the serious water pollution costs several per cent of GDP in estimation. In 2004, pollution incidents in three cities in Tuojiang Sichuan affected millions of people’s drinking water, and caused economic loss of about 200 million Yuan.

At present, China has entered the stage of heavy chemical industry. One of the features of this stage is that the energy and resources demand will rapidly increase for reason that the fast growing industries like machinery, automobile, iron and steel consume high energy. The energy consumption of industrial sectors accounts for more than 70% of the total, while the energy-consuming industries such as iron and steel, nonferrous metals, chemicals, building materials consume 70% energy of the total, i.e. energy consumption of China’s high-energy industries almost accounts for half of the total. The large-scale expansion of these low-level industry results in the intense situation of China's energy and important raw material supply. In addition to the consumption of energy and raw materials, the current development mode has also caused great damage to the environment. At present, the local GDP growth is at the cost of the sacrificing of natural environment.Considering increase rate of generating capacity, Fan Jitao (2007) said that power shortage in China is the result of extensive use of electricity rather than supply shortage to a large extend. Power consumed by the vast majority of steel companies in China for production of per ton steel is much higher than that in the United States and Japan. Even hydropower plants, thermal power plants and other power supply companies waste a lot of energy themselves during production, for instance, hydro-electric power plant wastes 10% of electricity within the plant. Also, not high average level of quality of the population and low awareness of environmental protection, energy-saving and consumption reduction lead to excessive waste,causing pollution


Air pollution is not just a problem in Beijing; throughout the country citizens breathe unhealthy air. Particulate matter is one major air pollutant that makes China’s air quality unhealthy. Particulate matter is a result of diesel exhaust, coal-fired power plants, and other sources. It is suspected to be the cause of “up to 90 percent of all deaths from outdoor air pollution.” Other problematic air pollutants include nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide. The emission of sulfur dioxide, principally caused by coal burning, leads to acid rains,and “China is now the largest source of SO2 emissions in the world.”Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is a serious problem both nationally and internationally. One-third of China is affected by acid rain and neighboring countries have blamed China for acid rain occurrence within their borders which caused indirect economic loss.The irrational emission method also exacerbates the severity of air pollution. There is a large amount of greenhouse gas emitted, so if amount of greenhouse gas emitted were to continue to increase, then the temperature will increase even higher, and higher temperature will cause glaciers melting,bringing about flood and risk of freshwater resources shortage. Therefore, the coal-dominated energy structure cost too much considering the environmental and ecological benefits. It is estimated that China's annual economic losses is as high as 95 billion U.S. dollars because of the air pollution which has become a threat to human health. China exemplifies the extreme pollution that comes with industrialization. Also, it is a known fact that 750,000 people in China die prematurely due to air pollution.

The environmental problem is restricting the economic development. The World Bank estimated that China’s air and water pollution caused it lose 8 percent of GDP in 1995; according to Survey Western Ecological report, the ecological destroy caused direct economic loss of 13% local GDP in 2001; experts from Chinese Academy of Sciences estimated that the environmental pollution and ecological destroy caused 15% GDP loss in 2003.Experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences estimated that the pre-development cost of energy, transportation, communications, environmental protection, ecological construction and other infrastructure construction is 1/4 higher than the world average, including 10% for inherent fragility of the environment, 7% for the environmental pollution, 4% for the irrational structure and mismanagement respectively. High development costs will for sure affect the economic development and competitiveness.

Also,environmental problems harm people’s health and social stability. The environment is closely related to human health. According to the international research results, the level of environmental pollution is positively correlated with the cancer and respiratory system diseases. According to the United Nations Development Program 2002 Human Development Report in China, the population dying of lung cancer at the serious air-polluted regions is 4.7-8.8 times than that at good air regions.By the studying of Wen Zongguo (2007), it is 435.2 billion Yuan, 4% of China's GDP that the total loss from air pollution in 2002; and for water pollution, it is 650 billion Yuan, 6.1% of GDP; for noise pollution, it is 1.6 billion Yuan. And the total cost of environmental pollution is 1092 billion Yuan, 10.2% of GDP in 2002.

 In conclusion,China’s rapid growth is based on high energy consumption, high pollution emission and perhaps over-reliance on the increase in investment. The relationship between economic development and environmental protection is not only unity but also inverse and contradictions between the two may be solved by a compromising solution.High consumption of resources is the main reason for environmental pollution. In the production process, only parts of raw materials have been transformed into products, with the remaining parts being wasted and discharged into the environment, causing environmental pollution such as air and water pollution.This has also caused the GDP of the country to go down because of these problems.Hence,although having more factories boost the economics growth,it also brings about escalating pollution that has cause the people to suffer from various diseases or factors.Hence China is facing a dilemma in whether to pursue higher economic growth so that the country would prosper or to slower the rate of the pollution for the benefit of the people's health.

Sources:
http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:512687/FULLTEXT01.pdf

http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Brian_Finlayson2/publication/6482897_Rural_industries_and_water_pollution_in_China/file/e0b49529ce47dd010b.pdf

http://www.glica.org/topics/show/53

http://digital.law.washington.edu/dspace-law/bitstream/handle/1773.1/522/18PacRimLPolyJ155.pdf?sequence=1

http://www.apcss.org/Publications/Report_China's_%20Internal__Challenges_00.html

Done by:Winnie Ho(19)
2G

china's dilemma between pursing higher economics growth and escalating pollutions due to the industrialisation

The Chinese economy has performed admirably since reforms commenced with the decisions of the Eleventh Party Congress in 1978.  The successful effects of the reforms were clearly evident through the mid-eighties to the early nineties, as reflected in the nation’s double digit GDP growth.  In contrast to the experience in neighboring India, China has also succeeded in its efforts to reduce poverty during the period between 1978 and 1988.   Over that ten year period China reduced the number of people living below the official poverty line from 570 million to 220 million while India’s figure remained at 400 million.  Why did the Chinese economy perform as well as it did throughout the early stages of reform as compared to India?  A major factor may be that foreign-direct investment (FDI) over this period in China amounted to 261 billion dollars (20 times the FDI directed towards India).  China’s accumulated FDI in 1998 represented 25% of GDP.  However, FDI is currently shrinking and not expanding in China.  China’s economy is slowing down and the reasons for this trend are unclear. 

One explanation may be that China accomplished the easier economic reforms during the early 1980s.   During this period, China opened up its economy to FDI and promoted export led growth.   In more recent years, however, Beijing has been forced to deal  with the more difficult challenges posed by price deflation, a troubled banking system, falling corporate profits, shrinking export growth and declining FDI.  That China’s economic planners have to deal with some very daunting tasks is reflected in the following statistics:

 -         Export growth during 1998 was almost 0% in contrast to the 1997 figure of 21%.  This was the worst trade performance in fifteen years.

-         Two-thirds of China’s export surplus disappeared during the first half of 1999, although third quarter data show exports starting to rise.

-         During China’s dramatic period of growth, the trade front provided fuel for the economic engine.  This situation no longer holds true.

For years Beijing has tried to ignore market forces and command economic growth through Soviet-style central planning.  It urged state owned enterprises to produce goods without regard to whether they were marketable or not—and often they were not.  In February 1999 Beijing announced that two thirds of its key manufactured foods were in oversupply.  In addition to the difficulties mentioned previously, China is now facing rising unemployment and social unrest. Beijing’s fears over social unrest stalled attempts at deepening economic reforms during most of 1999.  The leadership is on the horns of a dilemma.  It must slow down any economic reform that radically worsens unemployment.  Yet if it slows down economic growth the leadership may be destroying one of the pillars of its own legitimacy. Seven percent GDP growth may not be high enough when viewed in the Chinese context to keep the lid on the pot of China’s boiling economic and social difficulties.  China needs at least an eight percent growth rate to outpace population growth and ensure positive per capita growth.  China’s real GDP growth has fallen from 13% in 1994 to about 6% in 1999.  Another reason for this reduction in growth is the shortfall in aggregate demand.  Consumers are reluctant to spend due to fear of losing their jobs and are saving money to offset the reduction in state subsidies.

The government has initiated a number of steps to deal with these looming problems.  It has increased government spending to offset consumer demand shortfalls.  This short-term fix is probably not sustainable.   It is uncertain how long the government can invest in “make work” programs when money is also required to service the debt, re-capitalize insolvent state banks and establish a new pension system to replace the one that is dissolving as the state divests itself of SOEs.  Consequently the pressure for devaluation is increasing.  Beijing will likely determine that preventing excessive or disruptive unemployment is its highest priority.   Social stability and availability of jobs are far more critical to Beijing’s hold on power than any other factors.  How should the leadership deal with its revenue shortfall?  Certainly it could raise taxes, but this no doubt would worsen aggregate demand.  Perhaps China’s best course of action is to scrap Central Bank control of capital markets and opt for a Western style long- term bond market.  Moreover, entry to the WTO may boost aggregate demand, foster free competition, pave the way for further economic reforms, and reduce capital flight. 

Any degree of fragmentation or instability in China caused by economic difficulties will affect the region.  It is in the interests of China’s neighbors to provide the capital and expertise as well as lend any cooperation they can as China finally begins to tackle its fundamental economic challenges.

As China develops its economy, it requires ever greater supplies of energy.  Many observers believe that energy will be one of the most serious challenges for China in the 21st century.  Currently, China relies heavily on fossil fuels for its energy supplies, with coal serving a primary role.  Other sources of energy include oil and natural gas.   Despite its possession of vast energy supplies—especially coal—China is expected to experience energy shortfalls in the next few decades.  The gap between energy demand and supply may be as large as 140 million tons of coal.   For China, the most obvious solution is to rely even more extensively on coal.  However, in the long term, questions are arising about whether such a strategy is sustainable.  Coal contributes substantially to China’s air pollution.  It also contributes to acid rain, a problem that is regional and not simply limited to China.  Finally, greater use of coal will ensure that China will be responsible for a greater proportion of the world’s carbon emissions, a factor linked to global warming and climate change.  Given these challenges, the question that emerges is: is there an alternative?

One way that China could meet its growing energy demand is by emphasizing efficient use of energy.  Although efficiency has improved in the past several decades, it lags behind advanced industrialized countries substantially and thus the margin for improvement is substantial.  Another alternative might be greater reliance on natural gas which is a much cleaner form of alternative energy.  China has about 33 trillion cubic meters of natural gas of which only 3 trillion cubic meters have been prospected thus far. 

The industrial SO2 emissions mainly found in coal consumption are the leading cause of urban air pollution observed in most of the Chinese cities. The freer trade stimulates the rapid urban growth

resulting in a staggering expansion of heavy industry and urbanization that requires colossal inputs of energy, almost all from coal that is the most readily available but the dirtiest. The coal consumption has been more than quadrupled since 1980, reaching nearly 2.81 billion tons of

standard coal equivalents (SCE) in 2008 . The industrial sources (mining, manufacturing, and utilities) were responsible for 85.8 percent of the reported SO2 emissions with electricity generation accounting for 45.7 percent (China Statistical Yearbook 2009).1 Despite the

government’s efforts to improve fuel quality and to relocate some heavily polluted industrial activities, the industrial SO2 emissions have been still increasing because of the increasing share of coal consumption in power generation and the lack of emissions control in the massive number of small furnaces and kilns (especially those operated by township and village industrial

enterprises)

The economic activities of production and consumption require the use of energy, and the use of energy affects the environment in the forms of water pollution and air pollution

Air Pollution

The air and water in China, especially in the urban areas, are among the most polluted in the world. According to a report of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1998, of the ten most polluted cities in the world, seven can be found in China. Sulfur dioxide and soot caused by coal combustion are two major air pollutants, resulting in the formation of acid rain, which now falls on about 30% of China's total land area. Industrial boilers and furnaces consume almost half of China's coal and are the largest sources of urban air pollution. The burning of coal for cooking and heating in many cities accounts for the rest. 

Another major source of air pollution is the use of oil and gasoline in the transportation sector, especially the emission from automobiles and jet engines. As the country becomes industrialized, pollution from both industrial and consumer sources will increase because of higher levels of output and consumption, the latter including the increase in the use of automobiles and in air travel, unless pollution per unit of output or consumption can be reduced. See Committee on Energy Futures and Air Pollution in Urban China, et. al. (2007) for more information on the state of and policies for urban air pollution in China.

 Water Pollution

Mercury released into the air by coal-fired power plants is captured by raindrops, and transferred to the soil, surface water and groundwater. Surface water affects the fish consumed. Groundwater is polluted by runoff from factories, smelters and mining operations, and then used by farmers downstream to irrigate their crops. Heavy use of fertilizers has contributed to contamination also. Fertilizers in China often contain high levels of metals, especially cadmium, which is harmful.

China’s water is polluted also by the disposal of waste. There have been large quantities of deposits of organic and toxic waste from households, agriculture and industry.

Deforestation has caused the flow of bud along the rivers and affects water supply and quality. People’s Daily, June 12, 2007 reports that Lake Taihu was covered with a foul-smelling algae and freshwater was shut off for more than 2 million people in Wuxi due to the blue-algae infestation of the lake.

Besides the poor quality of water there is the problem of the shortage of water.  Water beds of several important cities including Beijing and Shanghai are low, causing shortage of supply of well water. Supply of waters from rivers including the Yellow River and the Yangtze River are running short because of diversion to agriculture production and electricity generation along the sources.

 Even though an increase in china's economy would increase the standard of living for the people in china but  i personally think that china should not risk china's environment and the well-being of the people just for china's economy. i think china should moderate the amount of industries and energy consumption so that the welfare of the people would be threatened. 

sources

 http://www.princeton.edu/~gchow/China's%20energy%20and%20envornment%20APJAE2.doc.

http://www.apcss.org/Publications/Report_China's_%20Internal__Challenges_00.html

done by cassandra