Environmental Problems in the People’s Republic of China

China is rapidly heading towards its anticipated status of the ‘Economic Tiger’ of the 21st Century. The industrial sector of the country is growing in many different categories of products and so is China’s global trade. Being the world’s most populated nation and the would-be industrial giant, China is facing a number of environmental problems within its boundaries and also with its products meant for import. At the same time, the Chinese government is taking various measures in order to control its environment-related problems and make the quality of life better for its people.

The most immediate and extensive environmental concern in contemporary China is that of water quality. According to China’s Ministry of Water Resources, pollution has affected more than 70% of fresh water bodies (rivers and lakes) in the country and nearly 40% of the water in rivers/streams is unfit for drinking or other kinds of human use. This means that over 300 million rural Chinese people are in need of clean drinking water and many of them have suffered, or are suffering, from water-borne diseases associated with contaminants like arsenic, sodium salts, and/fluorine etc.

Desertification and land erosion is the second major environmental and the leading ecological problem in China. Climate change – under the influence of global warming – combined with inefficient management of land and rapid industrialization, has claimed 30% of the country’s land with alarming consequences. An estimated five billion tones of soil is lost to erosion each year. Valuable nutrients that are lost through land erosion need to be replenished by means of artificial fertilizers – fueling the industrial sector for agricultural progress. A related problem is the loss of natural habitat and stress on biodiversity. This is manifest in the case of pandas that are left without their natural ‘homes’ on account of deforestation for the timber market.

Equally alarming are China’s food safety issues that are not only affecting the health of indigenous population but also making their way out to China’s global importers of food commodities. In the past few years, a large number of Chinese people have suffered from health problems resulting from consumption of contaminated foods like eggs, snails, sausages, spices, and fruit juice. Unsafe inorganic farming in China has led to restrictions on the import of certain Chinese foods in Japan and Europe. In America, pet food imported from China has been criticized after a significant number of deaths reported in cats and dogs consuming Chinese pet food.

While waste management, air pollution, and noise pollution are also on a rise, the government is warming up for large-scale environmental-friendly measures, including strict legislation against pollution and other kinds of environmental/ecological degradation by people. When it comes to punishing people for crimes, the Chinese government has a ‘no-mercy’ legislative policy. This is best remembered in the case of Zheng Xiaoyu, China’s former head of Food and Drug Administration, who was executed in 2007after being found guilty of accepting bribes for registering substandard products without putting them to testing procedures.

The Chinese government has banned the distribution of plastic bags and placed a discharge fee on irresponsible disposal of waste. At the same time, incentives are offered to those who practice safe disposal and recycling of waste material. It is expected that by 2010, two-third of the drinking water problem will be remedied in China. In 2007 alone, China spent over 3 billion dollars on building energy-efficient systems and pollution-control projects. Chinese media too is covering the country’s environmental problems in great detail and with appreciable openness. It is not hard to see that China is well up to the existing challenges of environmental protection and conservation.

Tweet This Post