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As of 2014, China had an economy growing at a marginally reduced rate of 7.7% per annum. China is one of the newly industrialised countries that has experienced an unprecedented growth, and this has had many positive and negative implications, mostly environmental.

Their exploitation of the manufacturing industry has made China a modern superpower that has allowed them to have the monopoly of large amount of the manufacturing of the world’s goods due to their cheap labour and FTZ that have allowed for huge foreign investments. With time, the economic boom of the country has allowed to reduce the amount of people living in poverty and raise their literacy level with increased funds in the education sector. As the Chinese’s population has become wealthier, the global markets have expanded and have made China a global hub even for technology and education.

However, China has achieved economic growth at the vast expense of the environment. China has 16 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities, and air pollution was identified as the cause of the death of 400.000 people in 2003. Beijing is the world’s largest emitter of CO2 and its levels of pollution are 2-3 times higher than the amounts considered safe by the WHO.

The extensive urban growth in decedent years has put a lot of pressure in urban areas threatening biodiversity in different eastern regions. Due to an increasing population trend, China’s agriculture has also been put under pressure due to rising demand for food; the exploitation of farming has therefore caused firstly a degradation of the ecosystem and secondly an inadequate use of water resources.

The economic growth has led to higher income per capita, and consequently the quality of life of the Chinese has become more westernised as they have been exposed to a capitalist and consumerist society. This has made the quest for natural resources fierce, as the increasing demand for commodities requires a matching increase in the exploitation of fossil fuels and raw materials. The economic growth has therefore put a lot of pressure on land use and forest management, negatively affecting the environment. From further reading, it has been shown that China’s land covered by forest was of a mere 16% in 1998, but it increased  to 21% in 2005 after the signing of the Kyoto Protocol and schemes to manage the environmental consequences of economic growth.

The intensive pollution derived from the manufacturing industry has also released arsenic, lead and cadmium to contaminate rivers and groundwater channels. 80% of China’s rivers cannot support fish, many of these poisonous materials have been found to enter the food chain as rice, and vegetables are grown using contaminated water.

Furthermore, the localisation of industries in the eastern region that has led to the country’s economic boost, is the cause for acid rain. Acid rain affects 30% of the country and is mainly caused by coal fired powered stations. From further reading, it is shown that China’s emissions were estimated at 6,2 billion tonnes in 2006 and 8,5 billion tonnes in 2015, accounting for the world’s 25% of total CO2 emission. This is the reason why the global community of political leaders has tried to target China to reduce pollutants emission and environmental degradation.

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