Talk talk china is complaining that most Chinese cities are dirty and ugly. Oh please - if you want clean and pretty, go see a Disney movie. If you want excitement and industry and fun and entertainment for insomniacs and craziness and districts which are so grand even their street signs are oversized - when you're adventurous enough to step outside your office district then come to urban China!
So…
Where do you think this gorgeous vista is located?
And no, I’m not (just) talking about yours truly in the foreground!
Would you believe our boat is anchored off a wild, unspoiled beach in north-west Hong Kong? Yes, just up the coast from one of the busiest knots of humanity on the planet. And even better – only 20 km from our Shenzhen office!
As mentioned in an earlier post, China's unprecedented environmental problems are universally recognized. But surprisingly, the usual suspects - huge "uncontrolled" growth and the proliferation of private companies - may not be the culprits after all.
According to the World Bank, preliminary results of a company survey in China suggest "there is no link between fast growth and the breeding of corruption or pollution" (hat tip to China Law Blog).
In fact, the boomtowns and Special Economic Zones (SEZs) on the coast, such as Weihai and Qingdao in the northern Shandong province, score higher than cities "in the old north-eastern rust belt" on green space per capita and clean-air days per year. They also treat 97% - 100% of their industrial waste water.
On the other hand, "the opposite is also true... Cities with poor investment climates tend to have industry dominated by state firms, which often are the worst polluters."
So for the Chinese government, which is making all the right noises about stopping pollution, it is a case of: physician, heal thyself! Hopefully, the fact that the Chinese government has direct (if distant) control over the worst environmental offenders might make the near-lost cause of saving her waterways a little easier.
The World Bank also speculates that "many of the coastal cities now realize that having a good environment and being a nice place to live are critical to attracting talented people in an increasingly competitive world", so they try to keep air and water pollution to a minimum.
It’s yet another example of the market economy in communist China giving power to the people…
As happy as I am about China's economic miracle, it could be costing the earth, quite literally. The positive sign is that the Chinese government is finally admitting it. According to a more-candid-than-usual government white paper, released last week, pollution is costing China $200 billion a year, or just under 10% of the country's 2005 GDP of $2.26 trillion.
The report also mentions:
-the Yangtze is "cancerous" with pollution threatening drinking water supplies in 186 cities along its banks.
- 60% of the country's territory is considered ecologically fragile. (This is a massive proportion of any country, but when that country is China, that also represents a sizeable amount of the entire earth's surface.)
- about 90% of the country's grasslands are on their way to becoming just deserts – meaning more sandstorms in Beijing, Korea and Japan.(Hat tip: China Confidential)
And the following figures have been reported elsewhere:
- China has the world's highest emissions of sulphur dioxide and a quarter of the country endures acid rain.
- In 2002, the air quality in almost two-thirds of 300 cities tested failed World Health Organisation standards.
- Over 70% of the water in five of China's seven major river systems was unsuitable for human contact. (The Economist)
- China has 16 of the world's 20 most polluted cities (World Bank).
- "In producing about 4% of the world's annual GDP, China consumes 10% of the world's electricity, 20% of its copper, 31% of its coal, and some 40% of its cement. In generating every ton of iron and steel...[China] consumes 40% more energy than the world average."
Assoc-prof Wenran Jiang, University of Alberta (Business Week)
- By 2025, China's oil consumption, based on present rates, will approach 100 million barrels a day, more than 16 million barrels over current global production. (China Confidential).
No wonder the official announcing the report said China's environmental situation is "grave" and worsening and "allows for no optimism". But there is hope – those urgent words themselves point to an official willingness to do something about the problem. Central government is in a tough race against the clock and bureaucratic inertia, to make that urgency felt in all its far-flung extremities.
Recent Comments