May 10, 2007  China's environment is deteriorating rapidly despite attempts to address the problem, Elizabeth Economy, director of Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said in a recent talk at Watson.

In China, the environment is under attack on every front, Economy said. The rapid rate of economic growth the country is experiencing has resulted in widespread pollution, deforestation, and a severe strain on the country's natural resources. Air pollution is one of the most visible environmental problems. Sixteen of the world’s 20 most polluted cities are in China, Economy pointed out. This is a result of the country's strong reliance on coal, she argued, and the government's poor implementation of pollution control technologies.

Water is another major environmental issue facing the Chinese government. Access to water resources is a large problem in many areas of the country, despite the fact that water consumption has been going up 3 to 4 percent annually. There are also many inefficiencies in the distribution of water, Economy explained, as it is allocated very unequally among the Chinese population.

Land management is the other significant environmental problem in China. Rapid economic growth has led to widespread deforestation and erosion. As a result, a rising percentage of Chinese land is now qualified as desert.

Since 2001, these issues have been the subject of increasing attention from the Chinese government. In response, a series of steps have been taken to address these environmental concerns. Today, 1.5 percent of gross domestic product is being invested in environmental protection, which Economy suggested is a fairly significant percentage. China has also brought in significant environmental assistance through requests for foreign aid money. In addition, the Chinese government regularly launches public campaigns to combat the effects of a deteriorating environment. While officials in Beijing are quite good at making such grand pronouncements, Economy argued, they have not been very successful at actually achieving any of these goals.

This increasing level of attention by the Chinese government to domestic environmental issues can be explained by a number of factors. One is the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Economy explained. There is a desire to ensure that the air is clean and of good quality for both the athletes and the spectators, in part as a public relations effort to present the country in the best light. A deteriorating environment has also undermined China's economic growth and caused high rates of disease, results that have caused great concern in Beijing. Some 400,000 people die every year in China from respiratory diseases, and thousands more succumb to diseases that come from polluted water sources. The widespread pollution has created not only a public health problem, but economic woes as well. Tens of thousands of workers are forced to stay home due to various health issues, Economy said, reducing the country's economic growth.

In terms of American-Chinese relations, the environment represents an area with a high potential for cooperation, Economy said. That said, she concluded, the Bush administration needs to sign on to the Kyoto Protocol and other international environmental treaties if it wants to encourage China to do the same.

Her talk, moderated by Watson Assistant Professor Leiwen Jiang, launched the Global Environment Program’s new lecture series, “Population and Environment in China and its Global Implications.”

This lecture was sponsored by the Herbert H. Goldberger Lectureships Fund.

By Watson Institute Student Rapporteur Jebediah Koogler '10


Watch a webcast of the lecture here.