Pollution in China

China has for many years suffered from serious air pollution. The Ministry’s official publication, China Environmental News confirms that almost 55 firms that surrounded capital Beijing have severely exceeded pollution limits in Q2. Besides the punitive measures including tougher supervision arrangements, fines and production restrictions along with empowerment of China Environment Ministry, the entire country still struggles hard to combat widespread air, soil and water contamination.

Air Pollution dings China’s GDP about 6.5 % annually. Those costs are mainly driven by lost productivity, since factories are shut down on bad air days. High levels of pollution are linked to serious chronic illnesses, like heart disease and lung cancer, which are costly to treat. Air pollution also affects tourism and outdoor recreation. 20% of China’s soil is contaminated which taints the Country’s food supply. Experts says that long term, China will be shifting toward a service based economy which produces lower emission than steel making.