The Crisis of China’s Environmental Pollution: What Does It Take to Clean Up the PRC?

A Discussion with Students at Leiden University and Rotterdam’s School of Management

China’s impressive economic growth has come at a high cost: according to estimates by the World Bank and China’s Environmental Protection Administration (World Bank 2007), the environmental fallout from China’s growth miracle may cost the economy as much as 5.8 percent of GDP per year. China’s environmental pollution has been making headlines for some time now: the PRC is home to some of the most badly polluted cities in the world; about half of the country’s sweet water reserves are toxic from contaminants, and the air quality in many areas is threatening the health of China’s citizens. In some areas, the situation is so dire that laundry hung out in the open will reportedly turn black before it dries. China’s capital city Beijing is regularly smothered in smog – in early 2013, the air pollution there reached levels 30 times higher than what the World Health Organization considers to be safe.

These developments have led to a marked shift in public awareness. Only ten years ago, surveys still suggested that Chinese university students significantly favoured economic development and social stability over environmental protection (Wong 2003). Today, the dangerous levels of pollution are a constant matter of concern, with citizens monitoring air pollution levels in real time on their smartphones before leaving the house. The deteriorating environmental situation in China has become a serious political challenge to a government that has linked its legitimacy to its ability to provide welfare for its population. Chinese citizens are increasingly posting sardonic comments about China’s environmental record online, for instance offering awards to officials who are willing to take a swim in poisoned lakes, or suggesting that Shanghai’s Huangpu River could be turned into a tasty broth by tossing in ginger and garlic – in addition to the thousands of dead pigs that were discovered floating there in 2012. Often such humorous comments make way for outright dissent, with more and more urban citizens taking to the streets over environmental issues.

These developments have placed environmental pollution at the top of the government’s reform agenda, with President Xi Jinping pledging in May 2013 that his administration would assure sustainable development through “the strictest system and most tightknit law enforcement”. But can China’s environment still be cleaned up, or are the official promises simply too little, too late? What does it take to curb industrial pollution in a country that is still developing? Will affluent Chinese urbanites be willing to forgo the chance at a new car or turn down their air-conditioning units while their neighbours are propagating conspicuous consumption? Join us this week to discuss these questions and to share your views on China’s environmental situation.