In the entire history of countries emerging as major industrial powers, none have managed to do so without crafting a legacy of environmental damage. And none more so than China.

Environmental damage is now so severe in China that it not only poses a long-term burden on Chinese citizens but is also, as the New York Times writes, “an acute political challenge to the ruling Communist Party” (1).

As well as dense and stifling air pollution, China’s water supply is toxic with almost 500 million people lacking access to safe drinking water.

Data shows that as much as one-third of the major river basins in China and 60 percent of its underground water is polluted (2).









Water Prevention Action Plan

In April this year, China published a water prevention action plan. The plan promised to improve the water supply and clean up the country’s polluted rivers and lakes. The vice Premier Wang Yang said China faces a “formidable task” of cleaning its water and requires “fundamental change in attitudes to prioritize the environment over economic development at all cost.”

In an aim to protect the nation’s scarce water supplies, the new action plan seeks to ban water-polluting oil refineries, paper mills, pesticide producers and other industrial works by the end of 2016.

Despite China already disallowing the approval of 163 state-level projects, many companies are ignoring environmental impact assessments of their business. Alternatively they are finding loopholes and ways to get round the environmental requirements. According to a national MEP survey, approximately 30,000 firms illegally constructed projects during the first half of 2015.

As Wang admitted, more efforts are needed to improve accountability for water pollution. It has also been announced that China would accelerate the implementation of emission permits and use other “economic instruments to incentivise water protection.”

The problems associated with the enforcement of environmental rules, whereby state-owned organizations routinely opt to pay negligible fines rather than meet regulations, is not the only concern regarding China’s dire water pollution situation.