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Rural factories won't fix Chinese pollution

Rural factories won't fix Chinese pollution
Rural factories won't fix Chinese pollution
China's green movement is awakening and starting to receive global attention (see, for example, Q. Wang et al. Nature 489, 502; 2012). The municipal governments of Qidong and Shifang should be applauded for suspending two planned industrial plants likely to cause widespread pollution (Nature 488, 261–262; 2012). But there may be plans afoot to relocate these to rural areas.

Moving factories from cities to rural areas is becoming more common. The relocation by local government of a US$1.4-billion paraxylene plant from Xiamen City in Fujian province to the less-developed Gulei Town was not welcomed by residents (T. Ma China Environ. Ser. 10, 33–49; 2008/2009). Their protests received little media attention or help from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the new plant is now almost complete.

Shifting pollution from urban to rural areas can only be a short-term fix. For example, rural and semi-rural factories trebled their contribution to the national wastewater discharge between 1990 and 2007 (see go.nature.com/kdgsh3; in Chinese), and there are more than 200 cancer-cluster villages in China where pollution is suspected as the major cause of death.

More local NGOs are needed to support rural populations in suing polluting industrialists. To ensure sustainability of the country's huge production system, industrialists must embrace the green economy and tackle factory pollution at source.
developing world, environmental sciences, government
0028-0836
342-343
Yang, Hong
2ea2c94c-8d28-4555-98f9-59b615b0cee7
Flower, Roger
84ff829e-69d3-4375-9f97-e34b6ce15dc8
Thompson, Julian
4c88bf44-2a11-40f4-8dfc-2047702bd5e0
Yang, Hong
2ea2c94c-8d28-4555-98f9-59b615b0cee7
Flower, Roger
84ff829e-69d3-4375-9f97-e34b6ce15dc8
Thompson, Julian
4c88bf44-2a11-40f4-8dfc-2047702bd5e0

Yang, Hong, Flower, Roger and Thompson, Julian (2012) Rural factories won't fix Chinese pollution. Nature, 490, 342-343. (doi:10.1038/490342d).

Record type: Article

Abstract

China's green movement is awakening and starting to receive global attention (see, for example, Q. Wang et al. Nature 489, 502; 2012). The municipal governments of Qidong and Shifang should be applauded for suspending two planned industrial plants likely to cause widespread pollution (Nature 488, 261–262; 2012). But there may be plans afoot to relocate these to rural areas.

Moving factories from cities to rural areas is becoming more common. The relocation by local government of a US$1.4-billion paraxylene plant from Xiamen City in Fujian province to the less-developed Gulei Town was not welcomed by residents (T. Ma China Environ. Ser. 10, 33–49; 2008/2009). Their protests received little media attention or help from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the new plant is now almost complete.

Shifting pollution from urban to rural areas can only be a short-term fix. For example, rural and semi-rural factories trebled their contribution to the national wastewater discharge between 1990 and 2007 (see go.nature.com/kdgsh3; in Chinese), and there are more than 200 cancer-cluster villages in China where pollution is suspected as the major cause of death.

More local NGOs are needed to support rural populations in suing polluting industrialists. To ensure sustainability of the country's huge production system, industrialists must embrace the green economy and tackle factory pollution at source.

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More information

Published date: 18 October 2012
Keywords: developing world, environmental sciences, government
Organisations: Geography & Environment

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 343578
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/343578
ISSN: 0028-0836
PURE UUID: 358efcad-8cfe-47f7-aba6-291aa32d98b4

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Date deposited: 22 Oct 2012 11:00
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 12:05

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Contributors

Author: Hong Yang
Author: Roger Flower
Author: Julian Thompson

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