China's dilemma (Lim Jia Yi)

Task:  Reflect on the China's dilemma between pursuing high economic growth and escalating pollution due to the industrialization.

Since China opened up in 1978, China has grown and have led to a significant rise in pollution problems. This then affects their air quality.  

China have to improve themselves through industrialization. Rapid urbanisation brought dust from new housing and road building, while more traffic increased emissions. Slower wind speeds than usual in northern China were an additional contributing factor. This causes the air to be more polluted. 

This industrial pollution has made cancer China’s leading cause of death. China's industrialization have been polluting the environment to the extent that many of China's waters are mostly unfit for direct human use as they are seriously contaminated by the industrial discharges, and has caused a lot of deaths and incidents of serious respiratory illnesses. Close to 190 000 get sick every year, due to contaminated water and about 10% of the crops are poisoned with heavy metals.

It is a difficult decision for China. If they do not pursue higher economic growth, they will be lagging behind the other countries and will not be able to improve their country. However, if they do pursue higher economic growth, there would be an escalating pollution due to industralization. This pollution can cause health problems which indirectly causes the deaths of many.