The main contributors to pollution in China

Large-scale working of coal and other minerals
Coal-fired power stations which discharge huge amounts of pollutants into the air
Heavy industry, which requires a lot of energy from the burning of fossil fuels, and creates other forms of pollution. The World Bank says that Chinese steel-makers, on average, use one-fifth more energy per tonnes than the international average. Cement manufactures need 45% more power, and ethylene producers need 70% more than producers elsewhere. China's aluminium industry alone consumes as much energy as the country's commercial sector - all the hotels, restaurants, banks and shopping complexes combined
Expanding car ownership, heavy traffic and low grade petrol : only 1% of the country's 560 million city dwellers breathe air considered safe by EU standards
Indoor air pollution caused by poorly ventilated coal and wood stoves or toxic fumes from shoddy construction materials
Dumping of waste into rivers and lakes by factories and farms: China's own environmental monitors say that one-third of all river water and vast sections of China's great lakes have water rated at the most degraded level, unfit for industrial or agricultural use

Resource summary

	Created by Jodie Goodacre almost 11 years ago