ABSTRACT
China has been rapidly developing for the past three decades. This economic and industrial growth has caused significant environmental problems, including acid rain, pollution, ozone depletion, global climate change, biodiversity loss, and social dislocation due to mass migration to urban areas (Dominelli & Ku, 2017; McKinnon & Alston, 2016). It is estimated that over half of China’s surface water is polluted, making it undrinkable, and a quarter of it is deemed unsafe even for industrial purposes. Even worse, about 90% of groundwater in farmland is polluted and approximately 60% beneath metropolitan areas is severely polluted (Dominelli & Ku, 2017). Other environmental concerns regard food safety, public health, and economic development. These environmental issues have become a critical concern for the Chinese government to address.
