Skip to main content
  • Sections
  • Search

Center for Strategic & International Studies

User menu

  • Subscribe
  • Sign In

Topics

  • Climate Change
  • Cybersecurity and Technology
    • Cybersecurity
    • Data Governance
    • Intellectual Property
    • Intelligence, Surveillance, and Privacy
    • Military Technology
    • Space
    • Technology and Innovation
  • Defense and Security
    • Counterterrorism and Homeland Security
    • Defense Budget
    • Defense Industry, Acquisition, and Innovation
    • Defense Strategy and Capabilities
    • Geopolitics and International Security
    • Long-Term Futures
    • Missile Defense
    • Space
    • Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation
  • Economics
    • Asian Economics
    • Global Economic Governance
    • Trade and International Business
  • Energy and Sustainability
    • Energy, Climate Change, and Environmental Impacts
    • Energy and Geopolitics
    • Energy Innovation
    • Energy Markets, Trends, and Outlooks
  • Global Health
    • Family Planning, Maternal and Child Health, and Immunizations
    • Multilateral Institutions
    • Health and Security
    • Infectious Disease
  • Human Rights
    • Building Sustainable and Inclusive Democracy
    • Business and Human Rights
    • Responding to Egregious Human Rights Abuses
    • Civil Society
    • Transitional Justice
    • Human Security
  • International Development
    • Food and Agriculture
    • Governance and Rule of Law
    • Humanitarian Assistance
    • Human Mobility
    • Private Sector Development
    • U.S. Development Policy

Regions

  • Africa
    • North Africa
    • Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Americas
    • Caribbean
    • North America
    • South America
  • Arctic
  • Asia
    • Afghanistan
    • Australia, New Zealand & Pacific
    • China
    • India
    • Japan
    • Korea
    • Pakistan
    • Southeast Asia
  • Europe
    • European Union
    • NATO
    • Post-Soviet Europe
    • Turkey
  • Middle East
    • The Gulf
    • Egypt and the Levant
    • North Africa
  • Russia and Eurasia
    • The South Caucasus
    • Central Asia
    • Post-Soviet Europe
    • Russia

Sections menu

  • Programs
  • Experts
  • Events
  • Analysis
    • Blogs
    • Books
    • Commentary
    • Congressional Testimony
    • Critical Questions
    • Interactive Reports
    • Journals
    • Newsletter
    • Reports
    • Transcript
  • Podcasts
  • iDeas Lab
  • Transcripts
  • Web Projects

Main menu

  • About Us
  • Support CSIS
    • Securing Our Future
Report
Share
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Printfriendly.com

Assessing Chinese Government Response to the Challenge of Environment and Health

July 17, 2008

ISBN# 978-0-89206-537-0 (pb)

Globally, an estimated 24 percent of the disease burden and 23 percent of all deaths can be attributed to environmental factors. Pollution and environmental degradation undermine a nation’s health in myriad ways. China, the world’s largest developing country and, as of 2006, the world’s leading emitter of greenhouse gases, is no exception. In recent years, environmental threats to human health have escalated in many parts of the country, particularly in southern China, a hotspot of industrial development. With the lack of political attention and resources for research, comprehensive, official data on the real impact of pollution on health are largely nonexistent in China. The little knowledge that does exist is still primarily anecdotal—proof that more complete analysis is becoming an urgent need.

The leadership in Beijing has become increasingly aware of the heavy socioeconomic cost of pollution domestically. Pollution burdens the Chinese economy and drives up health care costs. A deteriorating environment implies a heavy burden of disease in China and a rising cost of treatment for the Chinese government and the public. As public demonstrations against environmental and health risks of industrial projects have become increasingly common in Chinese cities, Beijing has begun to be sensitized to the potential impact of environmental health conditions on social stability. This raises the possibility that environmental health in China is becoming a matter on which the leadership’s political legitimacy may, in part, rest.

The nexus between environment and health in China is too significant to be ignored, either within China or abroad. Accordingly, the CSIS Freeman Chair in China Studies offers this assessment of China’s response to the challenge of environment and health. As China aspires to build a “harmonious society” based on “scientific development” and to become a responsible global player, environmental health problems present a looming challenge for China—and for the international community.

Downloads
Assessing Chinese Government Response to the Challenge of Environment and Health
Written By
Charles Freeman
Senior Adviser (Non-resident), Economic and Trade Affairs
Xiaoqing Lu Boynton
Purchase paperback
Media Queries
Contact H. Andrew Schwartz
Chief Communications Officer
Tel: 202.775.3242

Contact Paige Montfort
Media Relations Coordinator, External Relations
Tel: 202.775.3173
Related
Asia, China, China Reality Check, Freeman Chair in China Studies, Global Health

Most Recent From Charles Freeman

On Demand Event
China’s Competitiveness
January 30, 2013
Press Release
China’s Competitiveness: Myths, Realities, and Lessons for the United States and Japan
By Charles Freeman, James Andrew Lewis, Michael J. Green
January 29, 2013
In the News
Deep read: The rise of ChinAfrica
July 17, 2012
Journal
TWQ: The Influence and Illusion of China’s New Left - Winter 2012
By Charles Freeman
January 1, 2012
Report
Implementing Health Care Reform Policies in China
By Charles Freeman
December 2, 2011
Report
Freeman Briefing: China's Investment in the United States
By Charles Freeman
November 8, 2011
In the News
US gropes, muscular China wrestles
August 19, 2011
In the News
US turns other cheek at China debt lashing
August 9, 2011
View all content by this expert
Footer menu
  • Topics
  • Regions
  • Programs
  • Experts
  • Events
  • Analysis
  • Web Projects
  • Podcasts
  • iDeas Lab
  • Transcripts
  • About Us
  • Support Us
Contact CSIS
Email CSIS
Tel: 202.887.0200
Fax: 202.775.3199
Visit CSIS Headquarters
1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Media Queries
Contact H. Andrew Schwartz
Chief Communications Officer
Tel: 202.775.3242

Contact Paige Montfort
Media Relations Coordinator, External Relations
Tel: 202.775.3173

Daily Updates

Sign up to receive The Evening, a daily brief on the news, events, and people shaping the world of international affairs.

Subscribe to CSIS Newsletters

Follow CSIS
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

All content © 2022. All rights reserved.

Legal menu
  • Credits
  • Privacy Policy
  • Reprint Permissions