by Itamar Medeiros | February 8, 2009 | 2 Comments Daily ozone and carbon monoxide measurements may be included in Shanghai air quality reports to meet new standards proposed by the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection. The ministry wants to bring China’s air quality reports into line with international standards [...]
Read More » by Itamar Medeiros | September 19, 2008 | 1 Comment Caijing Magazine shares some startling statistics on cancer in China, where smoking, poor diet, water pollution and environmental problems have caused the nation’s cancer death rate to rise 80 percent in the past 30 years. The statistics come from an exhaustive survey conducted by the Chinese Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Science and Technology. According to the survey, cancer is now accountable for 25 percent of all urban deaths and 21 percent of all rural deaths [...]
Read More » by Itamar Medeiros | August 3, 2008 | 1 Comment Industries with high energy consumption and emissions are developing too fast in China, along with the quick economic growth, the Chinese State Council, or Cabinet, warned on recently. The traditional industry structure remained unchanged, while the service sector and high-tech manufacturing weighting fell in the national economy, State Councilors heard at a meeting focusing on energy saving and emission reduction, chaired by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao [...]
Read More » by Itamar Medeiros | June 4, 2008 | 0 Comments Water and air quality improved in Shanghai last year, but noise pollution was worse, the city’s Environment Protection Administration said. Water quality in the Huangpu River showed signs of improvement for the first time in five years, the administration said in an annual report before Thursday’s World Environment Day, according to the Oriental Morning Post. Road noise on Shanghai streets hit an average of 71.9 dB during the day while it dropped to 65.9 dB at night, failing to meet last year’s target, the report said [...]
Read More » by Itamar Medeiros | May 6, 2008 | 0 Comments Shanghai maintains the highest quality of life on Chinese mainland for Asian expats, but environmental pollution problem is still a concern, according to the latest survey. The Location Ranking Survey, conducted by one of the world’s largest human resources organizations, ECA International, ranked Shanghai in 11th place in Asia and 78th in the world in terms of expat living conditions. The city retained its top spot among the 13 cities in Chinese mainland that included Beijing, Nanjing, Tianjin, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Xiamen [...]
Read More » by Itamar Medeiros | April 13, 2008 | 1 Comment Shanghai, the most powerful economic hub of China, achieved GDP of US$1.2 trillion in 2007, up 13.3% from a year earlier, marking a double-digit growth for 16 consecutive years, the Shanghai Statistics Bureau announced recently. The city’s 2007 GDP per capita stood at US$8,594 in the local calculation method, said Pan Jianxin, director of Shanghai Bureau of Statistics. And in accordance with the international standards, the figure would hit US$8,949, said Pan…
Read More » by Itamar Medeiros | January 14, 2008 | 0 Comments National Geographic Channel made a documentary about the car revolution in China. In the video introduction, it says that ‘Cars are racing into China supercharging its economy, and delivering dreams of a better life. But China’s cars are clogging its highways and spewing out clouds of pollution. The rest of the world better watch out, because some Chinese automakers have plans to flood the world markets with cheaper Chinese cars be they made by GM or Chinas own Geely Automotive [...]
Read More » by Itamar Medeiros | December 31, 2007 | 0 Comments The following are the top 10 domestic news events in the year 2007 selected by Xinhua News, China’s Official News Agency (in chronological order): 1. China’s top legislature, the National People’s Congress (NPC), adopted a landmark property law on March 16, granting equal protection to public and private properties. 2. Serious pollution caused a sudden stenchy algae outbreak in China’s third largest freshwater lake Taihu in late May, cutting tap water supply to more than one million residents in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province…
Read More » by Itamar Medeiros | November 18, 2007 | 0 Comments An energy structure with a low utilization rate, and an economic growth mode with serious, hazardous emissions have posed stark challenges for the sustained growth of Chinese economic society. Faced with such a grave situation in energy saving and emission reduction, more than 6,000 science, technology workers, as well as scientist-turned-entrepreneurs on met recently to discuss issues such as energy saving and environmental protection. Among them were more than 100 members from Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), the highest palaces for scientific research achievements and engineering progress [...]
Read More » by Itamar Medeiros | November 5, 2006 | 4 Comments Since the beginning of its economical opening — when the first 5-year plans were devised in 1979 — China has being growing at an incredible speed, with its GNP numbers jumping from 44 billion dollars to 1.6 trillion dollars in just 20 years. Such growth has pushed the Chinese manufacturing industry into devouring huge amounts of natural resources in a alarming way: in 2004, China — the 8th largest economy in GNP scale — consumed 8% of all the oil, 31% of all the coal, 10% of all the electricity, 30% of all ore, 30% of all steel, 19% of all aluminum, 20% of all the copper and 40% of all cement produced in the world [...]
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