The exceptionally fast growth in China has led to considerable environmental degradation and green house gas emissions. How well China manages to become more sustainable is not just a question for China, but one for the rest of the world.
China gets 66 per cent of its energy from coal, which leads to major air pollution. An increasing number of cars in cities is also contributing to worsening air quality.
China is now responsible for the world’s largest carbon-dioxide emissions. In the late 1990s, China already had seven of the world’s 10 most polluted cities, according to the World Bank.
The Chinese government is well aware of the environmental problems. The latest five-year plan, which began in 2006, promotes economic growth in harmony with the environment and is not merely focusing on economic growth as before.
Fewer Chinese living in poverty
The economic reforms and the economic development of the last 30 years has led to a general increase in prosperity and improved living conditions for much of the population. The number of those living in poverty has fallen dramatically. China has achieved its Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of those living in poverty from 85 million in 1990 to 26.1 million in 2004.
Despite the economic growth, there are still considerable problems. The gaps between rich and poor are widening. Much of China’s population lacks access to reasonable schools, health care and other social insurance, including pensions. This is contributing towards increased social tensions.
Sustainable development in the five-year plan
China’s five-year plan for 2006 to 2010 stresses the necessity of lifting the unfairly treated groups out of poverty and creating a more equal society and sustainable development.
Equality is well supported in China’s constitution and legislation. Despite this, there are inequalities. The one-child policy in combination with cultural and economic factors has led to a surplus of boys compared with girls.
Corruption is one of the most serious obstacles to development. In the independent organisation Transparency International’s Global Corruption Barometer for 2009, China is in 72nd place among 180 countries.
Human rights violated
China is a one-party state and questioning the Communist Party’s power is not tolerated. Political and civil rights, such as the freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of religion, are limited.
Organisations that drive rights issues, for example, immigrant workers, those with HIV, those affected by the environment and those with occupational injuries, have reported violations in their operations or have been closed down in recent years.
The judicial system is defective and torture is common, even though this is forbidden according to law. Capital punishment is applied to a large extent. The human rights situation is particularly serious in Tibet and Sinkiang. But the individual’s private sphere has been enlarged in recent decades and China is carrying out reforms to its judicial system.
Global downturn also affecting China
The global economic downturn has also had serious consequences in China. Unemployment was officially 4.2 per cent in December 2008. That is 8.86 million people.
Sida’s focus areas in China:
- Environment and climate
- Democracy
- Stimulating and strengthening the growth of independent relations of mutual interest between Swedish and Chinese players.
