China closes factories to reduce water and soil pollution

World Today

Strengthening environmental regulation is a priority, as Chinese lawmakers and advisers meet. Last April a government report stated nearly one fifth of arable land was polluted. A severe warning for China’s plans for industrialization and commercialization. CCTV’s Han Bin filed this report from Central China’s Hunan Province.

Highlights:

  • The severity of pollution in Central China has forced the government to reconsider the 1980s policy of economic growth first.
  • Most factories have taken some treatment measures for heavy metals and chemicals.
  • Compared with air pollution, water and soil pollution can sometimes be invisible.
  • Experts believe water and soil pollution can be more harmful, and even harder to undo.

Jennifer Turner from Woodrow Wilson Center talks about pollution policies in China

CCTV America interviewed Jennifer Turner, the director of China Environment Forum at the Woodrow Wilson Center, on China’s new pollution policies.