Population and Environment in China

CHINA’S LARGE POPULATION has caused huge environmental pressures resulting in pollution and irreversible damage to various ecosystems. This book discusses the problems associated with population growth and environmental degradation as “...principal constraints to the sustained and integrated socioeconomic development of China” (page ix). Population and environmental problems are heavily linked and any appropriate policies need to coordinate population growth trends with environmental affairs. Chapter one serves as an introduction. The authors describe the effects of an increasing population upon the natural resource base and then outline China’s national population and environmental policies and the various strategies which might help with China’s process of socialist modernization while improving the population and environmental situations.
Chapters two and three briefly discuss the historical association between population and environmental crises and the history of population and environmental issues in China ranging from 2205 BC to 1949. The following chapter focuses on the period since 1949 and concludes that “...five factors define China’s current population and environmental problems: 1) a burgeoning population; 2) poor resource use by industry; 3) insufficient funding; 4) insufficient science and technology; and 5) dependency on coal as a primary energy source” (page 40). Chapters five to ten each examine the effects of population on a natural resource, namely land, forests, grasslands, minerals, water and energy. In each case, the current situation is assessed, the main problems and pressures are discussed and their causes analyzed. This is followed by a discussion on possible countermeasures and how to coordinate population policies with resource policies and management. Chapter 11 presents the current “living environment” situation in China with a brief overview of, amongst others, housing, social welfare, health, income and education, and a slightly more specific look at urban areas (pollution, waste disposal) and rural areas (soil erosion, township enterprises). Population characteristics are analyzed in more depth and the chapter ends with a section on the objectives for environmental protection in China (pollution control, enhanced urban environments, alleviation of pressure on rural ecosystems) and how to link these with population policies and socio-economic development. Chapter 12 gives a more comprehensive analysis of the relationships between China’s population and its natural resources. Chapter 13 reviews China’s past and current environment and population policies and how to coordinate the two. The concluding chapter outlines a sustainable development strategy for China. The authors discuss how to improve population and environmental policies, and how best to utilize surplus labour and improve and utilize natural resources.