China Case Study

Question 1

explain china’s investments in infrastructure

Answer 1

China has invested heavily in its infrastructure:
• It has the world’s longest highway network
• Its rail systems links ALL provinces and cities
• Its HRS has doubled in length in 10 years linking its major cities
• Shanghai’s Maglev is the fastest commercial train (268mph) taking 8mins from the CBD to the airport
• 82 airports have been built since 2000 (now 250 in total). 8 of the world’s top 12 airports by freight tonnage

Question 2

explain the reductions in poverty that china has seen

Answer 2

• 300 million Chinese people are now considered to be middle class (pop of the USA!)
• Sales of consumer items have sharply risen – they buy more TVs and Laptops than Americans
• Between 1981 and 2010 the number of people living in poverty reduced by 680 million
• Extreme poverty has reduced from 84% in 1980 to 10% in 2016
• Remittance payments have decreased rural poverty .

Question 3

explain the better education and training that China has encountered

Answer 3

• Education is free and compulsory in China
• 94% of Chinese over 15 are literate compared to 20% in 1950
• In 2014 7.2 million Chinese graduated from university – 15 times higher than in 2000.
• THIS WAS A PLAN BY THE GOVERNMENT – CREATE AN EDUCATED AND INNOVATIVE WORKFORCE!
• Spending still varies between rural areas (£2200 to £300)

Question 4

explain the loss of biodiversity in china

Answer 4

• A 2015 survey carried out by the WWF found that China’s vertebrates had declined by 50%.
• The UN has identified the Yellow Sea and South China sea as the most degraded marine areas on earth.
• 36% of forests are facing pressure from urban expansion
- 60% of biodiversity in china has been lost since 1972

Question 5

explain the increase in urban incomes in china

Answer 5

• Economic growth and slow population growth has led to urban incomes rising as pay has increased.
• Urban incomes have increased by 10% a year since 2005.
• In 2014 the average urban income had risen to $9000 a year.
• The urban workers also receive good terms and conditions – 40hour working week, overtime payments and paid holidays
• There is a big and growing urban / rural divide.

Question 6

explain the increase in unplanned settlements in china

Answer 6

• Rapid industrialisation and then urbanisation has created a need for more housing resulting in an increase in informal homes.
• An increase in land process has made affordable housing hard to find. As a result two types of illegal housing are now common:
o Expanded housing in villages close to the edge of cities. Villagers add an extra storey to their house and rent it to migrant workers
o Farmland is privately developed for housing without permission

Question 7

explain land degradation in china

Answer 7

• Over 40% of China’s farmland is now suffering from degradation.
• Industrial emissions are creating acidic soils in the south.
• Land clearance for industry has led to deforestation.
• Over-intensive grazing has created degradation and then desertification

Question 8

explain the over-exploitation of resources and resource pressure in china

Answer 8

• China has coal, oil and metals such as iron ore but not enough.
• Supply cannot keep up with demand so the Chinese government are having to seek additional resources
o Amazon rainforest cleared for soy production
o Venezuela is being exploited for oil
o Coltan mining in Congo
• This search for additional resources is creating widespread environmental degradation

Question 9

explain the pollution and health problems encountered in china

Answer 9

• China’s air pollution caused mainly by coal power stations is so bad that many cities have regular pollution alerts
• 70% of China’s rivers and lakes are now polluted. 207 tributaries from the Yangtze are so polluted they cannot be used for irrigation let alone to drink.
• 100 cities suffer from extreme water shortages and 360 million people don’t have access to clean water. Tap water in some areas has 80 out of the 101 forbidden toxins under Chinese law.
• A third of the Chinese population breathes in air that would be considered unhealthy by US or European standards, the outdoor air pollution that china is exposed to has led to just under 300,000 deaths, 20 million cases of respiratory illness and therefore a health cost of around 3% of GDP annually

Question 10

explain the loss of productive farmland in china

Answer 10

• China’s rapid industrialisation has led to an increasing loss of farmland
• Most farmland is lost due to pollution. 3 million hectares (the size of Belgium) has been polluted by heavy metal.
• Farmland close to rivers has been taken out of action due to the risk of pollution from fertilisers and pesticides
• Rapid urbanisation has created a loss of farm workers which has decreased production
• Overproduction in some areas (Loess plateau) has created desertification and a further loss of productive land.
• Rural farmers are 40% more likely to suffer from liver cancer due to their exposure to heavily polluted land and water.

Question 11

extra info on china’s infrastructure investments

Answer 11

• China is expected to spend another $19bn USD on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau brindle which is already 19 miles long, it follows and crosses the Pearl River Estuary, with two artificial islands and submarine tunnels to allow travel underneath the busy shipping route
• China spends more on economic infrastructure annually than North America and Western Europe combined, with an infrastructure spending of $28tn USD predicted for 2040 they show no sign of slowing down
• Studies show that this investment is not wise however and is generating more problems than it is trying to solve, on average there has been a 31% overspend on these infrastructure projects (Saïd Business School)
• Many of the projects have been in vain as there have been major traffic shortfalls after completion, of up to 40%

Question 12

extra info on the loss of biodiversity in china

Answer 12

• 60% of biodiversity in China has been lost since 1972
• Socioeconomic development in China has led to an uncontrollable urban sprawl which is eating through china’s dive rest forests, especially on the East coast
• In 2011 alone 2140 of species listed in the CITES index were in danger of extinction
• 90% of china’s grasslands and 40% of its wetlands have sustained significant deterioration and the area of undisturbed primary forest has decreased by 50,000km sq. annually
• Estimated economic losses caused by environmental damage range between 4.5-18% of GDP

Question 13

extra info on pollution and health problems in china

Answer 13

• The pollution occurring in China has had detrimental effects on child development, including reduced foetal and child growth and developmental impairment. A study by the health effects institute found that unhealthy levels of pollution led to roughly 852,000 premature deaths in China in 2017.
• One of the positive action’s china has undertaken in fight against the pollution and health problems is through the banning the selling of leaded gasoline in 2000. Since then, studies are shown that children’s blood levels have decreased significantly, especially in younger children who have had less exposure to atmospheric lead.
• The government only spend 5.5% of their GDP (as of 2014) on health, thus limiting the progression in improving the effectiveness of their aims to improve health
• Much of China’s growth has been powered by coal due to the very low cost however it is highly polluting, with coal still accounting for 59% of china’s energy consumption in 2017
• Beijing’s air pollution is often exacerbated due to weather patterns, topography and the proximity to polluting industries. To the south and east of Beijing is a large concentration of coal-burning industries. Pollutants from factories in these areas are often carried by winds into Beijing and trapped there by mountains in the city’s north and west.
• According to a 2015 report by RAND, health problems and lost labour productivity due to air pollution reached 6.5% of China’s GDP per year between 2000 and 2010.
• A 2018 study from the Chinese university of Hong Kong estimates that the equivalent of $38 billion of revenue is lost yearly due to early deaths and lost food production as a result of air pollution.

Question 14

extra info on reductions in poverty in china

Answer 14

• Over the past 40 years the number of people in China living below the international poverty line has dropped by more than 850 million
• China created employment opportunities for 2.59 million people in china and established more than 30,000 poverty alleviation workshops, helping 770,000 registered impoverished people get employed in areas close to their home.
• China plans to eliminate absolute poverty by 2020.
• China has contributed to over 70% of the poverty reduced across the world, making itself a country with the most people lifted out of poverty in the world.

Question 15

extra info on the increase in urban incomes in china

Answer 15

• From 2000 to 2018, disposable income per capita in China increased by around 600% for urban and rural households alike
• In 2018, the annual per capita disposable income of rural households in china was around a third of the income of urban households
• Wage growth for high-skilled workers has slowed from a peak of 20.3% in 2007 to 8.6% in 2014
• China now has more billionaires than in the US, producing 568 compared to the US’ 535
• The number of high net-worth individuals has also risen, doubling between 2010 and 2014, according to a report from Bain and Company

Question 16

extra info on the loss of productive farmland in china

Answer 16

• The environmental protection ministry has estimated that 12 million tonnes of grain are polluted by heavy metals every year
• The loss of productive farmland is causing concern as to the future of china’s food security, with the prediction that 300 million to 400 million people will move to the city within the next 30 years. The predicted share of urban residents in china’s population from 47% to 75% would require the clearance of land for residences, roads and other infrastructure
• The main causes for the deterioration of productive farmland is due to inappropriate farming techniques and industrial pollution
• The loss of productive farmland resulting in the reliance on foreign mega-farms is unwanted because a plot of land is a form of social security for the 850 million registered rural residents
• Only 7% of farmland is arable land. This is emphasized through the overuse of fertilizer, intensive grazing and the reliance on biomass for rural energy.
• China is eating more and more meat due to the growing wealth of its population, leading to increased farmland being used for cattle. This is a less productive way of using farmland. 70% of China’s corn is used to feed livestock rather than the population.

Question 17

extra info on the increase in unplanned settlements in china

Answer 17

• Due to the loss of farmland for those living in rural areas, China has seen a large amount of rural-urban migration occurring however due to the lack of housing (more so affordable housing), they are forced into illegal settlements
• Through the prediction of 300 to 400 million people scheduled to move to the city in the next 30 years it puts an intense strain on the availability of housing for the migrants. Due to the fact that they have lower incomes than in urban areas they may be unsuccessful in adapting to the higher-valued accommodation, leading to the increase in informal/illegal settlements

Question 18

extra info on land degradation in china

Answer 18

• The costs of actions to address land degradation in China due to land use and cover change is equal to about $24.5 billion.
• More than 50% of the total cultivated land has experienced land degradation
• The costs of cropland degradation for the three crops: wheat, maize and rice is estimated to be about $12 billion annually.
• With just 7.2% of the world’s cultivated land area, China needs to feed 22% of the world’s population and so the land degradation that is present within China is one that causes a large risk to the future of food security of China.
• Rapid urbanisation and population growth along with unreasonable human utilization of natural factors has caused degradation of 5.392 million km squared of land, accounting for about 56.2% of the total national area.
• According to the national forest resources survey, the ripe forests decreased by 49% during 1981-1988.

Question 19

extra info on the over-exploitation of resources and resource pressure in china

Answer 19

• HOWEVER, to ease environmental strain, China has adopted measures including massive tree-planting and coral restoration campaigns, reducing the amount of illegal wastewater discharge and treating polluted rivers
• China is perhaps the largest source of overfishing and illegal fishing globally with only 9% of the 4.1 million tonnes of fish that is caught off the coasts of other countries being reported for
• China has become both the largest import of timber and the largest importer of stolen wood. An estimate says that as much as 20% of Chinese imported wood is illegally sourced.
• In Myanmar, a very active Chinese logging area, they have seen forest coverage drop from 60 percent in the 1970s to only 20. Percent in 2013
• China represents a third of the world’s total usage of minerals, fossil fuels and other primary materials
• It consumers 4 times as much resources as the US, the second-biggest user
• The amount of resource consumption per capita rose form 31 percent of the world average in 1970 to 1.62 times the world average in 2008, with the sharpest rise happening after 2000.

Question 20

extra info on better education and training in china

Answer 20

• Through the increased number of migrants arriving in the cities, there are fears that government spending on schools in rural areas will be neglected, leading to them not being properly prepared for higher education
• Investment in education accounts for about 4% of total GDP in China, in 2009 the Chinese government passed a compulsory education law, making nine years of education mandatory for all Chinese children. The ministry of education estimates that over 99% of the school-age children have received universal nine-year basic education
• China has the largest education system in the world. Over the past few years, the number of international students who study abroad in china has significantly increased.
• “rural migrants skills development and employment project”, supported by the World Bank has been implemented in three provinces in China. This project is focused on furthering vocational training to help rural migrants find better jobs, increase incomes and improve working conditions.