The World Bank has cut large amounts of data from its report on pollution in China, after pressure from Beijing. The report [1] concluded that 750,000 people die prematurely each year due to bad air and water. Chinese officials told the Bank the information could cause “social unrest.”

The head of the World Bank in China, David Dollar, said that some material had been left out because of uncertainty but that China had shown commitment to the joint research.

Zhou Jian, Vice Minister in China's State Environmental Protection Administration, said that linking environment and health was "very complex” and it was impossible to estimate how much of a person's life pollution shaves off.

The report , says that air and water pollution costs China's economy around $US 100 billion (EUR 73 billion) a year.

China has now “indefinitely postponed” the release of another environmental report on the cost of economic development. Wang Jinnan, technical head of the project, told the Beijing News: "Some local governments are quite sensitive about the research and calculations for their provinces.”

Pan Yue, a vice minister at the State Environmental Protection Administration, said campaigns to clean-up the environment were going backwards because of the focus on economic growth. An OECD study, says that up to 300 million people drink contaminated water every day, and 190 million a year suffer water related illnesses.

[1] Cost of Pollution in China – Economic Estimates of Physical Damages, World Bank

[2] OECD Environmental Performance Review of China (2007)

See also: World Bank Statement

Related News: China: drinking water standards and monitoring, Source 13 July 2007, China: air- and water pollution 'top concerns' for most people, Source, 23 Aug 2005

Contact: World Bank in Washington, Elisabeth Mealey

Sources: China Watch, 11 July 2007; Financial Times, 2 July 2007; BBC News 24, 23 July 2007; Reuters, 17 Jul 2007; Guardian, July 18, 2007; Agence France Presse/Yahoo

Tags: information and communication, policies & legislation, water quality