China admits pollution brought about 'cancer villages'

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The Chinese government has admitted for the first time that so called ‘cancer villages’ exist, as decades of pollution take their toll on the health of Chinese citizens.

For years environmental campaigners in China have said that cancer rates in villages near factories and polluted rivers are far higher than they should be.

Now China’s Environment Ministry has admitted their existence and has called for greater transparency on environmental issues.

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According to a long-term study completed in 2011 by the Chinese Ministry of Environment Protection and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, over 90% of the groundwater in cities was polluted to different degrees. Of 118 major cities, 64 had seriously contaminated groundwater supplies. This is highly alarming, as 70% of China’s population relies on groundwater for their drinking water.

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“Poor environmental regulations, weak enforcement and local corruption mean that factories can discharge their waste water directly into rivers and lakes”, according to Greenpeace East Asia.

It is mainly water pollution, which is the cause of the high rates of cancer in areas where factories discharge chemicals into rivers, which have earned these settlements their name of ‘cancer villages’.

Cancer is now China’s biggest killer, with an 80% rise in mortality from the disease in the last 30 years, according to data from the Chinese Ministry for Health.

One of China’s leading environmentalists, Ma Jun, said that admitting there is a problem is major step in the right direction.

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As well as water pollution, air pollution is also a major problem in China. Lung cancer rates continue to mushroom, because of air pollution as well as the number of people who smoke.

The main cause of Chinese air pollution is coal and particular its use in generating electricity. Coal supplies 80% of the country's electricity and 70% of its energy – as well as the lion's share of its air pollutants, according to figures published by Greenpeace East Asia.

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What implications, if any, might these revelations have on Chinese labor and manufacturing of US knick knacks? Will China implement more strict regulations and raise the cost of doing business enough to deter US outsourcing?

Is this an indictment on the "Free Market" way of doing things, or is China not a fair representation of the concept?