I was waiting for Baxter in town today and picked up a book about China's massive economic development over the last 30 years. Well, since the early 1980's when it was decided that rabid capitalism could live along side communism.
And so I learnt the following facts;
China is home to 1 in 5 of the worlds population
The economy has grown, on average, 10% every year since the 1980's
16 of China's cities feature in the World Banks global list of the 20 most polluted cities in the world
Two thirds of China's cities have insufficient water
Between 1980 and 2000, over 250 million people migrated from the countryside to the cities, this is the biggest migration of people, ever
in 2006 there were 6000 registered Environmental Groups
According to the world bank between 1981 and 2007 1/4 billion people were lifted out of poverty
And if you type Tiananmen Square into Google in China the secret police come round to your house in the night and take you away. (Actually I made that bit up)
So what price progress?
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