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Jheron Edwards
AP English
12 December 2016
The Detrimental Impact of Chinas Growing Middle Class
Chinas recent One-Child policy may have slowed down the overall mass population
growth of China today; however, the population of Chinas middle class is growing and is
causing a lasting impact on its environment more so than the rest of the population of China. The
growing population of Chinas middle class is enervating its own environment as the air
pollution arises, water quality foils from clarity, and desertification spreading due to Chinas
growing middle class adopting western influences; such as a greater demands in goods that
influence industry and coal-burning factory production, that multiplies their ecological footprint.
Through the great Success of China, its middle class is rising and growing greatly;
however, because of this growth, their individual needs are growing as well (The New Class
War). Chinas industrial production has increased 6.1% in October 2016. Its electricity, gas, and
water production has also grew by 7.9% of its production and a 0.5 growth monthly (China
industrial production). Chinas vehicle sales have reached over 2,600,000 of October 2016 and
sale at an increased rate of 19.3 percent year-on-year to 2.649 million units in October of 2016,
(China industrial production). Following, Chinas Steel Production has made a growth to
68,510 Thousand Tonnes in October from 68,170 Thousand Tonnes in September 2016, (China
Industrial Production). Even as China has grown in its rate of industrial growth, there is still a
greater increase to be expected as the year progresses (Industry in China).
With a population as dense as China, consumer rates are bound to be magnified compared
to nations such as the United States of America and India. The Consumption growth of China in

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the common household in 2016 has grown 9.3% even though there is a faint slowing rate of
Consumption today (Walters & Kuo). China has adopted a Western-Style Meat culture that has
taken over Chinas diet that has as Zhang Xiuxen; tennis coach in Beijing, had said become
part of our lives, (MacDonald). China has picked up an appetite similar to the United States as it
has started to consume rates of pork at an alarming rate leading in the worlds consumption of
pork (MacDonald). The meat as well as diary omit to 18 percent of global greenhouse have
emissions sourced to the livestock industry that have a significant effect to the environment
(MacDonald). Chinas carbon dioxide emission shave reached to 5.1 tons today. If Chinas
farmed livestock fluctuates, the the concentration of greenhouse gases polluting the air; as well
as the increase in livestock overgrazing the land potentially causing desertification, will rise
(MacDonald).
Despite clear warnings of the terrors of emissions from industrial factories and the
pollution it causes, anti-environmentalists would argue or try to ignore that cheap- easy industrial
emissions are harming the environment (2016 Anti-Environmental Budget Rider). Some of
these anti-environmentalists, for example, are riders that try to find loopholes around globally
recognized agreements; such as the Montreal Protocol to promote industry according to the
NRDC. Donald Trump; president-elect of the U.S., is one of the anti-environmentalists riders. He
believes that investment of solar panels will be a disaster of a choice, and Trump believes solar
panel investment will be putting a lot of people out of work, (Trump). However, China has
actually spent about RMB 45 billion (US $6.9 billion), annually on ecological catastrophes;
such as desertification, that they tie effected by global warming according to Marijin
Nieuwenhuis, professor of International Relations and East Asia at the University of Warwick.
What is the end goal of the government officials standing with these industrial factory

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businesses? More money? More jobs? What then? Spend it on more luxury goods? Perhaps
a new car, a nice and fast one. Even more goods to buy for the family, perhaps for the children?
But, only a small price to pay.. for every dollar they spend on the industrial factories, the longer
they allow them to control the world, the quicker another child dies, dies from: Skin Cancer,
Bronchitis, Water-related diseases, hunger, all from the environmental catastrophes caused by
these industrial and coal-mining industries the anti-environmental government officials allow to
stand. Saving Lives are more important than Saving Money.
The air and water pollution of China has been catastrophic to everyone, this including the
children whom attend school daily that has proven to be harmful to them just by going to school:
When 13-YEAR-OLD Xiao Kang began to feel lethargic and his breathing grew wheezy last
autumn, his parents assumed he was working too hard at school. Then his fellow classmates at
Changzhou Foreign Languages Middle School started complaining too, (The New Class
War). In effect of the growth in industrial development, air pollutants, and water pollution have
gotten worse, this has resulted in China leading in the most natural disasters (Statistics and
Facts about the Environment in China). Though the fluctuation of population, the coal-burning
factories as well as mobile exhaust have increased in production and emissions to meet the
demands of the growing population; therefore, the air breathed in of the major population zones
near industry have become a significant problem concerning the health of the citizens (Anand).
Off of major cities like Beijing, desert Tengger is fluctuating at an absurd rate of 1,300 sq mi
per year. This desertification is influenced by agricultural activities in arid areas and removal of
vegetation cover; and as the middle class population grows, the more fuelwood and agricultural
activities are needed to provide for such a massive population (Haner, Wong, Watkins, White).
A little over 25% of China is either desert or turning into one now because of overgrazing by

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livestock, over cultivation, excessive water use, Specifically The Gobi desert which increases
by 3,600 km squared annually that has been recognized by Chinas State Forestry Administration
as the Countrys most important ecological problem, (Reynolds).
As conditions of the environment have grown worse recently, it has become vital to
address the situation before it gets extremely worse. The Communist Party has even been forced
now to accept reality of the world we live in and plan to stop further chaos from environmental
hazards (The New Class War). In Desperate needs to slow down the environmental impact of
man-made emissions, G-20 leaders have issued the Environmental Goods Agreement that will
put efforts into eliminate tariffs on a broad range of environmental goods by the end of 2016,
(FACT SHEET: The 2016 G-20 Summit in Hangzhou, China). China is now shifting towards
sustainable energy sources rather than coal-mining industries and other fossil fuel usage. In its
transition, China has took lead in wind power usage with a total generation wind capacity of
about 145 GW (Zhu). Adding to the push, China has made an eager goal to reach 20 percent of
electricity from renewable energy resources by 2030, (Zhu). One last solution to a greener earth
is Carbon Tax which the G20 countries have already set a common goal to sync in a global
carbon price with a development program that will cover eight industries, including power
generation, petrochemicals, aviation and paper making, construction materials, non-fellow
metals and steel, (Cheadle).

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Works Cited
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Times. N.p., 30 Oct. 2016. Web. 2 Dec. 2016.
Cheadle, Bruce. "China Cap-and-trade Market Gives Carbon Pricing Opponents 'nowhere
to Hide': UN." National Observer. N.p., 20 Sept. 2016. Web. 2 Dec. 2016.
Focus Economics. "Industry in China." Focus Economics. N.p., Oct. 2016. Web. 2 Dec. 2016.
Haner, Josh, Edward Wong, Derek Watkins, and Jeremy White. "Living in China's Expanding
Deserts." The New York Times. N.p., 2016. Web. 2 Dec. 2016.
MacDonald, Mia. "OPINION: Chinese Farms A Growing." World Watch Institute. N.p., 28 Nov.
2016. Web. 2 Dec. 2016.
NRDC. "2016 Anti-Environmental Budget Rider." NRDC. Org. N.p., 19 Sept. 2016. Web. 2 Dec.
2016.
Office of the Press SecretaryFACT SHEET: The 2016 G-20 Summit in Hangzhou, China." N.p.,
5 Sept. 2016. Web. 2 Dec. 2016.
Reynolds, Michael. "China's Desertification Is Causing Trouble across Asia." The Conversation.
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Statista. "Statistics and Facts about the Environment in China." N.p., 2016. Web. 1 Dec. 2016.
The Economist Newspaper. "The New Class War." The Economist. N.p., 9 July 2016. Web. 1
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Trading Economics. "China Industrial Production." Trading Economics. N.p., 2016. Web. 30
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Trump. "First 2016 Presidential Debate on Energy & Oil." On the Issues.org. N.p., 26 Sept.
2016. Web. 30 Nov. 2016.

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Walters, Jeff, and Youchi Kuo. "China's Consumers Stay the (slightly Slower) Course."
Bcg.perspectives. N.p., 20 June 2016. Web. 30 Nov. 2016.
Zhu, Laqiqige. "China's Wind Power Conundrum." GreenBiz. N.p., 11 July 2016. Web. 30 Nov.
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