During our recent trip to China, problems with pollution were very evident virtually everywhere we went. Genuine concern from government and business officials, however, was just as apparent. One government representative in Guangzhou told us, in response to a question about the biggest economic challenge facing Guangzhou and Guangdong Province, that environmental issues were the biggest concern. "The Pearl River is the lifeblood of our region," he said, "and we must treat it as such."

Rightly so; according to an article in the Economist last year:

. . . the World Bank concludes that pollution is costing China an annual 8-12% of its $1.4 trillion GDP in direct damage, such as the impact on crops of acid rain, medical bills, lost work from illness, money spent on disaster relief following floods and the implied costs of resource depletion. With health costs escalating (see article), that figure will increase, giving rise to some grim prognoses that growth itself will be undermined. "Ignored for decades, even centuries, China's environmental problems have the potential to bring the country to its knees economically," argues Elizabeth Economy, author of "The River Runs Black", a new book on China's pollution.

China’s leaders know the size of the problem and the need to address it. That’s why the environmental and pollution control industry will be a rapidly growing sector in China for the foreseeable future.