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February 7th, 2008:

China’s Environment, Health Examined

China’s Environment, Health Examined in New Wilson Center Report

China Environment Series Authors See Solutions in Regulation, Research, NGOs, and International Assistance

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — 2007 was a significant year for China’s environment. An estimated 750,000 people in China died from respiratory illnesses related to air pollution, while approximately 60,000 died from waterborne diseases. China’s food processing and production sectors made headlines around the globe. Growing desertification in north and northwest China due to excessive water use and land mismanagement created more intense sand storms that affected the economy and health in China and Northeast Asia. In addition, China most likely surpassed the United States as the leading emitter of greenhouse gasses — and while the central government set laudable energy efficiency goals, it recently admitted that China had not met them.

The latest edition of the China Environment Series (CES), the flagship publication of the China Environment Forum (CEF) (http://www.wilsoncenter.org/cef) at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, examines these and other increasingly serious environmental problems in China, focusing on linkages between health and the environment and identifying promising trends and opportunities for U.S. collaboration with China.