A pollution crackdown compounds slowdown woes in China's heartland

SUMMARY

For years, China's industrial heartland has been cloaked in smog, its waterways choked with pollution pumped from enormous clusters of factories churning out the mountains of cement and steel needed to build the Chinese economy. Aiming to tackle what has become a huge public health problem, the authorities have cracked down on polluting industries, targeting provinces like Henan, which has a population of 10 crore people and hundreds of factory towns. According to interviews with factory and business owners, and consumers and workers across Henan, that crackdown - conducted with often heavy-handed local enforcement - is crippling the economies of towns and cities that depend on polluting industries.

By ReutersMay 24, 2019 12:04:19 PM IST (Updated)

For years, China's industrial heartland has been cloaked in smog, its waterways choked with pollution pumped from enormous clusters of factories churning out the mountains of cement and steel needed to build the Chinese economy. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Aiming to tackle what has become a huge public health problem, the authorities have cracked down on polluting industries, targeting provinces like Henan, which has a population of 10 crore people and hundreds of factory towns. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

According to interviews with factory and business owners, and consumers and workers across Henan, that crackdown - conducted with often heavy-handed local enforcement - is crippling the economies of towns and cities that depend on polluting industries. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Manufacturers across Henan have been particularly hard hit by the new environmental regulations, compounding the pressures the province faces from China's slowing economy and a grinding trade war with the United States. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

It also highlights the trade-off China faces between providing a healthier environment for its citizens and maintaining economic growth in a province whose climb from poverty has lagged that of coastal regions. REUTERS/Thomas Peter