How China moved from Cancer Villages to leadership towards net zero

At the end of 2025, China is not only an economic super power, but probably also the nation that will be the first to achieve carbon neutrality: what seems like a paradox (increasing its GDP and simultaneously combating climate change) it is the result of hundreds of protests (often ending in police violence, indiscriminate arrests and government censorship) that marked the early 2000s.

To understand the path that led Beijing to include the protection of human health and the environment in its government agenda, we must keep in mind some key moments: Stockholm 1972, the protests that occurred between 2006 and 2014, Paris 2015 and the Chinese Airpocalypse, the Covid-19 epidemic of 2020.

1972, the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment takes place in Stockholm

The capital of Sweden hosts the first international gathering organized by the UN to discuss the environment and human rights.

113 nations, including China, are discussing for several days the issues that are shaking public opinion: the protection of human health, of the planet (there is still no mention of global warming), the danger linked to nuclear explosions (deriving both from acts of war and from exercises), the predatory attitude that developed countries implement towards developing ones, etc.

It’s almost a COP before the letterand ends with the signing of the United Nations Declaration on the Human Environmentfounded on 26 principles relating to human rights and responsibilities in relation to the environment and an action plan divided into 109 recommendations.

For the Chinese people the declaration is not just a dead letter, and start applying pressure so that the undersigned principles are applied, but the economic boom, the possibility of developing one’s own economy and carving out important slices of the global market they push Beijing to push environmental and social issues into a corner.

2006–2014, Cancer Villages demand justice

Over 30 years of uncontrolled economic growth have led to the birth of what will be called the Cancer Villagesthat is, communities adjacent to chemical plants that produce or process highly toxic and carcinogenic substances and where cancer rates are the highest in the country.

Among the solutions produced there is the paraxilene (PX)a petrochemical derivative widely used for the production of synthetic fabrics and plastic material with which to package bottles and other containers. Given its widespread use throughout the world, China has stepped forward to gain important market shares, becoming the fourth largest PX supplier in the world.

Thousands of citizens take to the streets wearing gas masks and brandishing banners, after sending as many text messages as possible to friends and relatives, before the Government blocks communicationsattempting to stem popular protests with censorship.
The city-symbol of these first protests (2006-2007) is Xiamena rich port center located in the eastern province of Fujian, which was supposed to host an important plant for the production of PX. According to statements made by Chinese authorities at the time, the plant could have double the GDP di Xiamen,ma the citizens preferred to safeguard their healthdefinitively blocking the project.

That first success gave rise to other popular marches, which were countered by the violence of the Chinese police (who attempted to quell the riots with the use of tear gas and electric batons on the crowd, ending with mass arrests), which spread like wildfire throughout China, taking root in particular in coastal cities (like Xiamen), the richest, but also most exposed to the dangers of reckless economic growth.

Dal 2010 environmental protests begin to increase exponentially (+120% compared to previous yearsin which the hottest topics were linked to workers’ rights and the defense of private property against state expropriations), involving thousands of people and blocking the most important cities for Chinese development and trade; in the three-year period 2011 – 2013, in particular, the communities of Dalian, Ningbo and Kunming express their concern and their dissent towards Beijing’s desire to put profit first.

The Government must take note that Environmental protection has become one of the primary concerns of Chinese citizens (second only to state corruption); in 2013 the Ministry of the Environment formally recognized the existence of Cancer Villages. These are almost 200 small urban centers invaded by factories and chemical plants, which release toxic substances into the air and water without any control by local authorities; the rate of stomach and intestinal cancer in those areas is the highest in China, and the population no longer intends to die, literally, in the name of GDP.

Finally, in this crucial period of time, Beijing hosted the Olympics (2008, that of the 130 swimming world records), showing the world a clean face (literally) both in terms of environmental pollution and social repression. The most polluting factories are temporarily closed to allow Western athletes to train outdoors, and the protests no longer end in bloodshed.

For the Chinese people it is proof that the Government he has the means to protect the environment and the population, but not the will to do it.

2015, the Paris Agreements and the Chinese Airpocalypse

While Paris hosts the COP21the Conference of the Parties which he placed a milestone in the fight against climate change, i.e Paris Agreementsalso signed and ratified by China, is in Beijing Airpocalypse alert after the third day of skyrocketing smog, with a thick grayish blanket enveloping the capital.

Smog has reached such high levels that it has almost completely blocked the north-eastern part of the country, with air quality control units recording alarming levels of particulate matter: we are over 200 micrograms per cubic meterwhere the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends do not exceed 25 micrograms per cubic meter.
In total, almost 30 large Chinese cities (including Beijing, Dingzhou and Xinji) are forced to implement emergency measures to contain the damage: alternating license plate traffic, schools and offices closed, factories open only if necessary.

The authorities speak of over 300 million people at riskdue to the toxic levels of the air: the blanket of smog that enveloped north-eastern China for several days, creating the effect Airpocalypsewas so thick that it was even photographed by NASA satellites (unlike the Great Wall, which is not visible from space).

2015 is also the year of the documentary Under the Dome, which shows the devastating effects of smog on people’s health and the environment: the video, which you can find on YouTube, was published on 1 March 2015 by the investigative journalist Chai Jingand in 48 hours before government censorship it was seen by over 200 million people on Chinese video portals like Youku e Tencent.

The population begins to protest again, aware of both the damage linked to pollution and the formal commitment made by their Government. In defiance of those who claim that protesting is useless, Beijing realizes that he cannot govern a country in revoltand begins to include investments in renewable energy sources, primarily onshore photovoltaic and wind power, and energy efficiency projects in order to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions in its economic development plans.

The lockdown due to Covid-19 and the reduction of climate-altering emissions

As cynical as it may be to say it, Covid-19 has allowed China to press a giant reset buttonpausing the frenetic production pace and greenhouse gas emissions, starting almost from scratch.

Together with India, where for the first time in almost 30 years we were able to see the profile of the Himalayas againthe People’s Republic of China is one of the nations that has most appreciated the drastic drop in air pollution due to lockdowns, i.e. the total blocking of almost all human activities.

Satellite images showed the air quality of many Chinese cities a reduction in pollutants that is almost impossible to believeallowing citizens and Government to see first-hand what the China of the future will be likein which economic growth will not have the destruction of the environment as a side effect.

In September 2020, President Xi Jinping officially declared the Chinese Government’s desire to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060indicating 2030 as the maximum point of climate-altering emissions produced by China, or rather as the moment in which fossil fuels will definitively begin to give way to renewable energy sources.