But despite dramatic improvements in energy efficiency, China is still contending with some of the most serious environmental threats in the world. Overall only 5 percent of household waste and about 17 percent of industrial waste receive any treatment before entering local irrigation ditches, ponds, lakes, and streams. All of China's bodies of water are polluted to various degrees. China faces severe deforestation problems, which contributed to the devastating floods during the summer of 1998. Air pollution in some Chinese cities is among the highest ever recorded, averaging more than ten times the standard proposed by the World Health Organization.
Air pollution threatens public health and welfare on a large scale.
At this critical juncture in China's development, the U.S. has an unprecedented opportunity to collaborate in reducing pollution in China, and helping the Chinese to avoid some of the problems of development that have plagued North America and other regions.