Farms also face threats from industrial and agricultural pollution. China's consumption of water already rivals that of the United States and continues to rise. Its total energy consumption is second only to the United States, and China is the second largest emitter of industrial carbon dioxide pollution. Given those variables, some analysts believe China will become much more dependent on food imports. But that scenario might change, depending on future technological advances and newly installed government conservation and environmental policies.
Many rural people are under-employed.
Nominally, there are a lot of workers. Economists predict a bright future for China's factories and consumer markets, but investors have learned to be patient. Widespread unemployment, due in large part to several decades of economic reforms, is expected to be an issue in China for some time to come, as is the problem of pollution caused by rapid industrialization. There is a possibility, however, that some of that floating population might be absorbed by new business enterprises. Reform of many of China's state-run industries, overseas investment, new technologies and rapid urbanization are expected to help pull China into the ranks of the world's industrialized nations.