China's march into sustainability

China is often viewed, perhaps justifiably, as an environmentally degraded smog-filled country.

Four of the five biggest freshwater lakes are classified as category five, the worst rating on the scale, meaning ‘no biological function.’ Beijing remains pollution-bound. Almost all the major State-Owned Enterprise (SOE) power companies have been named for breaching environmental rules. Many low-end, polluting manufacturing activities have also moved to China. However, in recent years, China has made significant environmental progress, moving from sustainability laggard to leader. The country is already the world’s largest manufacturer of solar panels. In 2007 it set an internal target...