19 October 2012 Last updated at 02:54 ET
Damian Grammaticas, China correspondent Article written by Damian Grammaticas China correspondent

Toxic legacy of economic growth

 

China has captured chunks of the global economy, creating jobs for millions. But doing things cheaply has come at a cost, with health and environmental issues on the rise along with economic growth.

Numerous denim factories have created jobs in the town of Xintiang - but residents say they have also polluted some of the town's rivers.

In Xinglong in the south, resident Cao Jiangang is convinced that factories there are to blame for his 47-year-old mother's liver cancer.

China's next leaders are inheriting a toxic legacy. They have plans for cleaner growth, but that will be slower and more expensive. Here's my report:

What is the environmenal toll of China's economic growth?

 
Damian Grammaticas, China correspondent Article written by Damian Grammaticas Damian Grammaticas China correspondent

Doubts over China government claims on Xinjiang attack

23:14 UK time, Friday, 26 April 2013

Damian Grammaticas visits the scene of an attack in the remote Xinjiang town of Selibuya, where locals have cast doubt on the government's claims.

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    Comment number 18.

    Looks like the CCP-paid bloggers are in full force. They cannot stand the the fact that BBC is exposing some ugly truths about their country!

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    Comment number 17.

    Holier than thou Grammaticas; is China the only industrialising country in the world to reek a limited and temporary ecological penalty whilst undergoing an industrial revolution?

    Methinks Grammaticas needs a shoeing, similar to the one the Chinese police gave him a 2 years ago.

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    Comment number 16.

    Damian is shallow as usual. Sure, China's growth came at a huge price, environmental and other; but a good journalist will also inform the readers about changes over years, about increasing environmental awareness, about huge funds invested in reducing industrial and agricultural pollution, about cooperation between NGOs and the government in tackling ecological disasters, etc. But why bother? For Grammaticas China is timeless, changeless and is always dismal. A pity that BBC had a shallow Reynolds replaced with an equally shallow Grammaticas. Why not sending a real professional?

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    Comment number 15.

    Toxic legacy?
    Toxic yes. Legacy no.
    China has impressed me as a very repectful, polite country - not everyone, but most.
    China will find a way to clean up her messes because it's China's responsibility. Some countries, perhaps most, simply walk away from their messes.
    I'd name a few, but so can you.

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    -1

    Comment number 14.

    The most toxic thing here is Grammaticas's relentlessly sanctimonious reporting, whether it's from Russia, China, North Korea...

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