CHINA’S push to move heavy industry into its western regions is hurting air quality there even as it improves for the nation as a whole, according to a new report from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
Xinjiang in the northwest surpassed Henan to become the most polluted region in the country during the first quarter, while Guangxi saw its concentration of airborne particulates rise 32% in the period compared with the year before, according to the report. That contrasts with a drop of 5% for the nation overall, driven largely by a reduction in coal power generation.
The rise in pollution levels in the west follows a years-long effort to shift energy-intensive sectors like aluminum and coal-to-chemicals away from the industrialized coastal regions to take advantage of cheaper power and resources. The expansion has outpaced the ability of regional governments to deal with the resulting environmental fallout, said Chengcheng Qiu, China policy analyst at CREA and author of the report.
“Pollution pressure is shifting toward western areas that are not prioritized in air pollution control policies,” Qiu said. “It signals growing air quality risks in non-priority areas, including ones traditionally regarded as clean-air strongholds.”
The western flare-ups are even more noticeable against the success that China as a whole has had in cleaning its air over the past decade. Particulate pollution declined more than 40% from 2013 to 2021, adding more than two years to the lives of average citizens, according to University of Chicago researchers.
China has already achieved many of the air quality benchmarks it had targeted by the end of 2025, such as reducing particulate concentration by 10% from 2020 levels and seeing less than 1% of days with “heavy” pollution. As Beijing prepares for the country’s next five-year plan, which will cover 2026 to 2030, policymakers should integrate western regions into the pollution control agenda, Qiu said. –BLOOMBERG
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