In the past few decades, China has experienced an astonishing rate of growth and development. With the nation’s incredible economic expansion, standards of living have improved drastically: estimates indicate that around 500 million people have been lifted out of poverty in the last two decades.

With this incredible growth, however, have come other more adverse consequences. The country’s dwindling natural resources and environmental degradation have affected large portions of the population. Over 300 million people rely on contaminated water, and widespread water and air pollution have caused serious health threats, such as the rising rates of birth defects in newborns. Furthermore, there is a vast and widening income gap, noticeably between the urbanized east and rural west of China.

The Chinese government has been taking vast measures to address such problems in plans such as the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, the 11^th Five Year Plan on Energy, and the China Western Development Plan. Nonetheless, many issues facing China have yet to be resolved. Recent statistics show that urban dwellers earn over three times as much as their rural counterparts. According to the World Bank, only 7% of the rural poor lack the ability to work, but rather a sufficient access to education. In rural China, over 180 million people are illiterate. In addition, despite great national gains on environmental conservation, pollution levels continue to rise.