Over the past decades, China has turned into a world economical superpower. These days, the giant Asian country boasts a number of impressive economical primacies including the world’s largest economy by purchasing power parity and the world’s second largest economy by nominal GDP. China is also the largest trading nation in the world and plays a vital role in international trade. It is a global hub for manufacturing, and is the largest manufacturing economy in the world as well as the largest exporter of goods in the world. While all these things sound like admirable achievements, there is a darker side to the story. This enormous economic growth has taken its toll. And now we are not talking about the infamous working conditions under which millions of Chinese employees work. Combined with severe overpopulation, the rapid growth of Chinese production has had a devastating impact on the environment. China has been struggling with all sorts of pollution that have caused widespread environmental as well as health problems. Whether it is due to soil contamination, waste production, water pollution or air pollution, Chinese environment is now in terrifying conditions. Apart from poisoning local nature and wildlife, the pollution has extremely detrimental effects on the people too who, breathing some of the dirtiest air on Earth and drinking undrinkable water, suffer from an increased incidence of series diseases, premature deaths, birth defects etc. To show you how horrible the situation really is, check out these 25 Shocking Pictures Showing The Extent Of Pollution In China.
Child splashes around in a polluted reservoir in Pingba.

Boy jumps over a pile of trash in Jiaxing.

Woman helps to clean up oil at an oil spill site near Dalian Port.

Skyscrapers in Beijing poke out above dense smog.

Boy swims in dense algal blooms caused by excessive agricultural run-off in Qingdao.

Houses flooded by polluted river in Jiaxing, Eastern China.

Even some parts of the Great Wall of China, the country´s iconic landmark, are covered in trash.

Barges floating on the heavily polluted Yangtze River.

Man vainly tries to remove dead fish from a river.

A fisherman holds his fishing net in his mouth in a polluted river in Wuhan.

China also serves as a global dumping ground for used electronic devices.

The beach at Shenzhen in Southern China is full of trash and debris.

Aquaculturist tries to clear away green algae at an aquafarm in Qingdao City.

Woman walks on a bridge over polluted waters in Wenzhou.

People clean large oil spills in the Liaoning Province.

Emissions and poisonous fumes are often released directly into the natural environment.

Man looks at a contaminated river in Wenzhou.

Due to the enormous air pollution, surgical masks have become an integral part of everyday life in China.

Scavengers look for recyclable things at a trash dump in Nanning.

Men search for plastic recyclables in a waterway in China.

Woman collects plastic bottles near river polluted by reddish dye.

Thousands of dead pigs were found in the Huangpu River.

China´s capital Beijing is one of the most polluted cities in the world.

A ship sails across the junction of the polluted Yangtze River.

Workers drown during a massive oil spill clean-up operation in Dalian.
