Beijing’s dry climate sets a limit on how green and blue it’s ever going to get, but the improvement over five years is noticeable and is one of the two most striking achievements of China in this period. In many cities, air pollution has declined as a result of policies that include banning the use of coal in inner cities, strengthening public transportation, discouraging car use (gasoline now costs 50per cent more than in the U.S.), moving heavy industry out of inner cities, and more stringent enforcement of environmental regulations.

Of course a lot more could be done. After three years of the current five-year-plan, China is not even halfway to meeting its ambitious 20per cent target for increased energy efficiency. There is room for further energy price hikes (especially coal tax to reflect the negative effects of using coal) and even stronger policies to promote public transportation and limit car use. And while water pollution has declined,water scarcity in the Northern half of the country is an acute problem. I have seen a steady series of price increases that encourage water conservation, but recent World Bank studies have shown how development of water markets and more economic prices could prevent more serious water problems. I guess this is a case of the glass being half full of clean water!

The other striking area of progress has been the efforts to improve health and education in rural areas and improve rural standards of living. The abolition of the agricultural tax contributed to a halving of poverty during the short period I have been in China. One of the last things I signed off on was an education study with a range of interesting findings based on field surveys. In rural Gansu (one of the two poorest provinces in China) the abolition of school fees led to increased enrollment, especially of girls and ethnic minority children.

This is an extract from the East Asia and Pacific on the Rise blog. To read the rest of the article, click here.