China adds pollution to list of exports

The country's leaders are only starting to grapple with the political fall-out at home after years of pursuing economic expansion at almost any price.

Dirty or scarce water, choking air and toxic factory effluent are some of the common problems fouling China's environment and its neighbours'.

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Yet the international impact of China's problems have barely registered as cause for concern for Beijing's leadership. It took days for China to notify Russia that an explosion at a petrochemical plant sent 100 tons of benzene compounds pouring down a tributary to the Amur.

Smog carried over the Pacific to the west coast of the United States, acid rain in South Korea and Japan, and destruction of forests as far away as Africa. These are among other unwelcome exports that experts say might cloud China's hopes of being seen as a responsible global power.

"At the moment, China's top leaders have not realised how important, in terms of international relations, environmental conflicts can be," said Ma Zhong, vice-dean of the School of Environment and Natural Resources, at Renmin University.

"They are more concerned about economic and social relationships."

For China's neighbours, the three are inextricably linked.

Nearly half the world's population lives in river basins which have their source in China, according to Leo Horn, an adviser to Britain's Department for International Development.

Among them are some of Asia's great rivers, such as the Mekong and the Indus. Although these have so far escaped the worst of the pollution plaguing domestic waterways like the Yangtze, Beijing has already been feuding with its neighbours for years over plans for dams. Worse might follow.

"These are not the most polluted in the country ... but the sheer scale of our economic expansion means that in remote areas, activities will increase and problems will get worse," said Ma Jun, author of the book "China's Water Crisis."