Economics

Pollution costs China around 5.8 percent of its gross domestic product each year, according to the World Bank. This is a figure far higher than past official Chinese estimates. Absenteeism due to health and other pollution-related problems is costing about US$100 billion a year, or about 5.8 percent of GDP. Air pollution alone is costing about 3.8 percent of GDP according to the figure of World Bank.

China, the world's most populous nation, will remain 95-percent self-sufficient in grain in the future by expanding both output and reserves, according to the National Development and Reform Commission. To ensure adequate supply and improve the quality of farm produce, China will boost large-scale production rather than production by scattered, small farms. Large production bases would be built to raise the country's production capacity of staple agricultural products such as grain, oil, sugar, meat, and milk, while farmers who grow grain or raise hogs will get financial support from the government.