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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Fifty-seven percent of Chinese adults surveyedin 2011 -- before the country's economic slowdown grabbed headlines-- prioritized protecting the environment, even at the risk ofcurbing economic growth. About one in five believed economic growthis more important. Chinese attitudes are typical of those in otheremerging-market economies, where residents sided with theenvironment over the economy in earlier surveys. Similarly, Americans historically prioritized environmentprotection over economic growth from 1985 to 2008. However,economic growth has taken priority since the economic recessiondeepened in 2009 . If China's economic troubles worsen, residents' attitudes couldchange too. Among the 22% of Chinese who did not choose the environment or theeconomy, about half of them (12%) answered they don't know. Thosewho did not have an opinion tended to be poor rural residents withno education beyond elementary school, perhaps indicating theirlack of awareness about environmental issues. The 9% who answeredneither tended to be wealthy urban residents with high education.For them, it might be a dilemma of choosing one over the otherbecause both the economy and the environment are extremelyimportant. More Environmental Challenges Lie in Urban Areas More than three in four (77%) Chinese are satisfied with currentefforts to preserve the environment. Residents living in the urbanareas, the hub of much of China's industrial activity, however, aresignificantly less satisfied than their rural counterparts withthese efforts, as well as the quality of the air and water wherethey live. With good reason: The World Health Organization findsair pollution in Shanghai and Beijing is double or even triple theseverity it is in London or Los Angeles. Further, China's Ministryof Environmental Protection finds groundwater at 57% of itsmonitoring sites in cities is polluted or extremely polluted. The enormity of China's challenges as it attempts to balance rapidurbanization, industrial growth, and environmental concerns is evenmore apparent in its largest cities. In Shanghai, Beijing, andGuangzhou, residents' satisfaction with the efforts to preserve theenvironment as well as the quality of air and water significantlytrails the national average. Consequently, residents are morelikely to say that priority should be given to protecting theenvironment, even if it risks economic growth. Implications China still lags behind developed countries in terms of efforts toprotect the environment. At the same time, it is investing heavilyin new energy sources and low-carbon technologies that couldsatisfy the substantial power demand from rapid urbanization whileprotecting the environment and reducing overreliance on coal. Without aggressive strategies to combat pollution, China'senvironmental problems will likely only worsen as its urban areascontinue to expand. Comprehensive urbanization policies that focuson conservation and the efficient use of natural resources such asenergy, air, water, and land will be necessary to ensure thesustainability and quality of these resources in the future. On aregional level, cities such as Qingdao, Tianjin, and Shenyang areemerging as role models for urban economic and environmentaldevelopment. They have all have shown leadership in developing bestpractices in successful green urban planning. For complete data sets or custom research from the more than 150countries Gallup continually surveys, please contact or call 202.715.3030. Survey Methods Results in China are based on face-to-face and telephone interviewswith approximately 4,200 adults in 2011. In 2010, the results arebased on face-to-face interviews with approximately 1,000 adults inBrazil, 2,000 adults in Russia, and 6,000 adults in India. Forresults based on the total sample of national adults, one can saywith 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error in2011 ranged from 2.0 percentage points to 3.5 percentagepoints. For more complete methodology and specific survey dates, pleasereview Gallup's Country Data Set details . The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as DIP LED Lighting Source Manufacturer , Outdoor Led Flood Lights Manufacturer, and more. For more , please visit Led Diode Resistor today!
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