From AFP, via spacedaily.com:

Toxic spills, smog-filled skies and swathes of land reduced to dust – scenes all too common in China, but green experts say the country is finally realising it must stop sacrificing the environment for growth.

While the government still struggles to be transparent when environmental disasters strike, China is increasingly worried about the effects of decades of rapid economic expansion, said leading climate change expert Crispin Tickell.