Govt's environmental efforts cause for cautious optimism

On Tuesday, the State Council, China's cabinet, released a timetable to deal with the country's severe soil pollution, which is another important step in the fight against pollution.

Until recently, China's development model followed that of Western countries, being focused on development first and taking care of pollution later, and it did not give enough attention to protecting its environment.

And as China's development has been much quicker than that of developed countries, the contamination of its air, water and soil is greater compared to other major countries in terms of per unit of product manufactured.