With toxins in the air and dead pigs in the rivers, environmental destruction has become a huge topic in China. The government has closed down hundreds of polluting factories, banks have refused lending for polluters, and protests have derailed numerous destructive projects. For Chinese companies, environmental risks have become business risks.

The same is true internationally. Chinese banks, mining and hydropower companies have faced protests and lost contracts when their projects destroyed the environment. China Southern Power Grid pulled out of Cambodia after concerns emerged about the social impacts of its dam projects, and China Power Investment lost a multi-billion dollar contract for the Myitsone Dam in Burma.