The Economic and Political Effects of Air Pollution in Hong Kong and China

Hong Kong’s economy is widely regarded as the freest in the world and China’s the fastest-growing among large economies. As these economies develop, however, so do problems of environmental degradation. Contaminants from the factories of Guangdong, combined with emissions from cars in Hong Kong, have pushed the Hong Kong’s air pollution higher than the levels of Los Angeles, New York, London, or Paris, and had a significant impact on its quality of life. Containing the spread of pollution from outside of Hong Kong has become one of the public-policy principal challenges facing officials there and in China.