Daily News April 17, 2014

Environmental Pollution and Health

China's babies at risk from soot, smog, environmental health news

China’s smoke-belching coal plants and heavy traffic may be signs of a bustling economy but health experts fear the country’s dirty air is hurting its babies.

Almost 20% of China’s Arable Land Is Polluted, WSJ

Nearly one-fifth of China’s arable land is contaminated with either organic or inorganic pollution, according to the results of a soil-pollution survey from government ministries.As Josh Chin and Brian Spegele report:

Related:

16.1 percent of Chinese soil is polluted, Xinhuanet

Xinhua Insight: China fights soil pollution with science

One third of Beijing pollution "imported": research, Xinhua net

 About one third of Beijing's PM 2.5 is from neighboring cities, Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau said on Wednesday.

Public mistrust on PX is justified by history of corporate secrecy, China Dialogue

China’s PX protestors are accused of overreacting, but their anger is based on a long string of pollution cover-ups

Grain, Poultry, Dairy and Food Security

Why are there so many dead pigs in China’s rivers?, Washington Post

Another 170 were found last week, bobbing in a Yellow River tributary in northwestern Qinghai Province. No one knew where they had come from or when they had arrived. Locals just knew that these pigs were dead.

China's largest chicken producer opens up supply chain to smart phone users, China Dialogue

As fears over food safety grow in China, companies are letting customers trace their products via WeChat, the country’s most popular messaging app

Trade

Corn, Soybean Exports Decline; China Cancels

Export sales of U.S. corn and soybeans declined in the latest week, with old-crop corn sales down 9% from the previous week and soybeans down 76%, USDA said on Thursday.

Chinese pigs eating massive amounts of soy have cut U.S. supply to five-decade low

In the 60 years that Ursa Farmers Cooperative has been loading Midwest soybeans onto boats along the Mississippi River, business has never been this good.

Energy Problems

Cheaper coal imports cause losses locally, ECNS

China's coal producers saw a decline in both profitability and investment in overseas countries amid gloomy domestic demand and competition from imported coal, industry insider said on Wednesday.