An uptick in China’s economy after a four-year slowdown in growth threatens to reverse improvements in greenhouse gas emissions that had helped keep global levels flat for three years.
China’s economy grew at an annual rate of 6.9 per cent in the first quarter this year, its fastest in 18 months, according to official data. Commodity prices recovered last year after a four-year slump, while Chinese steel consumption rose after three years of declines following its 2013 peak.
The economic revival has contributed to a rise in smog in northern China and the southern manufacturing heartlands after three years of improving air quality and falling coal consumption, according to provincial government data tracking tiny particles in the air known as PM2.5.