This time, a reservoir that provides drinking water for over 440 million people is at stake: the Yangtze River -- China’s biggest and most important river. It seems to have become a paradise for multinational chemical plants. But the locals are putting up resistance to German chemicals giant BASF.

Chongqing, a city on the great Yangtze River, is a huge trading hub. Workers cart crates between buildings. Trucks are loaded up on every street corner. Supplies for the whole of western China get shipped out from here. The chemicals giant BASF wants to tap into this booming market with its new plant. It hopes soon to be supplying foam and insulation material to the entire region.

Jaak van Steen, a BASF manager, explained, "in Chongqing and its neighboring provinces there are two to four hundred million people. It’s as big as Europe. It’s going to attract a lot of industry and bring added value to the region."

Pollution vs. growth

But on the ground, it doesn’t look so rosy. The air in Chongqing’s chemicals and industry park is so dusty that one can hardly breathe. In nearby Changshou, there is little sign of the big companies bringing wealth. People sell cheap goods on the streets.

Everyone has an opinion about the BASF plant. One man said, "there are advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, it could increase our income but the disadvantage is that the environment will be damaged. And that could damage our health." A woman nearby was of the opinion, "of course, we’re worried, the economy might be developed but it’s bad for our health. Environmental protection standards are not being achieved."

Chinese stamp of approval

But whatever the locals think does not seem to be of great importance. The plans have already been approved by the local authorities and the Chinese ministry of environment.

Activist Wu Dengming, however, is determined to keep up the fight. The former university lecturer is 70 years old. He founded the Green Volunteers’ League in Chongqing and has mobilised 10,000 volunteers to protect the Yangtze River:

"This is not about the interests of any particular region, ethnic group or country. Protecting the environment should be the common interest and goal of everyone, the whole world. When people do not behave responsibly towards the environment it causes criticism and resistance in developed countries -- and in China as well!"

Environmental standards below average

He said that BASF has to adhere to international standards. Greenpeace has criticised the German company before and said it uses different standards in different countries. BASF’s Jaak van Steen rejected such allegations.

"I have to say that even for this plant that we are building in Chongqing the wastewater that we produce in the plant compared to our plants in other parts of the world is 50 percent less -- it will be the most modern plant of BASF in the world."

Wu doesn’t trust van Steen and wants an independent citizen’s committee to be set up to supervise BASF. He and other critics of the BASF plant in Chongqing no longer want economic development at the cost of their environment. That’s why their voices are getting louder. Especially on the internet.

Author: Rebecca Roth / Anne Thomas
Editor: Grahame Lucas