{"id":693,"date":"2013-11-18T09:00:52","date_gmt":"2013-11-18T08:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/doing-business\/?p=693"},"modified":"2018-01-20T19:02:59","modified_gmt":"2018-01-20T18:02:59","slug":"chinas-environment-collapse-or-catalyst","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/doing-business\/2013\/11\/18\/chinas-environment-collapse-or-catalyst\/","title":{"rendered":"China’s Environment: Collapse or Catalyst?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week, I had the privilege teaching on IESE’s Global Executive MBA Program<\/a> in Shanghai<\/strong> and on this trip the country’s environmental challenges struck me first hand.<\/p>\n

The Food, Air & Water Quality<\/b><\/p>\n

\"imgres-3\"<\/a><\/b>Our students had visited a number of Chinese families under the supervision of my colleague, Yih Teen Lee<\/a>, an expert on cross cultural understanding, and these people spoke about their concerns about the safety of food they eat<\/strong>. Friends who have recently moved to China and long term expatriates confessed to me their concern about the water they were drinking and even potential contamination of the soil in which crops were raised. What brought the point home was the way people talk about polution. “How is the air today?” is as common as asking<\/strong> if its going to rain in Barcelona. There is even an app for it!<\/p>\n

\"air\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Last Friday, the PMI index, a commonly used air pollution indicator, reached 260 in Shanghai, which is considered “Very Unhealthy”, we were told to take a taxi to CEIBS<\/a> and not walk the half a mile as it would be hazardous to our health!<\/p>\n

A friend who lives in Beijing told me that his children’s international school is putting up a dome over the sports field in order to keep up with another private school in the city which already has two. At issue is the ability of kids to go outside and play and most expats appear to have filtered air their schools, homes, cars, and offices.<\/span><\/p>\n