Lujiazui's Billion Yuan Lawsuit: A Glimpse into China's Black Hole of Soil Pollution Information

The Lujiazui lawsuit has shed light on the opacity of soil pollution information in China, bringing public involvement and government transparency to the forefront as key issues. The Lujiazui Group invested a massive 8.5 billion yuan after 222 rounds of bidding for a land parcel in Suzhou, only to discover significant pollution in parts of the area. The group's recent lawsuit against the Sujian Steel Group, claiming 10 billion yuan in damages, has garnered widespread societal attention. This case is merely the tip of the iceberg in China's extensive and deep-rooted soil pollution crisis. Without this corporate "battle of the gods," the general public might remain oblivious to the severe soil pollution beneath their feet, highlighting a long-standing issue: the severe lack of transparency in China's soil pollution information.

As a public health advocate focused on vulnerable groups, I have spent over a decade attempting to push for the public disclosure of soil pollution data in China, hoping to promote public health protection, but I've encountered insurmountable resistance. These obstacles reflect a broader issue: deliberate information blockage by officials, hindering public understanding and action on environmental issues.

Despite government promises to prioritize environmental protection in public, the practice of sharing key information with the public falls short. For instance, in January 2013, the State Council issued a notice on soil environment protection and comprehensive management, stating, "The overall state of our country's soil environment is not optimistic and must be given high importance," and mandated, "By 2015, comprehensively understand China's soil environmental condition and initially curb the rising trend of soil pollution." At the end of the month, Beijing lawyer Dong Zhengwei applied to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, requesting the release of soil pollution investigation data, causes, and countermeasures. However, the Ministry refused to disclose the actual pollution data, citing "national secrets."

The 2014 joint report by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Land and Resources also acknowledged the severe state of soil pollution in China. The report revealed that out of 5846 soil points around 690 heavily polluted industrial sites surveyed, 36.3% exceeded pollution standards. Yet, when I attempted to access specific information about these contaminated sites mentioned in the report, my request for public information was also denied under the guise of "national secrets," and my subsequent administrative appeal proved fruitless.

A 2016 Southern Weekend article titled "National Survey of Transparency in Hazardous Chemical Enterprises: The Incomplete 'Danger Map'" recounted the experience of Liu Chunlei following the "8·12" explosion in Tianjin Port. Liu attempted to add hazardous chemical enterprise information to the "Danger Map" app to make the public aware of nearby hazards. Liu and colleagues struggled to access relevant information while applying for public information from provincial safety supervision bureaus, with most local governments refusing to disclose, citing national secrets and corporate privacy. Lhasa's Safety Supervision Bureau even refused to disclose company names, claiming they were private. In my interview with Southern Weekend, I criticized the Lhasa Safety Supervision Bureau's response as lacking legal basis and not being serious: "Companies may have trade secrets, but not privacy. A company's name, being essential for public business operations, is not a trade secret. Even if the safety supervision department considers a company name a trade secret, it should follow due process, seek the company's opinion first, and only refuse to disclose if the company disagrees."

This difficulty in accessing information related to public health and safety is not an isolated phenomenon but part of a broader trend of strict secrecy surrounding environmental data.

The Lujiazui lawsuit, although not directly holding the polluters accountable, highlights the need for deeper reform in environmental information disclosure in China. Without fundamental improvements in transparency, the widespread issue of land pollution in China will remain unresolved.

At the National Ecological and Environmental Protection Conference held in Beijing in July 2023, Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping emphasized the importance of firmly establishing and practicing the concept of "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets," supporting high-quality development with high-quality ecological environments, and accelerating the modernization of harmony between humans and nature. He made several strict demands, such as "intensifying ecological and environmental protection supervision and law enforcement, and severely cracking down on ecological and environmental violations," but did not mention encouraging public participation and promoting transparency in environmental information.

Breaking the information black hole is not only a crucial step in resolving land pollution issues but also key for the government to demonstrate real responsibility and determination. The Chinese government should transform the long-held tightly guarded issue of land pollution into a matter of national action and remediation that the public can understand, participate in, and influence. If this transformation is not achieved, all efforts and propaganda will remain superficial, failing to address the core of the problem.

Of course, this is not only an issue of public safety and health but also fundamentally about the public's right to know and participate. This contrasts sharply with the Chinese government's increasingly strict policy on civil society, making substantial change seem even more remote.