Growing cities, overuse of fertilizers and factory wastewater have degraded China's water supplies to the extent that half the nation's rivers and lakes are severely polluted. China aims to spend $850 billion to improve filthy water supplies over the next decade, but even such huge outlays may do little to reverse damage caused by decades of pollution and overuse in Beijing's push for rapid economic growth. Photo: Fishermen row a boat in the algae-filled Chaohu Lake in Hefei, Anhui province, June 19, 2009. (Photo by Jianan Yu/Reuters)

“A girl arrives at the parking lot wearing tiny leather shorts and sits on the back of a bike with a horse power of more than 1,000 CC. Next to her a man gets ready to ride, wearing a skeleton mask. It’s more than a fashion show, it’s an extravaganza on two wheels along Chinese roads”. – Carlos Barria. Photo: A couple rides their motorcycle at the Qian Dao Lake rally, on May 11, 2013. (Photo by Carlos Barria/Reuters)

A Chinese girl peeps at Santa at a shopping center on Christmas Eve December 24, 2011 in Beijing, China. Though Christmas is not officially celebrated in China, the holiday is becoming increasingly popular as Chinese adopt more Western ideas and festivals. (Photo by Feng Li/Getty Images)

Chinese hostesses, who serve the delegates of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and National People's Congress, have souvenir photos taken in front of the Great Hall of the People during sessions of the CPPCC and NPC held in Beijing, China Tuesday, March 4, 2014. (Photo by Andy Wong/AP Photo)

A dancer performs as visitors take pictures at an auto show in Tianjin, China April 28, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

A visitor takes a picture of a display bearing hand prints of war heroes from the War of Resistance against Japan, at Jianchuan Museum Cluster in Anren, Sichuan Province, China, May 13, 2016. Tucked away in southwestern China's Sichuan province, a private collector stands virtually alone in exhibiting relics from the 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution. Monday marks the 50th anniversary of the start of the political movement, with no official commemorations planned. Official records whitewash the details of both periods, but admit that Mao made major mistakes. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

People look at damaged trees after a tornado hit Funing on Thursday, in Yancheng, Jiangsu province, China June 24, 2016. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

Visitors hold ice blocks to cool themselves in hot weather at a water park on June 23, 2016 in Chongqing, China. Citizens and visitors escaped high temperature at a water park in Yangren Jie (also known as Foreigner Street), Nan'an District of south China's Chongqing. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)