China’s new tallest building has received unexpected publicity thanks to Russian free climbers Vadim Makhorov and Vitaly Raskalov. The pair took two hours to climb 650 metres up the unfinished Shanghai Tower. They did not use safety equipment on their ascent to the top of a crane attached to the tower, from where they took these extraordinary pictures of Shanghai. Photo: Vitaly Raskalov's feet dangle from the top of the Shanghai Tower, high above the Shanghai World Financial Centre. (Photo by Vitaly Raskalov/Caters News Agency)

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)

Costumed participants of a lacquer and leather ship, the so-called “Torture Ship”, kiss before putting out to Lake Constance for a pleasure cruise at the harbor of Friedrichshafen, Germany, 29 June 2019. Hundreds of leather and rubber fans set sail for the boat trip through the night on Lake Constance. (Photo by Daniel Kopatsch/EPA/EFE)

An aerial view shows local residents visiting a river side park in Taipei during the Lunar Mew Year on February 19, 2021. (Photo by Sam Yeh/AFP Photo)

A woman injured during the 7.2 magnitude earthquake lies on a stretcher in Les Cayes, Haiti on August 14, 2021. (Photo by Ralph Tedy/Reuters)

Villagers salvage their belongings from their damaged home at Curah Kobokan village in Lumajang on December 8, 2021, after Mount Semeru volcano eruption that killed at least 34 people. (Photo by Juni Kriswanto/AFP Photo)

Icicles are seen on a handrail along the coast at Donggang business district in Dalian, Liaoning province, China on December 27, 2018. (Photo by Reuters/China Stringer Network)

A hiker walks in the Zillertal Alps during an autumn day near the village of Ginzling, Austria, October 15, 2019. (Photo by Lisi Niesner/Reuters)