See the SCMP article of 21 February, 2013 by Ernest Kao
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1155528/environmental-watchdog-admits-cancer-village-phenomenon
In my book I mention several of the cancer villages and why they exist (e.g. the manufacturing of jeans, jewelry, lingerie …). The term refers to villages, often located close to industrial parks or factories where villagers get sick with cancer.
I also share the opinion that water pollution and scarcity in China is the major threat and the topic is a large chapter in my book. Now it being confirmed again that water pollution is so severe now that close to 70% of the mainland’s lakes and rivers and over 90% of groundwater in urban areas are too contaminated for even animals to drink from.
About 40% of locations the ministry has been monitoring contained water deemed unsafe for human consumption, despite multibillion-dollar clean-up efforts by the government.
Severe chemical pollution in China’s water systems has caused the spread of “cancer villages”, the country’s top environmental watchdog admitted as the Ministry of Environmental Protection published a list of so-called cancer villages on the mainland.
It also confirmed that the levels of pollutants – including endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) which interfere with human hormones – in China’s lakes, rivers and coastal waters had surpassed international levels and the situation was now “very grim”.
Levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), compounds resistant to environmental degradation and are a known carcinogen, were also reported at dangerously high levels. Many of the chemicals have already been phased out by developed countries, it said.
According to the report, 40,000 types of chemicals were being used in China and about 3,000 of them contained “poisonous, corrosive, explosive or combustible properties” (see full report in Chinese)
In 2010, investigative journalist Deng Fei created a widely-circulated Google Map graphic illustrating the locations of at least 100 cancer villages across China. Recent estimates put the figure at 400.

View 中国癌症村地 China Cancer Villages Map:
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=209600870352189728478.000469611a28a0d8a22dd&ll=29.568591,112.286465&spn=22.144692,16.301284&t=m&source=embed
Hopefully, improvement is on the way.