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BEIJING (AP) - China denied Thursday it pressured the World Bank to cut data from a draft of an environmental report that allegedly found that pollution caused about 750,000 premature deaths nationwide annually.
The Financial Times reported Monday that Beijing had persuaded the bank to cut findings that outdoor air pollution levels in Chinese cities cause 350,000 to 400,000 premature deaths each year. Poor indoor air kills another 300,000 people and more than 60,000 die due to poor quality water, the draft report said.
"The report you mentioned has not concluded yet and has not been released," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at a regular briefing. "There was no issue of the deletion of relevant data requested by China."
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