China is rethinking how it manages its economy, as mounting evidence reveals the heavy toll that unbridled growth has had on the environment and on health.

The government said recently it would name and shame China 's dirtiest cities as well as force factories to disclose environmental standards publicly, in an attempt to bring them into line. It also set a target of cutting emissions intensity in key industries by 30% by 2017's end.

These latest environmental- protection steps are part of "the most aggressive policy effort to address air-quality issues in Chinese history," said Jun Ma, chief economist for Greater China at Deutsche Bank. They are part of Beijing 's strategy to confront the damaging environmental consequences of a rollicking economy.

But moves to clean up the nation's backyard face ingrained resistance from many officials, especially local ones, who are immersed in a culture that rewards economic performance alone. Growth "was always one of the key indicators," said Hu Tao, a former Chinese environment ministry researcher now at the World Resources Institute in Washington . "The system encouraged local governments to focus on developing faster."

Even environment minister Zhou Shengxian acknowledges the need for change. "If development turns healthy people into unhealthy people, this is a parody of development," he said this month, according to the official Xinhua news agency. "We need to slow down from the current pace of growth."

The starkest evidence yet of the danger posed to China from its past blind eye toward pollution emerged this month, as a new study blamed air pollution from coal combustion for reducing life expectancy by more than five years in some parts of the country. Last week, two officials in southern China were jailed because of river water allegedly tainted with toxic heavy metals from mining discharge. And earlier this year, intense smog over much of the country and supplies of rice tainted with cadmium, a toxin, caused public alarm.

Beijing appears to be responding to the pressure. China 's recently installed President Xi Jinping said in June that local officials would no longer be promoted purely on the basis of economic record. In the past, regional officials delivering punchy growth could expect promotion. Now, pollution will be a factor.

"There are several targets which are already included in the assessment standards of officials," said Li Wei, a professor at Beijing Normal University . "Developing the economy of your local area is necessary, but it isn't the only condition. If you want full marks, you have to manage the environment well."

The government recently launched trial emissions trading in the southern city of Shenzhen . While the program likely will have little immediate impact, its benefits could blossom over the longer term, Mr. Ma said.

As important as the environment is to a growing middle class, government officials still benefit more from projects that maximize growth. A February study by America 's National Bureau of Economic Research found that spending on transport infrastructure boosts Chinese city mayors' chances of promotion, while outlays to fix environment damage their prospects.

China reported second-quarter GDP growth of 7.5% this week, after growth slowed to 7.8% last year from the year-earlier 9.3%, the weakest rate of expansion in more than a decade.

While China and the U.S. recently agreed to phase out one type of greenhouse gas, the Chinese argue that developed economies must take the lead in cutting carbon emissions.

Though it is the world's second-largest economy, China has a lower per capita income than that of Brazil or South Africa . And while it has vowed to cut energy intensity -- the energy used per unit of economic output -- there appears to be next to no chance of an outright drop in its emissions.

As it tries to manage the delicate trade-off between environment and the economy, China is looking for ways to calculate the hidden costs of its environmental laissez-faire. For the past several years, China 's Ministry of Environmental Protection has measured "green GDP," an alternate indicator of economic growth reflecting the costs of pollution.

The latest ministry study shows the trend hasn't been encouraging. It found the cost of pollution was about $250 billion in 2010, representing 3.5% of that year's GDP, according to a newspaper linked to the Ministry of Environmental Protection. China 's official figures are conservative compared with some outside estimates.

The World Bank put the total cost of all pollution and resource depletion in China at 9% of gross national income in 2009.

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