Pollution has become a major health crisis in China. With industrial pollution as a significant contributing factor, many workers, especially rural migrant workers who have been exposed to some of the harshest working and living conditions over many years and denied the same rights and mechanisms to rectify their suffering, face a double burden to their health.  

China is currently the world’s leading producer and exporter of leather, it is also the world's largest shoe manufacturer and exporter. In 2014, China's leather output exceeded 590 million square meters, more than all other leather-producing countries combined. In 2014, the Chinese footwear industry was estimated to be worth about EUR 94 billion.