China is acknowledging long leveled criticism that areas of the country are so-pollution with industrial waste and toxins that entire towns have been labeled “Cancer Villages”.

China has for years denied accusations of startlingly high cancer rates near factories and polluted rivers, but the environment ministry refused to recognize the term “cancer village” and give it a technical definition.

However, the ministry’s latest report is called "Guard against and control risks presented by chemicals to the environment during the 12th Five-Year period”:  The report uses the key phrase “Cancer Villages”.

Last month, Beijing was trapped in a thick blanket of choking smog that limited visibility in some areas to an arm’s length.  The measure of dangerous substances soared past levels considered hazardous by the United Nations World Health Organization.

And this month, a company president grew so disgusted with the polluted state of his town’s main river that he offered the local environmental official more than $48,000 to swim in it.  That offer was declined.