Since Deng's reforms in 1978, China has made some impressive progress in economic development, which saw GDP growing at an average rate of 9% annually in recent years. However, the efforts to remove people from poverty and more modernization for the country have brought about a significant damaging impact upon the natural environment. The almost annual floods in the 1990s may be due to such an impact. In particular uncontrolled deforestation along the major rivers and lack of attention and investment in the rebuilding of river banks are some of the major causes identified by some experts.