Apple Inc's supplier Foxconn and Taiwanese supplier UniMicron Technology Corp were both accused of environmental violations in China. The prominent Chinese activist Ma Jun's Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs and four other nonprofit associations reported the violations.

The organizations said Foxconn released water into a river that was directly connected to Shanghai's Huangpu river. The water was said to be filled with high levels of heavy metals. They also released a video that displayed cloudy and dark wastewater from Foxconn's facility and UniMicron's factory in Kunshan. The accusations came amidst increasing concerns regarding the soil pollution in China. In February, the Ministry of Environmental Protection in the country conducted a nation-wide survey about oil pollution. Projections from government-affiliated researchers said that between 25 to 60 acres of China were currently contaminated with heavy metals.

The cost of China's quick environmental degradation was around US$230 billion in 2010 or 3.5% of the country's gross domestic product. The figure was three times more compared to the cost reported in 2004. In March 2013, Beijing Mayor Wang Anshun said that the sewage treatment, incineration of garbage and the development in forestry would cost no less than US$16 billion.