Here's How Many People Die Each Day in China Because of Its Filthy Air. Here's How Many People Die Each Day in China Because of Its Filthy Air. Air pollution is killing about 1.6 million people every year in China, or nearly 4,400 people every day, accounting for seventeen percent of all the country's deaths, a new study has found. Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley found the sources of pollution to be widespread, but particularly intense in a corridor extending from Shanghai to Beijing.