China has been rocked by a hard-hitting film made by a former state TV news anchor which links her baby 's tumour to the country 's terrible air pollution . Chai Jing 's investigative documentary - which has already attracted unprecedented attention from the country 's officials - explores the controversial topic of smog in China , one of the most widespread issues in the state . In the opening scene of the documentary , Ms Chai tells the story of her daughter , who was diagnosed with a benign tumour before her birth in October 2013 . The 39-year-old goes on to report how a number of newborn babies in China have contracted pneumonia without even leaving home . Scroll down for video . Young victims : Chai Jing , 39 , has made a hard-hitting film , exploring the controversial topic of smog in China , one of the most widespread issues in the state . Motherly love : In the opening scene of the documentary , Ms Chai tells how her daughter was diagnosed with a benign tumour before her birth in October 2013 . The film also features an interview with Wang Huiqin ( pictured ) , 6 , who lives in highly industrialised Shanxi Province and says she has never seen stars or blue skies . Although Ms Chai does not explicitly link her daughter 's tumour to China 's air pollution , the film - the first to probe the topic in such depth - has prompted public speculation that the two are connected . It has already been watched by some 200million people and has sparked a firestorm of public criticism over the government 's failure to act on the issue in a timely manner . In the 144-minute film , Ms Chai , a former anchor at China Central Television , the Communist Party 's mouthpiece , tells how she made the documentary to tell her daughter 'what is smog , where smog comes from and what we shall do with it ' . She explains how she found herself pregnant in January 2013 , when 25 provinces and cities in China were blanketed by heavy smog . She then gave birth in October 2013 , when her daughter had already been diagnosed with a benign tumour . The diagnosis led to Ms Chai quitting her job at the beginning of last year so she could focus on taking care of her daughter . It was during that period that she began making the film , entitled Under the Dome , she explains . Enveloped : Most cities in China , such as Beijing and Shanghai ( pictured ) , face serious air pollution issues . Price for industrialisation : China burns a large amount of petroleum and coal , two major causes of pollution . The film was distributed to various video websites in China on February 28 . It received 117 million views in the first 24 hours , according to Tencent . Ms Chai 's daughter is no longer unwell . But she says in the film that she only took her daughter outside when air quality in Beijing was marked excellent or good . The rest of the time she had to lock her daughter at home 'like a prisoner ' , she claims . She adds that 175 days during 2014 were graded as polluted in Beijing . The film also includes an interview with a six-year-old girl , Wang Huiqin , who lives in Shanxi Province , a heavily industrialised area in central China . The girl tells Ms Chai in the interview how she has never seen stars , blue skies or white clouds in her life . Stardom : Ms Chai is a highly recognised anchor and investigative journalist in China . She is also a best-selling writer . Controversy : Although Ms Chai does not explicitly link her daughter 's tumour to China 's air pollution , the film - the first to probe the topic in such depth - has prompted public speculation that the two are connected . China 's cities are often hit by heavy pollution – in the form of smog – caused by burning a large amount of petroleum and coal . The film has already been widely backed by the Chinese public , as well as a number of officials . Chen Jining , the newly appointed minister of environmental protection in China , was quoted in an article on People 's Daily as saying : ' I want to thank her . She has wakened up the public to pay attention to the environment from a public health perspective . ' I think ( she is ) worth our respect . ' Self-protection : A girl puts a mask on her dog in Shijiazhuang , capital of north China 's Hebei Province , during a smog attack . Fake sunrise : An LED screen on the Tiananmen Square shows what a sun-rise looks like in heavily polluted Beijing . And Gao Mingyong , a senior media commentator in China , wrote on ifeng.com : 'Under the Dome is the best example of self-initiated media which can represent the logic of the internet , but its significance is far more than this . ' Ms Chai financed the making of the film by herself which cost $ 160,000 . It 's believed that Ms Chai gave birth to her daughter in the U.S , leading to her being branded a hypocrite and traitor by some .
Chai Jing , 39 , made documentary about air pollution for her sick daughter . In first scene , she tells how her child was diagnosed with tumour in womb . The news anchor fell pregnant in 2013 , when Beijing was heavily polluted . Film has sparked public criticism over government 's failure to act on issue . Has also prompted speculation that girl 's tumour and air pollution are connected .