Gambian Environmental Activists Blame Chinese Company for Chemical Spill

Gambia's President Adama Barrow (C) walks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping (L) during a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on December 21, 2017. The two countries re-established diplomatic relations in 2016. Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images

BANJUL, Gambia—Hundreds of Gambians were grateful for the jobs created by a Chinese-run fish processing plant that arrived in 2014. Then they were shocked when dead fish began washing up on a nearby shore.

Residents of the coastal town of Gunjur reported chemical residue on their skin after swimming that made them itch.