If by democracy, you mean direct mass elections for the highest office of the land. I don't think China will get there in ten years. Neither do I think that's necessarily in the best interest for China at this stage of development. Democracy is a system of institutions which work best when there is a strong foundation of widespread high educational attainment, rule of law and a large middle class that have a stake in the system. China is certainly getting there, but not yet.
However, I think China will be much freer in ten years as personal freedoms and political freedoms continue to grow. China is a very different country from ten years ago and I believe it will be even more different in ten years. China's society is opening to the world and modernizing at such a fast pace, it's hard to keep up with all the changes.
About the environment. I believe that the Chinese central government realize that this is a major problem. Certainly, China's environment has been strongly hurt by the industrialization. I think it is imperative that China learn from the mistakes of developed nations and try to find ways of promoting green energy and reducing pollution. The central government has been focusing on this issue, but the problem is so massive that I think the results are quite limited. China has a severe pollution problem and I dont think it will go away anytime soon.
