Feature stories from the Choke Point: China series.

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China’s Early Pivot Away From Carbon

World’s largest coal consumer's big challenge to lower climate-changing…

Mongolia Copper Mine at Oyu Tolgoi Tests Water Supply and Young Democracy

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Mining boom in South Gobi influenced by local and global citizen activism

China Tests New Strategy to Curb Coal Demand, Reduce Air Pollution, and Conserve Water

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Nation’s Ministry of Environment turns to Circle of Blue and the Wilson Center’s China Environment Forum for help.

Toxic Water: Across Much of China, Huge Harvests Irrigated with Industrial and Agricultural Runoff

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The dirty truth about the world’s largest grain producer.
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China’s Water Reserves and World’s Warming Atmosphere Wait For Natural Gas Breakthrough

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China’s deep shale reserves are treacherous to tap and slow to develop.
China's Major Grains Map

Scarcity of Water and Land Shifts Geography of Food Production and Irrigation Networks to China’s Northeast

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Rich land, ample water, and human persistence have turned virgin prairie into the primary breadbasket for China, the world’s largest nation and second-largest economy that is pursuing grain production with a single-minded purpose.
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Food Supply, Fracking, and Water Scarcity Challenge China’s Juggernaut Economy

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New project finds that building the world's fastest-growing economy…
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Building China’s 21st-century Megacity: Shanghai’s Experiment with Water and Nature

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A new community on the Yangtze River has, so far, been more successful at attracting ducks than people. But city officials have their sights set high for Lingang Port City, which they say could be home to nearly a million people by 2050. Cleaner water will be a big help.
Water & Energy Chokepoint

Double Choke Point: Demand for Energy Tests Water Supply and Economic Stability in China and the U.S.

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The cords of energy demand and water supply are tightening around the world's two largest economies.
Mongolia Slideshow

Energy Economy Brings Change to Shepherd Life: Modernization Comes to the Dry Grasslands of Inner Mongolia

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Along the vast frozen grasslands, 23-year-old Wu Yun and her father, Bao Zhu, tend their flock of sheep and cattle. Just over the ridge, the northern city of Xilinhot is booming as the coal industry continues to expand. But it will take a lot of water to feed both the city and the mining.
Shanghai Drought

Rains Bring Relief For Six-Month China Drought, But Chronic Water Problems Loom

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Although now satiated, the dry spell is the latest in a growing trend of severe water shortages threatening China's food production, energy generation, and accelerating modernization.
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China’s Other Looming Choke Point: Food Production

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The Yellow River Basin is the center of a contest over water, energy, and agriculture.