Caixin Media
09.04.13
China’s Shale Gas Development Goals Just Pipe Dreams
China wants to reap the benefits of a shale gas revolution similar to the one in the United States, but there are many obstacles to this happening, experts say.In the first half of 2013, fifty-six shale gas wells were in the exploratory phase in the...
The China Africa Project
08.22.13
Chad Pushes Back Against China’s National Oil Company
The Chadian government shut most or all oil operations run by China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) over allegations of an oil spill, poor worker safety, and violations of other environmental regulations. CNPC, not surprisingly, denied the...
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08.13.13Can China Clean Up Fast Enough?
Economist
China is going through an industrial-powered growth spurt and the urge to get rich outweighs the desire for clean air. However, China is beginning to clean up its act.
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08.13.13China Likely to Become World’s Largest Oil Importer
BBC
China is likely to overtake the U.S. as the world’s largest oil importer as early as next year.The switch comes as the U.S. continues to boost domestic energy supply while China’s energy demand remains robust.
Caixin Media
08.05.13
County in Shaanxi in a Deep Hole as Mining Bubble Pops
A financial crisis triggered by falling coal prices is brewing in Shenmu County, in the northwestern province of Shaanxi.Construction projects have been halted, universal health care has run into payment problems and many private bankers have...
Books
08.05.13

China Threat?
From the long-term threat of nuclear war between the U.S. and China, to the disappearance of the African elephant due to Chinese demand for ivory, each week brings a new round of critique and denunciation of the risks China poses to the stability of the entire planet. While critics raise a certain number of fundamental questions that bear asking about this nascent superpower, the answers put forth are usually based on ideological or economic considerations. Lionel Vairon systematically challenges these views in this first English language edition of China Threat?With an incisive review of China’s economic strategy, deployment of resources, national defence, political reform, ethnicity and religion, terrorism, and developments in human rights, Vairon amply demonstrates that China poses no threat to the world. On the contrary, China Threat? shows that China’s peaceful rise should be a matter of positive news across the globe. —CN Times Books {chop}
Reports
08.01.13
Recharging China’s Electric Vehicle Policy
Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy
Electric vehicles offer China an opportunity to reduce its reliance on foreign oil, improve air quality by curbing emissions from the burgeoning transportation sector, and enjoy the future economic benefits of being a global pioneer in an emerging...
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07.29.13Myanmar-China Gas Pipeline Goes Into Operation
Global Post
As well as diversifying China’s sources of fuel, by supplying energy to the vast and less developed west the Myanmar-China gas pipeline could help Beijing’s attempts to promote economic growth there.
Reports
07.23.13
Thirsty Coal 2: Shenhua’s Water Grab
Greenpeace
This investigation report is a follow-up to the 2012 Greenpeace and the China Academy of Sciences joint study: “Thirsty Coal: A Water Crisis Exacerbated By China’s New Mega Coal Bases.” In this report, we focus on the most controversial part of...
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07.17.13China Pushes Europe to Lower Hurdles to Solar Deal
Reuters
A European Commission document dated July 12 said China wants any solar agreement to expire by the end of 2014, that the so-called certain parts of the panels should be excluded from tariffs and that any cap on Chinese exports should be...
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07.16.13After Protest, China Cancels Plans for Uranium Plant
New York Times
The protest in Jiangmen was the latest display of growing public disquiet about environmental hazards, which could frustrate China’s ambitious plans for nuclear power and technology.
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07.08.13China Mine Runoff Pollutes Water for 30,000, China Daily Says
Bloomberg
Officials in southern China shut 112 illegal mines after polluted runoff entered the local water supply, killing fish and making the water unusable for about 30,000 people, China Daily newspaper said.
Environment
07.03.13
Understanding China’s Domestic Agenda Can End U.N. Climate Gridlock
from chinadialogue
Li Shuo of Greenpeace China has recently argued on chinadialogue that U.N. climate talks can drive more ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions in China, the world’s largest emitter. This optimism goes against much of the conventional wisdom...
Conversation
05.23.13
China and the Other Asian Giant: Where are Relations with India Headed?
Mike Kulma:Earlier this week at an Asia Society forum on U.S.-China economic relations, Dr. Henry Kissinger remarked that when the U.S. first started down the path of normalizing relations with China in the early 1970s, the economic relationship and...
Conversation
05.16.13
China: What’s Going Right?
Michael Zhao:On a recent trip to China, meeting mostly with former colleagues at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, I got a dose of optimism and hope for one aspect of the motherland. In terms of science, or laying down a solid foundation for better...
Conversation
05.10.13
What’s China’s Game in the Middle East?
Rachel Beitarie:Xi Jinping’s four point proposal for a Palestinian-Israeli peace agreement is interesting not so much for its content, as for its source. While China has maintained the appearance of being involved in Middle East politics for years,...
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04.16.13San Francisco Strengthens Ties With China Despite Washington Suspicion
Guardian
San Francisco’s courting of Chinese partnerships contrasts with Washington suspicion towards China. Last year the House Intelligence Committee urged U.S. firms to avoid partnering with Chinese telecom firms, to safeguard customer data.
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04.04.13China’s Massive Water Problem
New York Times
This Spring 2013 China is expected to finish the first phase of its gigantic South-North Water Transfer Project, though the project highlights the limits of engineering solutions to problems of basic environmental scarcity.&...
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04.04.13As China’s Xi Jinping Visits, Africa Asks: What Are We Getting Out Of This?
Christian Science Monitor
Chinese trade with African countries was nearly $200 billion in 2012. But after years of embracing China, some Africans say that China is taking more than it gives back and replicating colonial patterns.
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04.04.13The Dragon Eating The Eagle’s Lunch in Africa?
Ethiomedia
For the past decade, the U.S. has been nonchalant and complacent about China’s “invasion” and lightning-fast penetration of Africa, but the U.S. is finally reading the memo.
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03.26.13Changing Faces
Economist
Xi Jinping’s first foreign visits since his inauguration and new appointments in foreign policy-related positions hint at the direction of the new administration’s foreign policy plans and goals.
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02.18.13Nuclear Test Sparks Chinese Radiation Fears
Wall Street Journal
Chinese authorities are moving to tamp down public worries about radiation less than a week after North Korea set off a nuclear test not far from their common border.
Environment
02.14.13
A Progress Report on U.S.-China Energy & Climate Change Cooperation
In his second inaugural address, President Barack Obama committed to confronting climate change, stating, “The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition; we must lead it...
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02.13.13North Korea Nuclear Test Irks Ally China
Los Angeles Times
The test, held during a major Chinese holiday, is seen as a slap in the face to Beijing. But experts say China has more to lose by downgrading its bumpy ties.
Conversation
02.06.13
Airpocalypse Now: China’s Tipping Point?
The recent run of air pollution in China, we now know, has been worse than the air quality in airport smoking lounges. At its worst, Beijing air quality has approached levels only seen in the United States during wildfires.All of the comparisons to...
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02.05.13Worse Than Poisoned Water: Dwindling Water, in China’s North
New York Times
When 39 tons of the toxic chemical aniline spilled from a factory in Changzhi in China’s Shanxi province at the end of December, polluting drinking water for hundreds of thousands of people downstream along the Zhuozhang River and dangerously...
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01.15.13One Nation Under Smog: Rules for Beijing Living
New Yorker
The following will sound like a joke, but I’m sorry to say it’s not: the filters for our air purifying machines are so expensive that we get ours under the table.
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01.14.13Exposing the ‘Hazardous’ Pollution of Beijing
Al Jazeera
Cityscapes are part of a daily collection of photos of seven cities, four in China and three in the United States published on the website China Air Daily.
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01.13.13Breathing in Beijing: Coping with China’s Smog
New York Times
Were the Chinese cement industry a country, it would be the sixth biggest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world.
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01.09.13Cold in China Kills 180,000 Cattle, Threatens Power
USA Today
A severly cold winter is causing blizzards in the north, threatening electricity supplies in the south where the government is unused to dealing with such temperatures.
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12.06.12Mongolia Finds China Can Be Too Close for Comfort
Associated Press
In a global rush to get rich off China, Mongolia works to ensure that Chinese investment doesn’t become Chinese dominance.
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12.05.12Opinion: How Cities Can Save China
New York Times
Working on urbanization will foster solutions to the challenges the world faces from China’s pressure on ecosystems, resources and commodities.
Environment
11.28.12
Russia’s Siberian Dams Power “Electric Boilers” in Beijing
from chinadialogue
The underdeveloped, sparsely populated Eastern Siberia region that shares a 4,000-kilometer border with China has vast resources to offer its heavily populated and fast-developing neighbor. Hydroelectricity is key among them.A major new...
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11.25.12Will China’s New Leaders Change Tibet policy?
BBC
Xi Zhongxun, father of China’s new president, Xi Jinping, was a former leader known for a more conciliatory approach to Tibetans.
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11.20.12China WIll Build the Tallest Building in the World in Just 90 Days
Gizmodo
Sky City and its 2,749 feet distributed over 220 floors will grow in just 90 days in Changsha city, at the rate of five floors per day.
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11.18.12As Wen Jiabao Departs, China’s Dam Plans to Accelerate
Reuters
Dam building slowed considerably under Wen, who personally intervened to block hydropower projects and avoid the potential for protest from local populations. Projects such as the $59 billion Three Gorges Dam have been the focus of criticism over...
Environment
11.15.12
China’s Low-Carbon Zones Lack Motivation, Guidance, and Ideas
from chinadialogue
None of China’s so-called low-carbon industrial zones currently live up to the name. That’s the conclusion to draw from the work of the U.S. Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC), which this year released a guide for the development of green...
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10.28.12A Third Day of Protests in China Against Refinery Reach Third Day
New York Times
Hundreds protesting a petrochemical plant’s expansion plans, swarmed Ningbo port tossing water bottles at riot police officers.
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10.14.12Against Backdrop of Dispute with China, Japan Shows Off Navy
Associated Press
Japan’s navy marked 60th year with major exercise, showing off maritime strength amid territorial dispute with China.
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10.12.12Japan and China Agree to Talks on Rift after Noda Call
Bloomberg
Talks aim to reduce tensions over territorial dispute, avoid suffering in Asia’s biggest economies.
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10.05.12Glut of Solar Panels Poses a New Threat to China
New York Times
China’s supply of solar panels has grown faster than soaring global demand, sparking a price war.
Environment
09.06.12Chinese Fear Price Hikes After Electricity Reforms
from chinadialogue
This summer, Chinese people have been thinking twice before turning on their air conditioners.In July, tiered electricity pricing came into effect across China, except in the far western regions of Tibet and Xinjiang. This means the people who...
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09.04.12Guangzhou Moves to Limit New Cars
New York Times
The crackdown by China’s third-largest city is the most restrictive in a series of moves by big Chinese cities that are putting quality-of-life issues ahead of short-term economic growth, something the central government has struggled to do on a...
Environment
08.09.12
Data Gaps Hobble Carbon Trading
from chinadialogue
Late last October, China’s top economic planning body—the National Development and Reform Commission—instructed the cities of Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing, and Shenzhen, plus Hubei and Guangdong provinces, to get ready to run carbon-trading...
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08.02.12China in Europe: Buying Clean Tech
chinadialogue
Since Hanenergy announced that it was buying a subsidiary of German solar firm Q-cells, the Chinese company’s senior vice president Jason Chow has been fielding calls about further possible purchases. “Before they thought we weren’t serious, but now...
Caixin Media
07.31.12
Shedding Light on the Solar Crisis
After Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd., a Wuxi-headquartered photovoltaic cell producer, went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2005, China’s solar industry grew at an astonishing speed. More than 200 photovoltaic product manufacturers are...
Caixin Media
07.27.12LDK Solar Owes Twenty Suppliers 600 Million Yuan
Debt-ridden Jiangxi LDK Solar has defaulted on at least 600 million yuan in unpaid bills for raw materials and equipment, twenty suppliers say.“Starting from late last year, LDK Solar was delinquent on 15 million yuan to our company,” Liu Qingfeng,...
Reports
07.20.12

Trends in Global CO2 Emissions
PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency
Emissions of carbon dioxide, the main cause of global warming, reached an all-time high in 2011. The authors of this report summarize and analyze trends in carbon dioxide emissions on a country-by-country basis, finding that China’s continued high...
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07.19.12Average Chinese Person’s Carbon Footprint Now Equals European’s
Guardian
The average Chinese person’s carbon footprint is now almost on a par with the average European’s, figures released on Wednesday reveal. China became the largest national emitter of CO2 in 2006, though its emissions per person have always...
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07.13.12Inner Mongolia: Mining the Grasslands
Economist
LOCAL legend has it that the beauty of the grasslands in Xilin Gol, a prefecture in eastern Inner Mongolia, so captivated the 13th-century warrior Genghis Khan that he planned to settle down there once his battles were over. He might be less...
Caixin Media
07.11.12
Economic Ties that Bind
Labor leader Wayne Swan has his finger on the pulse of the Australian economy as the nation’s deputy prime minister and treasurer, which means he’s well-equipped to explain factors defining the increasingly robust relationship between China and...
Caixin Media
07.06.12
Powering Down Coal-Fired Economic Expansion
Slowing nationwide power demand and coal consumption, twin barometers for economic growth, suggest the Chinese economy may be sailing into the doldrums while at the same time changing its course.Electricity use in May rose a relatively mild 5.2...
Caixin Media
06.29.12
Shale Gas Race
The shale gas revolution in the United States has led to a debate in China over shale gas development. But can the United States really achieve energy self-sufficiency? And if it can, what are the implications for China?Ever since the Nixon era,...
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06.27.12The South China Sea Oil Card
Diplomat
Over the weekend, the China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) quietly announced that nine new blocks in the South China Sea were now open to foreign oil companies for exploration and development. This move reflects one of the starkest efforts by...
Reports
06.25.12
U.S.-China Public Perceptions Opinion Survey 2012
Committee of 100
The re-establishment of U.S.-China relations in 1971 marked a strategic step that ended China’s isolation and transformed the global balance of power. Since that historic milestone, the United States as an established superpower and China as an...
Environment
06.02.12
A Fallacy of Steel and Glass
from chinadialogue
Among its many environmental challenges, China faces an enormous increase in energy consumption by buildings over the coming decades. Bricks and mortar already account for 25% of China’s total primary energy consumption, but are currently consuming...
Caixin Media
05.31.12Heading Deep for the First Time
On May 9, China National Offshore Oil Corp.’s (CNOOC) first deepwater drilling platform began operating in the South China Sea. The world-class vessel is stationed in the Liwan 6-1-1 field, about 320 kilometers southeast of Hong Kong, in waters...
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05.18.12Solar Industry Reaction to the Anti-Dumping Decision
Greentech Media
While the margins are not as high as those seen in many previous U.S.-China antidumping cases (electrical blankets, steel grating), they are certainly much higher than Chinese manufacturers would have hoped for.
Caixin Media
05.18.12Near Three Gorges Dam, the Exodus Continues
Walls inside Zhang Haomin’s home in Zhenxi Township, in Chongqing, started cracking in 2008, around the time the reservoir behind the new Three Gorges Dam neared capacity.“Early on, the cracks were small,” said Zhang, whose home is about three...