The Upstream Superpower: China’s International Rivers

Abstract

At first glance, shared basins should rank high on China’s agenda. Just over one-third of the country’s land area, 3,200,000 km2, lies in 19 international river basins (Gleick 2000: 249).1 Only Russia (8 million km2), the US (6 million km2) and Brazil (5 million km2) have a greater basin area. With the notable exception of its long and arid interface with Mongolia, China shares a river basin along most of its 22,000 km land border with 14 countries and two special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau) (Fig. 9.1).