China Grapples With Growing Water Shortages

China is running out of water.

The figures are stark.

Per capita water resources in the world’s most populous country are less than a third of the global average, and falling.

More than a decade of near double-digit economic growth coupled with a still expanding population has put an almost unbearable strain on water demand in China.

Pollution is so severe the Ministry of Water Resources estimates 40 percent of water in the country’s 1,300 or so major rivers is fit only for industrial or agricultural use.

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