ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the domestic politics of water resources in China, with the objective of better understanding the dynamics of conflict and cooperation for Asia's major transboundary water resources. The concept of hydropolitics is useful for describing China's relations with its riparian neighbours as well as the dynamics of conflict and cooperation between subnational administrative units within China. The chapter argues that scholars and policymakers are concerned with China's role in transboundary rivers need to pay attention to domestic, as well as international, hydropolitics. In China's administrative hierarchy, province-level territorial governments possess the same status as central ministries like the Ministry of Water Resources, creating considerable confusion regarding authority. The pervasiveness of inter-jurisdictional water disputes, particularly over water pollution, provides an illustration of the extent to which water resources management within China remains marked by debate rather than consensus on how to tackle fundamental issues including water use allocation and the development of the country's rivers.
