ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the general features of the water, energy and food (WEF) nexus before moving on to examine the WEF nexus in China's agricultural sector and the water–energy nexus as it is expressed in the nation's urbanization and industrialization. The ramifications of China's nexus challenges are amplified by two further aspects of the country's geography and economy. First, the disparities between northern and southern China are profound. Second, since the beginning of the 21st century, China has progressively become a major global trading nation. Agriculture is at the centre of interactions in the service nexus of WEF and in the resource nexus of land, water and energy sources. Indeed, agriculture uses all three resources such as land for cropland and pasture; irrigation water and soil moisture; and fuels to produce energy for pumping irrigation water and for producing and transporting inputs and outputs.
