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China's carbon conundrum

China's carbon dioxide emissions are rising fast. Yet, per capita, gross domestic product and energy use are only a fraction of their United States equivalents. With a growing urban middle class, the trend will continue, but there is progress on the path to a low-carbon economy.

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Figure 1: Long-term trend of energy intensity, showing energy-saving targets and results for each Five-Year Plan (FYP) period.
Figure 2: Effectiveness of low-carbon development policies.

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Correspondence to Tong Wu.

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Qi, Y., Wu, T., He, J. et al. China's carbon conundrum. Nature Geosci 6, 507–509 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1870

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