Between 2020 and 2025, China accelerated one of the most rapid environmental governance transformations in the world. Anchored in the doctrine of ecological civilization, the country strengthened water-protection laws, restored degraded river systems, and expanded environmental monitoring while simultaneously executing the world’s largest clean-energy transition. This paper integrates environmental governance, conflict-resolution theory, and energy-policy analysis to demonstrate how China’s “water renaissance” is inseparable from its pivot away from hydropower dependence toward massive scale-up of solar, wind, and nuclear energy. Drawing on authoritative governmental sources, international organizations, academic literature, and major global news analyses (The Economist, Foreign Policy, World Bank, SCIO, MEE, and others), this article frames China’s water reforms as a form of environmental peacebuilding—reducing structural water conflicts, rebalancing stakeholder incentives, and transforming energy-water-ecosystem relationships. The paper concludes with insights for policymakers pursuing integrated water and energy reforms under conditions of climate stress, population density, and industrial competition. Originally released as a preprint on EarthArXiv:https://doi.org/10.31223/X5JV00
Paul F. Davis (Sat,) studied this question.