FT story on how "China opens shale gas exploration to foreign joint ventures."
It's described as a "milestone policy change that will allow foreign energy companies to play a greater role in developing China's rich potential reserves of shale gas."
China has all the same ambitions as the US: reduce dependency on foriegn sources of coal and oil, plus simply move "down" the hydrocarbon chain to less CO2 emissions.
The irony: to escape one form of foreign dependence is to invite another.