1. Ch 1. Geographical Setting Chinese Economy

2. General Topography  The 3 rd largest landmass in the world.  Following Russia and Canada.  The most populous country in the world.  Similar size, latitudes, climate with the US.  Quality of land much poorer than the US.  “China- big, rugged, and diverse”.  Just 25% of China less than 500 meters above sea level. (while 60% for US, 80% for Europe).  Only one coast with inhospitable access.  Few good harbors, cut off from the inland regions.  China- basically inland (continent) civilization, lacking oceanic orientation.  Except peripheral sub-culture in southeast coast.

3. 1. Landforms  Entire landmass tilts from West to East.  Broadly, three “steps” in elevation.  Western Tibetan Plateau (about 4000 meters high), plateaus and basins (1000-2000 meters high) in mid-west, plains and low hills of the east (below 500 meters).  Three important rivers flow from west to east  Long (Yangtze) River ( 長江, 揚子江 ), Yellow River ( 黃河 ), Pearl Rivers ( 珠江 ).  West: high, dry, sparsely populated.  Western half of Aihui-Tengchong line (Figure 1, p.19): 6% population.  population density of 11/km 2.  Tibetan Plateau (¼ of the land) less than 1% of population.  Eastern half of the line: 94% of pop. (high pop. density)

4. (Continued)  Only 15% of the total land mass is arable (cultivatable). <cf: US 19%  Hilly and complex terrain with scattered fertile plains.  Cultivated land per capita– less than 1/5 of US (See Table 1.1, p. 20).  Unexploited land remain little for potential cultivation.  Adverse condition to support large population.  Higher land productivity, mainly based on labor- intensive farming.  Total food grain harvest in China is #1 in the world. <cf: labor productivity

5. 2. Climate and Water  Dominantly, southeast monsoon climate.  Cold, dry winter & hot, humid summer.  Inland summer very hot  “four furnaces”: Chongqing 重庆, Wuhan 武汉, Changsha 长沙, Nanjing 南京.  Dry north, rainy south. * “South, boat; North, horse”  Overall an arid country.  Desert continue expanding in Northwest.  Yellow River carry insufficient water (sometimes run dry), with mud/sand, while facing enormous water demand.  Yangtze River carries much water (20 times that of Yellow R.)  Tension bet. large population & scarce arable land, forests, and water (unevenly distributed).  Limit development options, with serious environmental problem impending.

6. 3. Regions  Administratively, 31 province-level regions.  22 provinces, 4 municipalities under direct supervision ( 直轄市 ), 5 autonomous regions of ethnic minorities.  Large population: Henan( 河南 ), Guangdong( 廣東 ), Shandong ( 山東 ) with over 90 million population  Beijing ( 北京 ), Shanghai ( 上海 ), Tianjin ( 天津 ), Chongqing ( 重慶 )  Large size: Xinjiang, Tibet, Inner Mongolia  Special Administrative Region:  Hong Kong (since 1997), Macao (since 1999)  One country, two system ( 一國兩制 ).  Taiwan:  A renegade province (PRC view) vs a sovereign nation (Taiwanese perception).

7. (Continued)  Economic macroregions (by W. Skinner).  Provinces are not always the best way to divide up China’s economic space.  9 macro-regions: each consists of densely settled core areas & surrounding periphery areas.  Some are more important economic regions than others.  1) North China ( 華北 ) Plain: the most import one.  Largest flat plain, with over ¼ of total farm land, accommodating over ¼ of population (27%).  Contains one large urban region, Beijing-Tianjin metropolis.  Not especially developed (urbanized) area, predominantly rural.  Staple crop is wheat, while cotton and peanuts produced, too.  Average i. t. o. development level (30% industrial output).

8. Economic macroregions (cont’d)  2) Lower Yangtze ( 長江下流 ) region  Around Yangtze River Delta ( 長江 三角洲 ) with wet rice cultivation  Multiple crop harvest, with fertile land and abundant water (7% of arable land producing 10% of crop output).  The most developed (urbanized) region, with Shanghai metropolis as its core.  About 10% of population & 21% of GDP (2003).  Regain the status of the richest area & its leading economic role since the 1990s.  Some area classified as rural, but urbanized countryside (center of rural industries; TVEs)

9. Economic macroregions  3) Northeast ( 東北, Manchuria) region.  Closely linked with North China plain.  9% of population cultivating 17% of land  Net exporter of food grains and soybean to the rest of China.  Used to be heavy industry base, with abundant natural resources (coal, petroleum, iron ore, forest).  Industrial center: Shenyang (in Liaoning province).  Regional economy struggling during reform period (dominated by old SOEs in heavy industry).  Descended from relatively developed area to average level during reform period (10% of GDP).

10. Economic macroregions  The above three regions are somewhat integrated center of Chinese economy.  55% of GDP, with 46% of population.  Great canal linking North & South.  Northeast being marginalized, while Lower Yangtze reemerging as the economic center.  4) Middle of Yangtze ( 長江 中流 )  Hubei (Wuhan as a core city), Hunan, Jiangxi provinces  Descended from average level to sub-average during reform period (13% pop., 9.5% GDP).  Agriculture oriented- grain production.

11. Economic macroregions  5) Upper Yangtze ( 長江 上流 ) region  Sichuan( 四川 ) basin (with Chengdu 成都 & Chongqing 重慶 as the urban centers).  Huge basin surrounded by high mountains  Unique geographical feature with no natural route out, just Yangzi River flowing out thru. spectacular mountain gorges, named Three Gorges ( 三峽 ).  Fertile land, but too densely populated.  Poor region with 15.5% pop. & 8.5% GDP.  6) Southwest ( 西南 ) region  Plateau of Yunnan( 雲南 ) and Guizhou( 貴州 ).  Form Greater Southwest together with Upper Yangtze region.  Very poor region with many ethnic minorities.

12. Economic macroregions  7) Northwest ( 西北 ) region  Northern plateau region- Shanxi, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Ningxia  10% pop., 18% of arable land of arid & poor quality.  Population concentrated in a few fertile river valleys.  Xian ( 西安 ), Taiyuan ( 太原 )  Further west of this region-desert or grassland with nomadic herdspeople.  Tibet and Qinghai plateau

13. Economic macroregions  8) Far South region ( 華南, Pearl River delta).  A large core area in South China.  Urban centers of Guangzhou( 廣州, Canton), Hong Kong  Rich, diversified agriculture with dense popu.  Center of export-oriented manufacturing.  11% pop. with 16% of GDP.  9) Southeast Coast ( 東南 沿海 )  Fujian and southern part of Zhejiang  Opposite side of Taiwan.  Scattered small plains along the coast, separated each other (geographically and diff. dialects).  Changed from a very poor area (until 1980) to a prosperous area.

14. Economic macroregions  The above two (8 & 9) macroregions along southeast coast:  Ocean (outward) oriented, as a minor tradition of China. (“maritime China”)  Homeland of most of the “overseas Chinese”.  Cut-off from the interior by mountain chains.  Lost its feature during Mao-period, remaining backward.  Regain its tradition (linking with H.K., Taiwan, & other overseas Chinese) during reform period.  Four original special economic zones ( 经济特区） established there.  Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shantou, Xiamen

15. 4. Mineral Resources  Overall, not abundant endowment of natural resources.  Its share of resources in the world is roughly proportional to land share (7%).  <cf: populaiton share (21%).  No. 1 in coal, No. 5 in petroleum production  Verified reserves are much smaller than the share of production.  Rich deposits of non-ferrous minerals (tin, copper, tungsten, rare etc.)  Uneven distribution  (abudant mostly in Northern & Western regions).  Except water resources (abundant in South).

16. Conclusion: Regional Differentiation  Coastal regions led economic growth during reform period.  “Let some region get rich first”( 先富论） (by Deng Xiaoping).  Liberated first from the suppression of planned economy.  Significant coastal-inland gap arose.  Western Development Program launched in 2000, Develop Central region program began in 2005.  China’s economic geography is complex.  North-South gap is also significant.  Northeast Revitalization program started in 2003.  Coastal region will inevitably be the center of Chinese economy, based on its global link.  Key challenge: develop middle belt regions with substantial population, but serious economic, environmental problems.