6. River
Hwang Ho or Hwang He - Before reaching the plains the, Hwang Ho
passes through the Loess Plateau, at the foot of the Qilian Shan
range in Gansu and Shanxi provinces. Here the river has dug deep
ravines and carried downstream appreciable quantities of silt. Its
irregular now, however, gives rise to unexpected and disastrous
silting, often causing the course of its bed to be altered.
Yangtze Kiang or Chang Xiang River - The largest river of China
flows in the middle part of eastern China and drains into the east
China Sea. Shanghai is locate on the bank of this river.
Si Kiang or Xi Xiang - Rises in the eastern part of Yunan plateau
flows through the southern most part of China. It drains into south
China Sea and its mouth is located near canton.
7. Fishing
The fisheries of China may divided into three categories - Deep sea,
inshore and inland.
Deep sea fishing - recently the deep-sea fisheries have begun to be
increasingly exploited as powered vessels have been put into service.
Coastal or inshore fishing - Hundreds of thousand of Chinese are
engaged in the inshore fishing industry and factors for its development
- coastal topography and pressure of population.
Inland fishing - The third type of fishing is associated with inland waters,
the lakes, rivers, canals and ponds.
8.
9.
10. Agriculture
About 62 per cent of the population is engaged in agriculture. This
includes the herders of Mongolia who care for their livestock.
The bulk of China's agriculture is concentrated in the wetter, eastern
third of the country. There are four distinct production regions:
1. The Hwang Ho Plain
2. Loess hills of Northern China
3. The Chang Jiang drainage basin
4. South China
11. Agriculture
About 62 per cent of the population is engaged in agriculture. This
includes the herders of Mongolia who care for their livestock.
The bulk of China's agriculture is concentrated in the wetter, eastern
third of the country. There are four distinct production regions:
1. The Hwang Ho Plain
2. Loess hills of Northern China
3. The Chang Jiang drainage basin
4. South China
12. 3. Chang Xiang
drainage Basin
4. South China
2. Loess Hills of
Northern China
1. Hwang Ho Plain
13. Agriculture Region
The Hwang Ho Plain - Large alluvial plain created by the Hwang Ho
River. It is the heartland of Chinese civilization. The major crops
produced are wheat, barley, corn, millet, Much of the agriculture is
subsistence-level. The Communist government's attempts to create
large collective farms in the region have been unsuccessful. Until
recently, they did not use commercial fertilizers, and the ancient
custom of using human waste for fertilizer continues.
Loess hills of Northern China - To the west of the Hwang Ho Plain lie
the loess hills of Northern China. This region of wind-blown soil has
been dissected by thousands of gullies, but the flat areas between the
miniature canyons are farmed intensively.
16. Agriculture
The Chang Jiang drainage basin - The third major farming region of
China, is the rice-producing area. Rice is the major crop along the river
from the Sichuan Basin to Shanghai. Other crops include sweet
potatoes, barley, millet, sugar cane. The region has also been noted for
the production of silk and tea. Mulberry trees for feeding silkworms are
still common, although the silk industry has declined.
South China - It is the poorest of the four major agricultural regions. The
plain surrounding Canton is not large, and the rolling hills give way
quickly to non-arable mountains. A number of these small plains exist,
however, all along the coast from Hong Kong to Shanghai. The
semi-tropical climate sometimes makes it possible to grow two crops
each year, but the soils are thin and not as fertile as the river basins to
the north. The typical Chinese crops grown in this region are tea, rice,
19. Crops Producing Regions
Winter Wheat Loess Plateau, North
China, Yangtze
Spring Wheat North west China
Rice Sichuan, Southern Region, South Eastern Region
Tea Southern Region
22. Forest
1. Forest occupies a mere 8.5% of the total area, use of timber of
constructional purposes and fuel, the original natural forest cover has
been almost completely removed in South China. Therefore, there are
limited areas of tropical monsoon forest in South China, most of this is
secondary growth with much bamboo.
2. Interior southern China and central China has Mountains, an area of
mixed deciduous and coniferous forest, but in actual fact scarcely
anything remains of the original forest cover.
3. The Great Plain of northern China was probably originally under mixed
broadleaf and coniferous forest but hardly anything of this is left.
4. Plateaus of north-western China form a natural steppe area; this belt of
grassland continues north-eastward. Much of it suffered deterioration
through overgrazing and soil erosion.
24. Coal
All types of coal are found, including anthracite, bituminous and lignite.
1. Shanxi and Shaanxi - The greatest concentration of China's coal is in the
north: in Shanxi and Shaanxi account for 47 per cent of China"s huge
reserves. Gansu, Henan , Hebei and Shandong. not easily accessible
since found in folds and faults
2. Inner Mongolia accounts for another 25 per cent.
3. Manchuria – Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning which support heavy
industries, easily accessible and contain high-grade coking coal, chief
mining areas are at Fushun,
4. Sichuan Basin - Further south there are many scattered deposits, The
coal deposits here are extensive but rarely occur near the surface.
5. Lesser deposits occur in the province of Yunnan, Guizhou, Jiangxi and
Hunan, serving local demand only.
26. Iron ore
Manchuria - China has large iron ore deposits, of which the Manchurian
deposits at Anshan are the most actively mined.
Other important regions are :
Lower Chang Jiang (Yangtze), the Chongqing area, Scattered deposits
occur in the Shandong (Shantung) Peninsula, north of Baotou
(Paotow) in inner Mongolia, the Lower Xi Jiang (Si Kiang) near
Guangzhou (Canton), and on the island of Hainan in the south.
The iron and steel industry is established in almost all the major cities,
including Anshan, Shanghai, Wuhan, Chongqing and Guangzhou
(Canton).
29. Copper & Bauxite
Copper - is plentiful although western and south-western China.
Bauxite deposits occur in Shandong and Manchuria and newly-
found reserves are reported to exist in the provinces of Gansu,
Yunnan.
31. Petroleum
Much of China's oil comes from the north-east of the country.
1. Daqing is the largest field and has large reserves.
2. Dakang field near Beijing is potentially even larger and continues
offshore.
3. Other northern fields are at Shengli in Shandong.
4. There are large fields in Xi jiang (Si kiang)
32. Factors for Industrial Development in
China
China has a vast natural resource forming the base of the industrial
development—
1. 18 billion tons of iron ore reserves making the country fourth in the
world ranking;
2. world's largest deposits of tungsten and adequate amount of
deposits of manganese, molybdenum and antimony:
3. China's coal deposits account for 20 % of the world total;
4. Self sufficient in petroleum - about 5 % of the world oil.The country
has collaborated with other countries in exploiting oil of the offshore
deposits of Yellow Sea and South China Sea;
5. Hydro-electric potential in the country is about 15 % of the world
total, although rivers have a high seasonal flow.
35. Industrial Region
1. Manchuria - Leading heavy industrial region and Heavy industries are
centred on the Anshan-Fushun-Shenyang triangle. Imp. Factor
Both coal and iron ore are found in the region lying in convenient
proximity.The important industries are iron and steel, engineering,
cars, tractors, factory equipments and chemicals.
2. Tianjin-Beijing Area - The most important factor, presence of coal
in Shanxi and Hebei. Important industries of Tianjin are
metallurgical, engineering, shipbuilding, textiles and chemicals
3. Shanxi-Baotou Area - Largest coalfield of China is located in the
province of Shaanxi and Shanxi (Shensi and Shansi). Iron ore with
50 per cent metallic content is also found here.
37. Industrial Region
4. Lower Chang Jiang (Yangtze Kiang) – Due to its coastal location, the
region has greater accessibility. With Western technological influence a
number of industries have developed. Shanghai is the most important
port, handling the bulk of international trade.
5. Wuhan Area - Coal is found at Pingxiang (Pingsiang) and iron ore is
found at Tayeh. The easy communication links are provided by river
Chang Jiang (Yangtze Kiang).
6. Xi Jiang (Si Kiang) Delta Region - Guangzhou (Canton) is the chief
port. The industrial development of the region has been stimulated
because of its proximity to Hong Kong.
7. Sichuan - Rich in natural resources like coal, iron ore, and agricultural
raw materials.Chongking and Chengdu are important centres.
