China's role in the global economy

China, blessed with abundant natural resources, plays a pivotal role in the global economy and the well-being of Earth. China is a world leader in both human resources and hydraulic-powered resources. The nation’s rich human resources have resulted in the production of the most cost-effective goods, which dominate the global market. The development of its hydraulic power reserves and use of other natural resources have made China’s economy one of the top in the world.

The Country

China, a country that occupies a vast territory with a diverse climate, varied topography, and a great variety of flora and fauna, is situated in East and Southeast Asia. Its land extends from longitude 73° east (in the west) to 135° east, a stretch of more than 5,100 kilometers. From north to south, it spans from latitude 53° north to 4° north, covering a distance of 5,471 kilometers. With such a vast expanse, China is rich in land, water, climate, biological, mineral, energy, and tourism resources.

China, with a total area of approximately 9.6 million square kilometers, ranks as the third or fourth (depending on the territory counted) largest nation in the world. About one-third of it is mountainous, with plateaus and high mountains dominating the west, while lower lands and plains lace the central and eastern regions. As a result of this tilting topography, major rivers flow from west to east. These include the world-famous Chang (also known as Yangtze) and Huang (also known as Yellow) rivers, both of which empty into the Pacific.

The vast territory, varied climate zones, and diverse topography provide suitable habitats for a rich flora and fauna. China is considered a mega-diversity country. Overall, more than thirty thousand plant species existed in China in 2023, and more than seven thousand species of vertebrates spread across the land. At the start of 2023, China was the most populated country on Earth.

Utilizing its available resources and years of double-digit annual gross domestic product growth beginning in 1982 and lasting into the twenty-first century, China’s economy climbed to second in the world in 2010, closing in on the United States for the first time. It even surpassed the United States when calculating gross domestic product (GDP) based on purchasing power parity (PPP). By 2024, China was behind the United States in terms of its economy. However, that achievement comes at a price of environmental peril. Should China expect to continue growing economically, sustainability must be the focal point for the future. Both China and the United States were among the world's top greenhouse gas emitters.

Arable Land Resources

China ranks third among world nations in total territory, behind Russia and Canada. However, because of its large population and vast mountain ranges in the north and west, China’s per capita total land resource accounts for only one-third of the world’s average. The average arable land per capita is only 0.1 hectare; whereas in the United States the average arable land per capita was about 0.5 hectare. China’s forestland averages about 0.1 hectare per capita. There has been a steady decline in both farm and forestland because of erosion, desertification, road construction, and urbanization.

China’s land resources can be divided into many soil types: red, yellow, brown, cinnamon, black, chernozem, chestnut, desert, saline-alkali, marshland, mountain, and a variety of implicit domains. These varied soil types are formed because of combined effects by topography, climate, and human influences. The principal uses of land resources fall into six categories: arable land, grassland, forest, alpine desert, desert, and permanent snow and glacier areas.

Agriculture accounted for 53 percent of land use, according to 2022 estimates. About 11 percent of that was arable land (which can be further divided into irrigated land, paddy fields, and dry land) and 1.6 percent was permanent crops, while permanent pasture accounted for 41.8 percent. The arable land distribution is very uneven, mostly concentrated in areas of the North China Plain, Northeast China Plain, the Chang River Plain, Sichuan basin, and the Pearl River Delta. The flat, deep soil of the North China Plain supports the production of food crops, including wheat, corn, millet, sorghum, and cotton and fruit crops of apples, pears, and grapes. The black, fertile soil in the northeast is productive for wheat, corn, soybeans, flax, and sugar beets. The Chang River Plain and Sichuan Basin, known as the "land of plenty," produce rice, citrus, broad beans, and freshwater fish.

Other Land Resources

The total area of grassland in China was just under 400 million hectares in 2022, of which 225 million hectares were considered usable. The grassland stretched from northeast to southwest for a span of more than 3,000 kilometers and is home to many animal husbandry bases. Nei Mongol had China’s largest pastureland, where the well-known Sanhe cattle, Sanhe horses, and Mongolian sheep lived. Another important natural pasture and livestock breeding and production base was situated in the north and south of Tian Shan as well as the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, where the famous Ili horses and Xinjiang fine-wool sheep were raised.

Forestland in China grew substantially between 1990 and 2022. Accounting for only 16.75 percent of the country’s territory in 1990, in 2015, forest cover reached 22 percent, and in 2018, the country set a goal to achieve 30 percent forestland by 2050. In 2022, this total was 24 percent. Manchuria, a vast plain bracketed by two mountain ranges, the Da Xingan Mountains to the west and the Xiao Xingan to the east, contains China’s richest and most accessible timber resources. Coniferous trees—including spruce, pine, fir, larch, and juniper—dominate the landscape. Broadleaf species include birch, aspen, willow, and mountain ash. The second largest natural forests are found in southwest China, where the main tree species include spruce, fir, Yunnan pine, camphor, mahogany, and precious teak. Using its lumber and cheap labor, China has become a major exporter of furniture, plywood, doors, cabinets, and many other wood products.

The alpine desert, occupying about 15 million hectares, mainly located in the northern Tibet plateau, supports only sporadic grazing in scattered areas. The desert accounts for 64 million hectares, of which the Gobi Desert alone takes up 46 million hectares. The climate is arid, with extreme fluctuations of temperature between day and night. All plants and wildlife here are adapted to arid and harsh climates. Drought-adapted shrubs include the gray sparrow’s saltwort, gray sagebrush, saxaul, and low grasses, such as needle grass and bridle grass. Notable animals include the Asiatic wild ass, Asiatic ibex, black-tailed gazelle, wild camel, wild horses, jerboa, Gobi wolf, golden eagle, leopard, and lizards. The Gobi bear is one of the world’s most endangered animals, with a total population between forty and fifty.

Water Resources

China is very rich in water resources. The total water reserve was about 2.6 trillion cubic meters in 2023, but the per-capita average is less than 25 percent of the world’s average. In addition, the distribution of water resources is highly uneven; they are more concentrated in the south and east, much less in the northwest. The total length of all rivers in China is 430,000 kilometers. There are more than 50,000 rivers with a drainage area of at least 100 square kilometers each, 1,580 rivers with a drainage area of 1,000 square kilometers, and 79 of them with drainage areas exceeding 10,000 square kilometers. More than 20 rivers stretch at least 1,000 kilometers, among which the Yangtze and Huang are the two longest.

China’s river system exhibits some unique characteristics. Most of the rivers flow from west to east, emptying into the Pacific. Only a few in the southwest flow in a north-south direction. Most of the drainage areas are located in the southeast of the outflow basin, with a total covered area of 612 million hectares, or almost 64 percent of the land. In addition, the upper reaches of many rivers run through canyons or run as mountain torrents. The steep gradient creates strong and rapid water currents, which have great hydropower potential. The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze set a record as the largest hydroelectric power plant in the world. The middle and lower reaches of many rivers weave through vast, flat plains. The wide surface and slow flow ensure the use of water resources for irrigation, fisheries, and transportation.

There are about 24,900 natural lakes across China, with 13 great lakes, each covering more than 100,000 hectares of surface area. Most freshwater lakes are located in the eastern region, accounting for 45 percent of the total lake surface. These include the famous Bo Yang, Dongting, Hongze, Tai, and Chao. The majority of the lagoons are distributed in the west, including the well-known Qinghai Lake. A great number of glaciers in western China are also major reserves for both surface and groundwater, covering an area of 5.8 million hectares. The total storage capacity is 2.7 trillion cubic meters, or almost equal to China’s total annual runoff.

In addition to fisheries and transportation, irrigation, hydration, industrial, and numerous other uses, water resources in China are a significant energy reserve. The total hydroelectricity installed capacity was estimated at 391 gigawatts in 2021, ranking first in the world during that year. In 2023, the country installed an additional 6.7 gigawatts of hydropower. This abundance of energy contributes a great deal to China’s economic development and the world economy. China set a goal of increasing its hydropower capacity by 80 gigawatts by 2027.

Climate Resources

China’s vast territory spans multiple climate zones from the south to the north, including tropical, subtropical, warm temperate, temperate, and boreal. In addition, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has a unique alpine region. Nevertheless, the subtropical, warm temperate, and temperate climate zones compose approximately 70 percent of the country. As diverse as the climate is, the basic characteristic is a continental monsoon climate, which exhibits three main features: substantial daily and seasonal temperature differential; uneven precipitation distribution, with a steady drop from the southeast to the northwest by a dramatic 40:1 ratio; and dramatic wind turnover between winter and summer. During the winter, cold and dry air from high latitude rises from the north. In summer, warm and humid wind comes mainly from the ocean in the southeast.

The average annual temperatures in the eastern region descend from south to north, from 25° Celsius to 5.5° Celsius. Most of the western Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has annual average temperatures below 0° Celsius, but the Tarim basin is 10° Celsius. The temperature differential in the summer between the south and north is small, only 10° Celsius. In the winter, however, the temperature difference between these two regions can be as much as 50° Celsius. The lowest temperature in the Mohe area can dip below -50° Celsius. The average annual precipitation across China was around 601.2 millimeters until the 2020s, when an estimated 10 percent increase in annual rainfall occurred. In general, high precipitation is concentrated in the summer months. Based on the annual rainfall pattern, China’s areas can be divided into 32 percent subhumid, 18 percent semi-humid, 19 percent semiarid, and 31 percent arid.

The temperature and annual precipitation pattern result in a concentrated distribution of agriculture in central and southeast provinces and the Sichuan basin, areas that are the foundation of China’s economy. The vast territory in the northwest is not productive and contributes little to China’s agriculture.

Biological Resources

China is blessed with rich biological resources. At the start of the twenty-first century, it had more wild animal species than any other country. Vertebrates alone accounted for 5,200 species, 11 percent of the world’s total. Of these animals, 499 species were mammals, 1,186 birds, 376 reptiles, 279 amphibians, and 2,804 fish. This wildlife consisted of many endemic species, including some of the most well-known and rare animals: the giant panda, golden-haired monkey, Chinese alligator, crested ibis, white-lipped deer, South China tiger, red-crowned crane, brown-eared pheasant, and Yangtze River dolphin (thought to be extinct).

The diverse flora in China included twenty-five thousand species of seed plants. From the tropical rainforests to the boreal coniferous forests, China had almost all the natural vegetation characteristic of the Northern Hemisphere. The two hundred or so species of gymnosperms accounted for 25 percent of the world’s total. In addition, there were seven thousand species of woody plants and twenty-nine hundred species of trees. Several endemic plant species were considered as "living fossils," including ginkgo, metasequoia, and golden pine.

China has more than five thousand years of agricultural history, during which time the country has contributed many major crops important to humankind, including rice, soybeans, peaches, pears, plums, dates, grapefruit, lychees, and tea. Based on their utilization, China has one thousand plant species for timber wood, three hundred starchy plants, more than ninety vegetable species, and six hundred oil species. Its crops and germplasm continually make vital contributions to the world’s economy.

Mineral Resources

China possesses deposits of virtually all the discovered minerals. China’s total reserve of mineral resources ranks as one of the highest among world nations. Coal, with a proven reserve of 143.197 billion metric tons in 2022, is found mainly in northern China, including the provinces of Shaanxi, Liaoning, Nei Monggol, and Heilongjiang. Among the 250 or so petroliferous basins identified, more than half of them are under development.

In 2022, China had 16.246 billion tons of iron ore reserves. China also ranked among the leading nations in reserves of minerals such as tungsten, tin, antimony, zinc, molybdenum, lead, and mercury. China’s rare earth reserves were more than the rest of the world’s total. In fact, China accounted for 44 million metric tons of rare earth reserves, or 63 percent of the world’s total in 2022. The diverse minerals and their large reserves provide important raw materials and energy sources that will continue to power China’s economic growth and development.

In 1996, China established a thorough (although not perfect) legal system for the exploration and exploitation of its minerals. This system consists of many laws, regulations, and rules promulgated by different levels of government authorities. On one hand, China has encouraged foreign investment in mineral resources exploration and new mining technologies. On the other hand, China imports minerals from other countries and invests heavily in acquiring mineral resources abroad. In 2022, China was one of the world’s largest consumers of raw materials.

Energy Resources

Though their distribution is uneven, China is historically rich in energy resources and one of the top nations in energy reserves and output according to various metrics. Its installed electricity generating capacity was 2.2594 billion kilowatt hours in 2022. Its crude oil reserves in 2021 was 26.023 billion barrels per day, ranking fourth globally. Its natural gas production in 2022 was estimated at 225.341 billion cubic meters.

China relies heavily on coal for energy, but more than half of the coal reserves are concentrated in the north. The most economically developed eight provinces south of the Chang River account for only 2 percent of the total coal reserves. About 85 percent of the proved oil reserves are concentrated in the east region, north of the Chang. Sixty-eight percent of hydraulic power developed is in the southwest region. China has addressed the low energy reserves in the economically vibrant south through the construction of nuclear power plants.

The rapid economic growth and development that began in 1982 created an insatiable demand for fossil fuels (oil and gas) that far exceeds China’s own production capacity. Thus, China became a major importer of oil beginning in the early 1990s. China imported 11.3 million bbl/day according to 2023 estimates. A limit to China’s storage capacity is the only reason that figure is not higher. That limit may change as China builds more strategic oil reserve facilities in the western region. In short, China has become one of the world’s largest energy users with a per capita consumption of 1226.06 million Btu per person in 2022. With an ever-increasing demand for oil, China remains a driving force for energy consumption in the twenty-first century, which has a significant impact on the world economy and environment. China was also the leading emitter of carbon dioxide from energy consumption at 31 percent of the global total in 2022.

Other Resources

China is a country rich in tourism resources. Its vast territory and complex topography provide visitors to China with year-round opportunities. The natural scenery in the north presents thousands of kilometers of glaciers and snowy land during the winter. The southern regions provide tourists with lush scenes of vegetation. China’s exotic flora and fauna, found in its many national nature reserves, attract tourists of all ages. China is dotted with magnificent rivers, lakes, mountains, and canyons. Its long cultural history has produced numerous world-class attractions. In addition, the relatively low cost of travel and lodging, combined with the world’s burgeoning desire to know China, has fueled the powerful tourism engine in China.

As one of the world’s four ancient civilizations, China is full of historical sites and cultural relics. Some of the most famous attractions include the Great Wall, the Terracotta Army, Ming Tombs, Peking Man, and many other attractions of historical and cultural significance.

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