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With a vast territory, China has diverse types of land resources. There are more mountains than plains, with cultivated land and forests constituting small proportions. Various types of land resources are unevenly distributed. The cultivated land is mainly in plains and basins in the monsoon regions of east China, while forests are mostly found in the remote mountainous areas in the northeast and the southwest. Grasslands are chiefly distributed on inland plateaus and in mountains.
Cultivated Land According to the Agricultural Census in 1996, China has 130.04 million hectares of cultivated land and 35.35 million hectares of land suitable for agricultural uses.
The cultivated land is mainly distributed in the Northeast China, North China and Middle-Lower Yangtze plains, the Pearl River Delta and the Sichuan Basin. The fertile land in the Northeast China Plain is chiefly planted with wheat, corn, sorghum, soybean, jute and ambary hemp, and sugar beet. Farm crops planted in the North China Plain include wheat, corn, millet, sorghum, cotton and peanut. The Middle-Lower Yangtze Plain produces rice, orange and rapeseed, while the Sichuan Basin abounds in rice, rapeseed, sugarcane, orange, grapefruit, tea, etc.
The Statistical Communique on the 2005 National Economic and Social Development released by the National Bureau of Statistics show, the year 2004 saw 139,000 hectares of farmland actually used for construction, down 4.1 percent from the previous year. Some 54,000 hectares of cultivated land were destroyed by disasters. A total of 390,000 hectares of farmland were converted into land for ecological preservation. Structural adjustment in agricultural production led to a reduction of 12,000 hectares of cultivated land. Non-reported use of 73,000 hectares farmland for construction purposes from previous years was revealed. Land reclamation and re-development projects added over 307,000 hectares of cultivated land. As a result, the year saw a net reduction of 362,000 hectares of cultivated land.
Forests The sixth national enumeration of forest resources (1999-2003) demonstrated that the total forest area was 175 million hectares, and the forest coverage rate was 18.21 percent. The total standing stock volume was 13.62 billion cubic meters, and the stock volume of the forest was 12.46 billion cubic meters.
Natural forests are concentrated in the northeast and the southwest, but scarce in the densely inhabited and economically developed eastern plains and the vast northwestern region.
However, the forests in China are rich in tree species, with the number of arbor species alone exceeding 2,800. Rare and peculiar species include ginkgo and metasequoia (dawn redwood). In order to conserve environment and meet the needs of economic construction, China has launched large-scale afforestation campaigns. The area of planted forests has reached 33.79 million hectares, accounting for 31.86 percent of the nation’s total forest area, making China a country with the largest area of planted forests in the world.
In 2005, a total of 6.37 million hectares of forest were planted, of which, 5.43 million hectares were completed through six key afforestation projects, accounting for 85.2 percent of the total planted area of the year. Some 166 national ecological demonstration zones were approved. The number of nature reserves reached 2,349, of which 243 are at national level. The area of nature reserves was 149.95 million hectares, or 15 percent of the total land area of China. Fifty-three new national geological parks were approved in 2005 to bring the total number to 138. About 44,000 square km of eroded land were put under comprehensive treatment program, and 63,000 square km of land were closed for protection in areas suffered from water and soil erosion.
Northeast China Forest Zone Located in the Greater and Lesser Hinggan Mountains and the Changbaishan Mountains, it is the largest natural forest area in China, with its forest coverage and timber reserves accounting for over one-third of the national totals. The area turns out half of the national total timber output. Chief tree species include larch and Korean pine.
Southwest China Forest Zone China’s second largest natural forest area, it consists of forests in the Hengduanshan Mountains, on the southern slopes of the Himalayas and in the area at the U-turn of the Yarlung Zangbo River. Its forest reserves make up one-third of the national total. Main tree species include fir, red sandal and nanmu.
Southeast China Forest Zone Comprising mainly planted forests, it covers the vast hilly areas south of the Qinling-Huaihe line and east of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. Economic tree species are mainly planted in the zone, such as tea shrubs, moso bamboo, masson pine and lacquer tree.
Shelter-forests In a bid to resist sandstorms and prevent soil erosion, China has constructed many shelter-forests, such as the three-north (northeast, north and northwest China) shelterbelt, shelter-forests along the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, coastal shelterbelt networks, afforestation project in the Taihangshan Mountains and the plain afforestation project. Of these, the three-north shelterbelt under construction, which is regarded as “the world's greatest ecological project,” will extend more than 7,000 km and cover 260 million hectares, accounting for a quarter of China’s total land area.
In 2000-05, protection and management of forest resources were further enhanced, resulting in improved capacity to safeguard the natural ecology. The forest fire damage rate was controlled to under 1 per thousand; and the rate of insect control were raised from 60 percent to 75 percent, with only 0.5 percent of the total forest area hit by insect-related disasters.
The output value of the forestry sector topped 700 billion yuan in 2005. Production of timber, board, rosin, furniture and economic forests were strengthened; non-wood industries, including bamboo, rattan and flower planting and processing, forest sightseeing, forest food and forest medicine, throve; and some rising industries, such as wildlife breeding, bio-energy and bio-material, developed apace. With increasingly optimized structure of the forestry sector, a new development pattern featuring distinct regional diversities is taking shape.
Grassland China has 400 million hectares of grassland, with those of economic value accounting for 313.33 million hectares. China is one of the countries with the largest area of pasturelands in the world. Natural pasturelands are mainly distributed in areas west and north of the Greater Hinggan Mountains, the Yinshan Mountain and the eastern foot of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, while artificial pasturelands are concentrated in southeast China.
Four Major Pastoral Areas
Inner Mongolia Pastoral Area The largest in China, it produces such fine breeds as Sanhe horse and Sanhe cattle.
Xinjiang Pastoral Area Fine breeds in the area include Xinjiang fine-wool sheep, Altay big-tail sheep and Ili horse.
Qinghai Pastoral Area A main yak producing area, the area also breeds the world-famous Hequ horse.
Tibet Pastoral Area It is a main yak producing area.
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