China's natural resources: assessment and use

The natural resources of China, a country that occupies the third place after Russia and Canada, are quite rich and diverse. Their economic use depends on many factors, including geographical location and climatic conditions.

Features of geography

Most of China, the entire area of which 9.6 million square meters. Km, occupy mountains and hills. In the west of the country is the world's largest Tibetan plateau with a height of almost 4.5 km. It is surrounded by the famous mountain systems - the Himalayas, Kunlun, Karakorum, Tien Shan. The natural conditions and resources of China are due to a fairly extensive and elongated territory.

More economical plains make up about 30% of the total area of China. Another 25% of the territory is located at an altitude of 500 m above sea level, 17% - from 500 to 1,000 m and 25.1% - more than 1,000 m. The population is concentrated mainly in the Primorye and some inland provinces of the country. In the highlands its density is much less. The geographical position and natural resources of China are closely interrelated. The country's location within the three climatic zones (temperate, subtropical and tropical) causes a peculiar distribution of water, land, forest and other resources.

Water Resources of China

First of all, the peculiarities of the geographical situation affected the water reserves. They are fairly unevenly distributed throughout the territory, and along with spaces that are characterized by excess moisture, there are also those where water is in great shortage. More than 70% of all water resources are concentrated in the southern part of the country. Here is a ramified river network, the basis of which is the Yangtze, Huang He, Xijiang. During the summer monsoon, coinciding with the melting of snow and glaciers, there is a significant increase in the water level in most rivers.

Numerous lakes are also very important natural resources of China, which are natural reservoirs of fresh water. The largest of them are in the western part of the country (Lobnor, Ebi-Nur, Kununor) and in the basin of the Yangtze River (Dongting, Taihu, Poyanghu).

Large volumes of discharge of waste water, most of which do not undergo preliminary treatment, lead to a high degree of pollution of rivers and lakes. Today, China especially needs to carry out consistent large-scale activities on wastewater treatment.

Minerals

It is impossible to describe these natural resources of China briefly, they are so diverse. This country is considered one of the richest in terms of total reserves of minerals, which are represented almost the entire table of Mendeleyev. The geological survey confirmed the presence of more than 160 titles. China is the world leader in the extraction of non-ferrous metals: tin, zinc, lead, molybdenum, antimony and mercury. The tungsten deposit located in the South China Massif is the largest on the planet. The reserves of rare-earth metals account for 80% of the world's reserves. There are deposits of iron ore, manganese, titanium, vanadium.

The richest resources of non-metallic minerals are in China. Leading positions are: magnesite, graphite, talc, gypsum, asbestos, kaolin, fluorite, silica, alunite and bentonite. High quality is characterized by marble and granite, which are also found on the territory of the country.

Energetic resources

According to the reserves of hard coal, China occupies one of the first places in the world. According to the data of geological prospecting, they make up to 1.0071 trillion tons. But on the extraction of oil and natural gas, this country is much inferior to the leading oil powers. The main reserves of this fuel are located in the north and north-eastern parts of China, on the shelves of the Yellow and South China Seas. Inventories of oil shale are also explored . These natural resources of China and their use are under the special control of the state and are of strategic importance.

Land and soil resources

Geographical features of the country affected the land resources of China - its eastern part is occupied by arable land, in the north and west there are steppes, and forest tracts are located in the north-eastern and south-western outskirts.

Soils are diverse. In the northern part of the country, podzolic soils predominate, followed by brown, forest. In the south, the soil is lateritized. Elevated areas are represented by a mountain type of soil. The most valuable are the alluvial soils that are found on the Great Plain of China.

Arable land

The rapid development of industrial construction has led to a reduction in arable land, which means that these natural resources of China constitute less than 10% of all world land destined for arable land.

At the same time, more than half of these areas are in areas suffering from lack of water, salinization and soil erosion. Re-harvesting for one year partially saves the situation. Nevertheless, the intensity of crop production has its limits. Lack of arable land can slow down China's economic growth.

Forest lands

Forest tracts occupy about 17% of the total territory of the country. The largest of them are located in the area of the Greater and Lesser Khingan, as well as in the north-east of the country. These forests provide almost a third of all available forest resources in the country. The main species of trees growing here are fir, spruce, Yunnan pine. Besides them, there are also such valuable ones as, for example, grapefruit tree, camphor, red, pterocarpus santalines.

A rather large area (more than 30%) is made up of artificial forests. Landing areas occupy the territory of more than 6370 hectares. Great attention is paid in China to forest protection belts, designed to combat winds and soil erosion. The largest project, designed to ensure the improvement of the environment, is the creation of a forest protection system that runs through northern desert China through deserted deserts. There are several programs for gardening and protecting plantations, which helps to conserve and multiply these natural resources of China.

Vegetable world

The special geographical location of the country had an impact on the diversity of the plant world. More than 30 thousand different kinds of plants grow in China. Among them are such unique ones as Fujian cypress, metasequoia glyptostroboid, Chinese argyrophyll, eocomme, davidia and many others. More than a thousand species of plants growing in this country have high economic value. Natural zones are represented by broad-leaved forests in the east of the country and steppe vegetation, which goes to the semi-desert in the west.

Animal world

The natural conditions and resources of China are closely connected with the animals living on the territory of the country. Here there are about 9.8% of all species on our planet. Some of them live mainly in China (panda, golden monkey, Chinese alligator, white dolphin). The most common are moose, deer, brown bears, monkeys, armadillos, wild boars. Especially the great diversity of the animal world is different in the southeast of China, where relict animals predominate, such as the bamboo bear, earth moles and the small panda.

A comprehensive assessment of China's natural resources, conducted by government agencies, helps determine their social value and find solutions in time to ensure the preservation of the resource base.