General situation of natural resources in China
Rich and diverse, with great potential, China is rich in natural resources and is known as "vast territory and abundant resources".
① Land resources. China has a land area of 9.6 million square kilometers, accounting for 22. 1% of the land area of the Asian continent and 6.4% of the land area of the world. It is one of the countries with a vast land area in the world. China's rich land resources have two remarkable geographical features: First, the mountainous areas with relatively high altitude (including hills, mountains and plateaus) occupy more areas than the plain areas (plains and high plains), accounting for 2/3 to1/3; Second, in the complex and diverse ecological environment, there are many grasslands, less cultivated land, a small proportion of forest land and a large proportion of hard-to-use land. At present, grassland accounts for about 37.4% of China's total land area, cultivated land accounts for about 10.4%, woodland accounts for about 12.7%, and hard-to-use land such as desert, Gobi, alpine desert, rocky mountain, glacier and permanent snow accounts for about 20.5%. Nevertheless, there is still great potential for China to further make full and rational use of land resources. In addition to the existing grassland, cultivated land and woodland, it is estimated that there are about 33 million hectares of wasteland suitable for agriculture, more than 60 million hectares of grass hills and slopes, and more than 90 million hectares of barren hills, wasteland and sparse woodland suitable for forest to be developed and utilized.
2 energy. China has a full range of conventional energy sources and is one of the major energy countries in the world. Rich in coal resources, the coal reserves at the end of 1990 reached 90 1453 million tons, ranking first in the world; Hydraulic resources are particularly rich, with a theoretical reserve of 676 million kilowatts, ranking1in the world; In addition to the proven oil reserves, the national land and sea prospective reserves are optimistic.
3 minerals. China is one of the few countries in the world with many kinds of minerals, wide distribution, large reserves and self-sufficiency in most mineral resources. By the end of 1990, there were 148 kinds of minerals with certain reserves in China. Among them, non-ferrous metals are the main ones, and tungsten, antimony, tin, mercury, molybdenum, zinc, copper, bismuth, vanadium, titanium, rare earth and lithium rank among the top in the world. For example, the reserves of tungsten are more than three times that of all countries in the world, rare earth metals account for more than half of the world's total reserves, and antimony accounts for 44% of the world's reserves. The reserves of lead, iron, silver, manganese and nickel are also of world significance. Although the reserves of iron and manganese rank third in the world, there are many poor minerals and few rich minerals. Besides, there are many associated minerals. For example, Panzhihua iron mine is accompanied by vanadium, titanium and nickel. Pyrite and magnesite in nonmetallic minerals also rank first in the world, followed by phosphate rock and asbestos.
④ Water resources. The preliminary estimate of water resources in China is 2711500 million cubic meters. The average annual runoff of Chinese rivers is equivalent to 5.8% of the world's total runoff.
⑤ Forest resources. China's existing forest area is124 million hectares, ranking eighth in the world, but the forest coverage rate is only 12.98%, ranking 12 1 in the world. The forest stock is 965,438+0.465,438+0 billion cubic meters, ranking fifth in the world, among which there are many trees with excellent materials and high economic value.
⑥ Biological resources. China is rich in biological resources, with 24,500 species of seed plants alone, ranking third in the world, second only to Brazil. Among a wide variety of plants, economic plants (one at a time, single use) reach 24 1 1, which not only provides various industrial raw materials such as food, medicinal materials and fiber, but also protects and improves natural environmental conditions. There are more than 2,400 species of fish in aquatic resources, of which marine fish account for about 3/5, and the rest are freshwater fish. In addition, there are crustaceans, shellfish and seaweeds.
The per capita resources are low. The absolute amount of natural resources in China is considerable, but the per capita possession is lower than the world average. For example, China's total land area is the third in the world, but its per capita is less than 1 hectare, while the per capita in the world is 3 hectares; The cultivated land area ranks fourth in the world, with a per capita of about 0. 1 hectare, and the per capita of the world is about 0.36 hectares. Grassland resources rank third in the world, with a per capita of about 0.35 hectares and a per capita of 0.76 hectares in the world. The per capita forest area is 0. 107 hectares, and the world average is 0.65 hectares. The total surface runoff per capita is less than 2700 cubic meters, which is only1/4 of the world average; At the same time, in the comparison of the reserve value of 45 major mineral resources in the world, China's total mineral output ranks third in the world, while its per capita ranks 10 in the world.
The regional distribution of major resources is unbalanced. The regional distribution of natural resources in China is very uneven, especially water, energy and minerals. The distribution of water resources in China is more in the south and less in the north. Among them, the Yangtze River basin has the largest water volume, accounting for 37.7% of the total water volume in China, followed by the Pearl River and the coastal basins of Guangdong and Guangxi, accounting for17.2%; On the other hand, to the north of Huaihe River, although the Yellow River is a big river, its water volume only accounts for 2% of the national runoff, while Haihe River and Luanhe River account for 1%. The cultivated land area of Henan, Shandong and Hebei provinces in the lower reaches of the Yellow River and Haihe and Luanhe River basins accounts for about 2 1.25% of the total cultivated land area in China. In contrast, the imbalance of water and soil resources is obvious. In terms of energy, nearly 80% of the proven coal reserves are distributed in North China (64% of which are concentrated in North China), and 10% is distributed in Southwest China, while 8 provinces in the south of the Yangtze River only account for 2%. 98% of the proven oil reserves are in the north; The proven reserves of natural gas are limited, with 67% in Sichuan; The southwest, northwest and south-central regions account for 90% of hydraulic resources, and the rest 10% is distributed in northeast, north and east China. In the six provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi and Guangdong in the southeast of China, the reserves of tungsten, tin, antimony, zinc, mercury and lead rank second in the world 1 and second respectively, which has become a major feature of the distribution of mineral resources in China. The unbalanced distribution of natural resources has great influence on economic development, people's life and transportation.
The regional combination of resources has its own advantages, and the regional combination of natural resources is related to the development of regional economy. Due to the unbalanced regional distribution of natural resources, the regional combination of natural resources in six regions of China has its own advantages. Now briefly described as follows:
① Northeast. All kinds of natural resources are rich and well combined. The cultivated land area is extensive, and Heilongjiang Province alone accounts for 9.23% of the whole country's cultivated land area, with a large area of wasteland suitable for agriculture. Yves is rich in forest resources, accounting for 33% of the country. Oil is the most abundant energy resource, and its proven reserves account for 45-50% of the whole country. The shortage of coal resources, which accounts for 9% of the country, depends on transportation. Iron ore reserves account for 1/4 of the whole country, and Heilongjiang and Liaoning provinces are better than Jilin.
② North China. As a major coal-producing province (region), Inner Mongolia and Shanxi rank first in the country, followed by Hebei. The proven reserves of coal and oil in the three provinces (regions) account for 1/2 and 1/3 of the whole country respectively. Iron ore reserves are large, which matches well with coal. The rare earth mines in Inner Mongolia are world-famous. However, water and forest resources are seriously insufficient, and the contradiction between supply and demand of water resources is particularly prominent. There are vast grasslands in the north of this area, which is an important animal husbandry production base in China.
③ East China. As the most densely populated and economically developed area in China, the cultivated land area accounts for about15 of the whole country, and the agricultural production level is relatively high. The energy is mainly coal, concentrated in the border area of Shandong, Anhui and Jiangsu, and Anhui has a certain amount of iron ore to cooperate with it. Shandong is also rich in minerals, while Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian provinces are poor in minerals. South of Huaihe River is rich in water resources. Although the south of Hangzhou Bay is rich in water, the river is short. The water resources in the whole region only account for 4% of the whole country. East China has a vast sea area, especially rich in fish resources. Forest resources are famous for timber forests such as Chinese fir, bamboo and masson pine.
④ Central and South China. Cultivated land accounts for 22.82% of the country, ranking first in the country. Except for the abundant water resources in the southern area, most of the other areas are multi-water belts. Forest and aquatic resources have a certain scale. Although the forest area is slightly smaller than the northeast and southwest regions, its volume is much smaller than these two regions. The region is dominated by non-ferrous metals, and tungsten in Hunan and Gannan, antimony in central Hunan, lead and zinc in southern Hunan and western Hunan, and copper mines in northeast Jiangxi are famous all over the country. In terms of energy, hydropower is abundant, accounting for 13.8% of the whole country. Coal is concentrated in Henan Province.
⑤ Southwest China. Metal minerals, water power and forest resources are very important. Metal minerals such as iron, manganese, copper, tin, lead and zinc all have a certain position in China, and there are nonmetals such as salt and phosphorus. Hydraulic reserves account for 68% of the country. There are considerable coalfields in the border area of Guizhou, Yunnan and Sichuan, among which Guizhou is a major coal-producing province, ranking among the top provinces in the south of the Yangtze River. Sichuan and Guizhou provinces are also rich in natural gas. Southwest China is the second largest forest region in China, and its timber storage accounts for more than 20% of the country, second only to Northeast China. There are many mountains in this area, and the proportion of cultivated land in the country is the smallest.