China

E

3

Mining

China has many mineral resources, including large deposits of some industrially important minerals. China produces more coal than any other country in the world. Coal is China’s leading fuel for industrial and home use, so most of the coal produced is for the domestic market. There are many small coal mines throughout the country, but the major centers are located north of the Yangtze River, especially in Shanxi Province.

Rapid development of the petroleum industry since the 1950s has made China one of the world’s major oil producers. China became self-sufficient in gasoline products in 1963, although the per capita consumption level was very low; by 1973 the country was able to export both crude oil and refined petroleum products. Major oil fields include Daqing in Heilongjiang, Shengli in Shandong, and Liaohe in Liaoning. The nation’s largest petroleum reserves are found in the Tarim Pendi, an arid basin in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Although China produces large quantities of iron ore, it must import additional iron ore to supply its steel industry. China is a leading producer of natural graphite. Other minerals produced in significant quantities include tin, antimony, nickel, tungsten, vanadium, molybdenum, bauxite, and salt.

F

Services

China’s service sector includes commerce, food and beverage catering, retail trade, banking and financial services, insurance, real estate, security, cultural and health services, and legal services.

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Before economic reform, China’s service sector was largely underdeveloped, and some services were even nonexistent. However, economic and social development in the 1980s and 1990s created a huge demand for services. Retail trade used to be conducted only in state-owned shops, but today privately owned shops and vendors’ stalls line streets in cities and towns. Big cities have huge department stores and shopping centers. Foreign investors also have entered China’s retail trade, and Western fast-food companies such as McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, and Kentucky Fried Chicken have opened many restaurants in China.

The demand for banking, insurance, legal, notary, and accounting services has grown with the success of the economic reforms. The government used to assume full responsibility for paying pensions after employees’ retirement. Now financial institutions and insurance companies are stepping in to provide financial management.

G

Tourism

China was closed to almost all foreign visitors from 1949 to the mid-1970s. Since economic reforms were implemented in 1979, the government has promoted tourism as a means of earning foreign currency. China’s tourism sector has developed very rapidly. The government has constructed major hotels, increased air travel to China and within the country, and opened historic sites to tourists. Millions of visitors travel to China for its beautiful landscapes, interesting and diverse culture, and important historical attractions. Popular sites include the Great Wall in northern China, the Forbidden City (now operated as the Palace Museum) in Beijing, the terra-cotta warriors of Qin Shihuangdi’s tomb near Xi’an, the bustling streets and markets of Shanghai, the scenic topography near Guilin, and the ancient Buddhist frescoes in caves near Dunhuang.

In the mid-2000s about 50 million tourists visited China each year. Large numbers of tourists came from Japan, South Korea, Russia, the United States, the Philippines, Malaysia, Mongolia, and Singapore. The improvement in economic circumstances and an increase in leisure time have made it possible for increasing numbers of Chinese people to travel within the country. The 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing and broadcast around the world, also stimulated tourism to China.

H

Energy

China is one of the world’s leading producers of electricity. However, the demand for electricity is greater than the domestic supply, especially in cities.

In the mid-2000s about four-fifths of China’s annual electrical output was generated in thermal installations, most burning coal. Hydropower and nuclear power supplied the remainder.

China’s waterpower resources are more plentiful than those of any other country. A notable feature of China’s hydroelectric power industry has been the construction of small, local power-generating plants. Local governments and rural communes have harnessed hydroelectric potential as an integral part of their water conservation programs, especially in the south, where precipitation is great and rivers are swift and often have steep gradients. In 1992 the government began constructing the Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest dam, on the Yangtze River near Chongqing. Although the project was intended to control devastating floods and generate an enormous amount of electricity, critics charged that it would be an environmental and social disaster. Hundreds of thousands of people were dislocated by the dam, and its effects on the environment could be severe. Scientists theorized that the weight of the water held by the dam may have triggered the earthquake that devastated Sichuan province in 2008.

I

Transportation

The railroad is the most important mode of transportation in China. Since 1949 the total length of the country’s railroads has more than doubled. The two major north-south routes (Guangzhou-Beijing and Shanghai-Beijing) connect with lines that extend into the northeast and southeast of China and into Mongolia and Russia. In 1995 a new Beijing-Kowloon railroad was completed, linking Beijing and Hong Kong. The major east-west line, from Lianyungang to Lanzhou, connects with a rail line to Ürümqi in far northwestern China and to Kazakhstan in Central Asia. The new rail lines have provided a dense network in the heavily populated and economically important regions of northeastern, central, and southwestern China.

Road transport has become increasingly important in China. Before 1949, paved roads and highways only provided connections between the old coastal treaty ports (cities such as Shanghai and Tianjin that contained sections controlled by foreigners) and the surrounding countryside, but the road system now stretches well into the country’s interior. Roads connect Beijing to the capitals of all provinces and autonomous regions, as well as to major ports and railroad centers. The network also extends into rural areas, making most localities accessible by road. Motorized public transportation is well-developed in urban centers. Bicycles are popular for traveling short distances.

Inland navigation on China’s many rivers and canals accounts for a large proportion of the goods shipped within the country, and its potential for increased development is great. The largest inland waterway is the Yangtze River, which has major ports at Chongqing, Yichang, and Wuhan. Some 18,000 km (11,000 mi) of the Yangtze and its tributaries can be traveled by steamboats. China’s busiest inland waterway system, however, is the Grand Canal, which extends from Beijing to Hangzhou, near Shanghai. The southern portion of the canal is actually a network of many local canals and lakes. Such cities as Suzhou, Wuxi, and Changzhou are important inland ports in this region. In parts of rural China, peasants use irrigation and drainage canals as inland waterways.

China’s long coastline and the proximity to the coast of some of the country’s most important industrial cities have long made coastal shipping an important mode of transportation. To accommodate and encourage the expansion of international trade, the government has invested in improving existing port facilities and constructing new ports. There are a number of major ports along China’s coastline, including those at Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macao, Qinhuangdao, Guangzhou, Dalian, Ningbo, and Tianjin.

China’s largest international airports are at Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Provincial capitals and a number of other major cities have airports that handle domestic flights. China’s national airline is Air China. A number of regional airlines have been established, and some of them also operate on international routes.

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