Geography
Naughton, Barry. The Chinese Economy: Adaptation
and Growth. Second edition. Cambridge, Mass.: The
MIT Press, 2018. Chapter 2 “The Geographic
Setting.” and more
Maps: chosen from map search on google
Fourthlargest
country in the
world
(9.6mio sqkm)
Coastline
(rugged)
18,000km
Land frontier
14,966km
-- trade with
who?
2
A.
Aihui
B.
Tengchong
3
A.
B.
4
A.
B.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=DuSwggYCiNs [disappeared?]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbR-c2qtxEg (17min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmYpQyL8_bY (2min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7JqkBDgOSw (17min) [critical]
5
A.
B.
6
A.
B.
7
A.
B.
8
A.
B.
9
A.
B.
10
A.
B.
Road network (above, outdated...)
+ rail below
11
A.
B.
HK
https://www.populationpyramid.net/china/
tiny chart is Hong Kong; to right: Japan, USA
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SCMP 11Oct2021
B.
14
.
15
A.
China through the ages: https://www.timemaps.com/history/china-2500bc/
16
A.
B.
Province-level
entities ~30
Municipal-level
entities ~300
County-level
entities ~3,000
Townshiplevel entities
~40,000
Village-level
(mio?)
22 provinces, 4
. directly
cities
subordinate to
the central
government, 5
autonomous
regions
municipalities
(more urban)
and prefectures
(less urban,
historically
most), and more
urban districts,
counties,
county‐level
cities, and
more
urban street
committee,
(rural) towns,
rural ~areas (
乡)
village committee
村⺠委员会
(~600,000),
urban
neighborhood
committee(?) 居⺠
17
委员会
Overall
Land-scarce and labor-abundant:
18.7% of the world’s population, 7% of the world’s land area
Resource-scarce:
* per capita mineral reserves are typically half of world averages or less
* proven reserves of petroleum and natural gas = 2.1% / 2.8% of world totals
* uneven distribution of mineral and energy resources: North has 90% of oil, 80%
of coal reserves; hydropower in Southwest; coast has no energy
Man-made: China the most “connected” country in the world(?) – infrastructure
Ex. 6 of the 10 busiest ports in the world are in China (Shanghai is largest)
Ex. expressways 123,500km (U.S. 76,000)； high-speed rail grid 4 N-S, 4 E-W lines
Infrastructure is built ahead of demand
-> develop labor-intensive, knowledge-intensive economy
+ big challenges beyond land / resource scarcity:
population density: environmental pollution
uneven living standards (natural endowment, historical conditions, policies...)
Growth fastest in coastal areas until mid-2010s; since then inland faster
(cheaper land, cheaper labor, government investment, pollution OK?)
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Is China too big?
Mao Zedong 1920: it’s too big, break it up into 27 countries
我是反对“大中华民国”的，我是主张“湖南共和国”的。
....
中国呢？也醒觉了（除开政客官僚，军阀）。九年假共和大战乱的经验，
迫人不得不醒觉，知道全国的总建设在一个期内完全无望，最好办法，是
索性不谋总建设，索性分裂去谋各省的分建设，实行“各省人民自决主
义”’二十二行省，三特区，两藩地，合共二十七个地方，最好分为二十
七国。
https://www.marxists.org/chinese/maozedong/1968/1-023.htm
Lee Tenghui Taiwan’s Viewpoint, publ. 15May1999: seven regions
From an economic point of view?
Specialization and comparative advantage (but land distances vs. water transp.)
Resources (water, energy, land)
Administrative overhead vs. federalism
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