The north and north- west region has very cold winters and warm summers with little rain in the region. A large area of the region is made up of mountains (over 1,000m) and desert (Gobi). The area is very sparsely populated due to the isolation of the district and poor soils which, along with the unreliable rainfall, prevent any real development in agriculture; the main type of agriculture in this region is pastoral. However within this region there are important oil reserves and as these are discovered the region could experience a growth in its population and the population density of the area. The region also has deposits of iron ore, an integrated iron and steel works has been built.
The south west is a mountainous area which is cold and isolated. Due to the terrain and climate there is little arable farming that takes place in this region, the main farming that takes place here is pastoral. The area is also lacking in natural resources and has a low GNP; as a result of the poor inaccessibility the region is very sparsely populated.
Central China includes the cities of lower Changjiang and its delta lands. The area is densely populated due to the natural resources of the area which have caused a number of industrial towns to spring up, each with over a million inhabitants, the area around Shanghai live some 12 million people. The region is well served by waterways and railways. Shanghai for example receives raw materials and manufactured goods from towns on the rivers and canals, as well as from ocean- going and coastal vessels. There are steelworks, oil refineries, petro- chemical works, and electronic industries and appropriately, for a city serving a rich agricultural countryside, it produces light tractors and trucks.
The natural grassland of the area is either left for grazing or ploughed for the planting of cereals such as maize and wheat and for vegetables. Rice is also farmed in the area.
South east china has a tropical monsoon climate, ideal for growing rice, and warm moist winters for fruit. There is a narrow stripe of land along the coast in which farmers are able to produce two crops per year. However it is along this part of the region that farming takes place due to the highland area which has reasonable soils as a result the area is economically poor and fairly sparsely populated. The natural resources in this area are less than some of the other parts of China therefore the region does not have as many industrial towns and those that it does contain are not on as large a scale as those along the north east coast. Liuzhou has a medium sized steelworks which receives ore from the Xi basin.
Along the Yangtze Basin there is a dense population. The basin is the only natural route way into central China. This is important for the transportation of rice and coal. The area has many densely populated urban areas along the river. The Three Gorges Dam should control flooding and improves transport within the area. It also provide HEP and supports high- tech industries.
North east China has cold winters but warm and relatively dry summers. This region is China’s most important heavy industrial region due to the coal and good rail links to the area. Many of the steelworks and heavy industries that were built by Japan were destroyed at the end of the war; the Russians built iron and steel plants which helped China reconstruction. Progress continued and the industrial cities expanded. Now China is again using foreign expertise and equipment to install plant and introduce new technology. As a result of these industrial towns the region is densely populated. The area also contains the Chinese capital Beijing which in itself has a high population density.
In general most people live on the eastern lowlands, but they are also closely settled to farmlands in other regions- on low plateaus and in the wide basins within the highlands. Much of western China is too high and rugged, with winters too cold and the growing season too short for cultivation. As one would expect with a huge increasing population and such densely populate d regions, there are many large towns and cities.
