China
Dossier
GEOGRAPHY
Geographic Overview of China
Located in East Asia, China is the third-largest country in the world by area, covering 9.59 million km², which is 17.5 times the size of France. It stretches 5,000 km from west to east and 5,500 km from north to south.
China’s topography facilitates the penetration of humid air from the sea towards the interior and causes rivers to flow eastward. In the west lies the Tibetan Plateau, characterized by vast mountain ranges interspersed with plains, basins, hills, and plateaus. The Mount Everest, located in the Himalayas, is the highest peak in the world, reaching 8,848 meters. The Tibetan Plateau acts as a natural barrier between North and South Asia, significantly influencing the region’s climate, particularly by generating the monsoon phenomenon in South and South-est Asia.
Nearly all of Asia’s major rivers originate from the Tibetan Plateau. In China, rivers have played a crucial role in the country’s history, which remained primarily agricultural for thousands of years. The two most important rivers are: the Yangzi Jiang (Yangtze River), stretching 6,300 km; the Huang He (Yellow River), stretching 5,464 km; Other significant rivers originating in China include the Lancang Jiang (Mekong), the Yaluzangbu (Brahmaputra), the Nujiang (Salween), and the Heilongjiang (Amur River).
Despite its vast territory spanning five time zones, China operates on a single time zone (UTC +08:00), set to Beijing time.
China’s climate is highly diverse due to its extensive territory and varied topography. Generally, the south is hot and humid, whereas the north is drier and windier. However, most of the country falls within the temperate climate zone.
China’s administrative system is structured into several levels:
•23 provinces (including Taiwan);
•5 autonomous regions: Xinjiang, Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Guangxi, and Ningxia. These regions have a certain degree of autonomy from the central government, mainly due to the presence of ethnic minorities;
•4 municipalities directly under the central government: Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Chongqing. These are major metropolitan areas with an administrative status equivalent to that of a province;
•2 Special Administrative Regions (SARs): Hong Kong and Macau. These territories, handed back to China after long periods of colonial rule, operate under a distinct political and economic system based on the principle of “One Country, Two Systems”.
Thus, while these divisions remain under the authority of the central government in Beijing, each has its own degree of autonomy and governance. In fact, China’s territorial administration appears more federal than centralized, contrary to what one might assume.
A macroscopic view of China, which was popular in the 1990s, divided the country into three major regions: the coastal area, the interior, and the west. The coastal region, which accounts for only 14% of the country’s land area, is home to 45% of the total population and receives over 80% of foreign investment and exports. In contrast, western China covers 56% of the territory, including vast deserts and the highlands of the Tibetan Plateau, but contains less than 10% of the total population and only 8% of the national GDP.
This distinction has become less relevant today due to decades of infrastructure and development efforts led by the central government to balance the country’s economic growth. Several large-scale projects have been implemented, including the Three Gorges Dam, the construction of high-speed rail networks, and the Belt and Road Initiative.
For more information, consult: Chine : Géographie physique de Larousse ; Geoconfluence Chine par l’ENS Lyon