Maclean et al. - 2002 - Rice almanac source book for the most important e

China
General information
• GNI per capita PPP$, 2000: 3,920
• Internal renewable water resources: 2,800
km 3
• Main food consumed: rice, wheat, meat,
maize, roots, and tubers
• Rice consumption, 1999: 90.7 kg milled rice
per person per year
Production season
Planting Harvesting
Early Feb-May Jun-Oct
Intermediate Feb-May Jun-Oct
Late Jun-Jul Oct-Nov
Main season, North Apr-Jun Sep
China is situated between 18° and 54° N
latitude and 73° and 135° E longitude.
Marked by topographical variety and
complexity, China’s landmass is made up of
mountains (33%), plateaus (26%), basins (19%),
plains (12%), and hills (10%).
China lies in four AEZs, all of which are
subtropical and include some temperate areas.
They are AEZ 5, warm arid and semiarid
subtropics with summer rainfall; AEZ 6, warm
subhumid subtropics with summer rainfall; AEZ
7, warm/cool humid subtropics with summer
rainfall; and AEZ 8, cool subtropics with summer
rainfall. Rice is produced primarily in AEZs 6 and
7.
China’s climatic features include a
pronounced monsoon climate with a hot summer
and a cool winter, marked seasonal variations in
precipitation, and a distinctive continental climate
with large annual temperature fluctuations. The
climate types are so varied and complex that high
rainfall, cold waves, and typhoons are all
important climatic phenomena. China can be
divided from the coastal areas to the northwest
interior into four regions according to moisture
regime: (1) the humid region south of the Qinling
Mountains and Huaihe River, comprising 32% of
total land area, (2) the subhumid region including
most of northeastern and central China, 15%, (3)
the semiarid region, 22%, and (4) the arid region,
31%.
China is the most populous country in the
world. The 1999 population on the mainland was
nearly 1.3 billion, with about 66% living in rural
areas. Three-fourths of the nation’s population is
concentrated in the northern, northeastern,
86 Rice almanac