Environment - Current Issues

Air pollution (greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide particulates) from reliance on coal produces acid rain; China is the world's largest single emitter of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels; water shortages, particularly in the north; water pollution from untreated wastes; coastal destruction due to land reclamation, industrial development, and aquaculture; deforestation and habitat destruction; poor land management leads to soil erosion, landslides, floods, droughts, dust storms, and desertification; trade in endangered species

Environment - International Agreements

Party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling.
Signed, but not ratified: Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban

Air Pollutants

Particulate Matter Emissions: 49.16 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)
Carbon dioxide Emissions: 9,893.04 megatons (2016 est.)
Methane Emissions: 1,490.24 megatons (2020 est.)

Climate

Extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north.

Land use

Agricultural Land: 54.7% (2018 est.)
Arable Land: 11.3% (2018 est.)
Permanent Crops: 1.6% (2018 est.)
Permanent Pasture: 41.8% (2018 est.)
Forest: 22.3% (2018 est.)
Other: 23% (2018 est.)

Urbanisation

Urban Population: 62.5% of total population (2021)
Rate of Urbanisation: 1.78% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Note: Data do not include Hong Kong and Macau;

Total Population Growth Rate v. Urban Population Growth rate, 2000-2030.

Revenue from Forest Resources

Forest Revenues: 0.08% of GDP (2018 est.)

Country comparison to the world: 119

Revenue from Coal

Coal Revenues: 0.57% of GDP (2018 est.)

Country comparison to the world: 9

Major Infectious Diseases

Degree of Risk: High (2020)
Food or Waterborne Diseases: Bacterial Diarrhea, Hepatitis A, and Typhoid Fever.
Vectorborne Diseases: Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Japanese encephalitis.
Soil Contact Diseases: Hantaviral Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome (HFRS)
 

Waste and Recycling

Municipal Solid Waste generated Annually: 210 million tons (2015 est.)

Major Watersheds (area sq km)

Pacific Ocean drainage: Amur (1,929,955 sq km), Huang He (944,970 sq km), Mekong (805,604 sq km), Yangtze (1,722,193 sq km).
Indian Ocean drainage: Brahmaputra (651,335 sq km), Ganges (1,016,124 sq km), Indus (1,081,718 sq km), Irrawaddy (413,710 sq km), Salween (271,914 sq km).
Arctic Ocean drainage: Ob (2,972,493 sq km)
Internal (endorheic basin) drainage: Tarim Basin (1,152,448 sq km), Amu Darya (534,739 sq km), Syr Darya (782,617 sq km), Lake Balkash (510,015 sq km).

Major Aquifers

North China Aquifer System (Huang Huai Hai Plain), Song-Liao Plain, Tarim Basin

Total Water Withdrawal

Municipal: 79.4 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)
Industrial: 133.5 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)
Agricultural: 385.2 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

Total Renewable water resources

2,840,220,000,000 cubic meters (2017 est.)

(Source: The CIA World Factbook)