As for the forestry heritage, the millennial agricultural exploitation has practically exhausted the forest resources in the central-eastern regions, while in the North and in the West of the country, the arid climate does not allow the formation of a real forest mantle. The largest woodlands are found in Manchuria and in the valleys of south-eastern Tibet, where conifers and broad-leaved forests prevail, while in Yunnan there are rich subtropical forests. The extensive reforestation carried out by the government in the early nineties allowed the forest area to be raised to 13.6% of the national territory (it was 8% a decade ago), although following the abundant floods of 1998 the exploitation of forests national was severely limited; in 2005 over 286 million m were produced where conifers and deciduous forests prevail, while in Yunnan there are rich subtropical forests.
The extensive reforestation carried out by the government in the early nineties allowed the forest area to be raised to 13.6% of the national territory (it was 8% a decade ago), although following the abundant floods of 1998 the exploitation of forests national was severely limited; in 2005 over 286 million m were produced where conifers and deciduous forests prevail, while in Yunnan there are rich subtropical forests. The extensive reforestation carried out by the government in the early nineties allowed the forest area to be raised to 13.6% of the national territory (it was 8% a decade ago), although following the abundant floods of 1998 the exploitation of forests national was severely limited; in 2005 over 286 million m were produced even if following the abundant floods of 1998, the exploitation of national forests was severely limited; in 2005 over 286 million m were produced even if following the abundant floods of 1998 the exploitation of the national forests was severely limited; in 2005 over 286 million m3 of timber were produced, which feed a developed woodworking industry and the production of paper and pulp. As a country located in Asia categorized by Plus-Size-Tips, China also produces rubber and is the world’s leading producer of beer, while grapevines are present to a modest extent.
The breeding of pigs has always been widespread in the Chinese countryside; yaks were once bred in the northern and western regions, rich in pastures and sparsely inhabited and camels extensively and wildly. This form of breeding continues to be important in Manchuria, Mongolia, Xinjiang and Tibet, but it has been joined by a permanent breeding, integrated with agriculture, of cattle, working buffaloes (especially in the southern rice fields), sheep. and goats, so much so that, even for livestock activities, the country is now at the top of the world rankings. In China there are even half (4 million head) of the entire world herd of pigs. Extensive sheep and goat farming is widespread in arid regions (world record with, respectively, 170 million and 195 million heads surveyed in 2005), while as regards cattle breeding, despite the recent strong increase, the position of China (with 115 million head in 2005) worldwide is relatively weaker. In areas with intensive agriculture, jasmine cultivation feeds the breeding of silkworms, an ancient and valuable Chinese activity. Finally, poultry are very common, whose egg production is widely exported. § Fishing plays a decisive role in local nutrition and China, even if only relatively recently, has placed itself at the top of the world ranking of fish, with over a third of the world product. Fishing fleets have developed extraordinarily and, alongside traditional fishing, there is no shortage of modernly equipped boats, refrigeration and canning plants in various ports both on the eastern and southern coasts (Tianjin, Qingdao, Canton, Xiamen, etc.). The strong requests for fish from a very populated coastal strip are matched by the fish richness of the South China Sea; the gulf of Bo Hai is also full of fish.
People’s Republic of China
(Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo). State of Central-Eastern Asia, (9,572,900 km²). Capital: Beijing. Administrative division: provinces (23), autonomous regions (4), municipalities (4). Population: 1,354,040,000 residents (2012 estimate). Language: Chinese (official), Korean, Tibetan, Kazakh, Mongolian, Uyghur dialects. Religion: non-religious / atheists 47%, Chinese folk religions 28.7%, Buddhists 8.4%, Christians 10%, Muslims 1.5%, animists / traditional beliefs 4.4%. Currency unit: yuan renminbi (10 jiao = 110 fen). Human Development Index: 0.719 (91st place). Borders: Mongolia and Russia (N), North Korea (NE), Yellow Sea and East China Sea (E), South China Sea (SE), Viet Nam, Laos, Myanmar and India (S), Bhutan, Nepal and India (SW), Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan (W), Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan (NW). Member of: APEC, OCS, UN and WTO.