China's Patterns of Development & Distribution (DP IB Geography) : Revision Note

Jacque Cartwright

Written by: Jacque Cartwright

Reviewed by: Bridgette Barrett

Updated on

Case Study: China's Population Distribution

Background

  • China, with a land area of 9,706,961 km2, is located in East Asia

    • 27% of the land is desert

    • 33% are mountainous regions

  • It is the second-most populous country in the world, with 1.42 billion people

  • 10% of the population live on less than 1% of the available land

  • The average life expectancy is 74 years (men) and 79 years (women)

Uneven distribution in China 

  • China has a wide variation in population distribution and GDP per capita by province

  • Mostly concentrated in the south-eastern part of the country

    • Beijing and Shanghai have the highest GDP per capita, over US$23,000

    • Eastern China is easier to develop due to its flat plains

    • The Yangtze and Yellow rivers provide water for farmland and cities

  • Four provinces along the east coast have a GDP per capita of over US$13,000

    • These are favoured by global trade and commerce

  • The province of Gansu in northern China has the lowest GDP of US$4936

    • Frequent earthquakes, droughts, and low agricultural productivity contribute to economic instability

  • Western China is the least populated region

  • This is due to the Taklamakan and Gobi Deserts, along with the Tibetan Plateau

    • These regions receive little to no rainfall because of the Himalayan Mountains

    • They are high enough to see extreme temperature swings from as low as -40° C in the winter to 60° C in the summer

China GDP per capita by province 

provinces-of-china-gdp-per-capita

Core-periphery 

  • The provinces along the east coast can be regarded as the economic core of China

  • Most secondary and tertiary economic activities are located there

  • The economic periphery is to the west and far north-east of China:

    • Includes the Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts

    • The Plateau of Tibet is a mountainous region that includes the Himalayas

  • The development gap can be seen in a range of areas:

    • 17 million people still live on US$2.30 a day

    • Over 90% of people living in poverty live in rural areas

    • The standard of housing is often poor

    • People are being moved to apartment blocks, to free up land for factories

    • Over 25% of rural households have access to piped water

    • Literacy rates in rural areas are 65%, but in urban areas they are 84%

  • The rate of unemployment in rural areas is over 30%

  • This leads to:

    • Increased poverty

    • Difficulty attracting businesses to these regions

    • The periphery is becoming more dependent on primary economic activities to survive

  • This regional inequality has led to significant rural-urban migration in China

Core-periphery model

core-periphery-model-2

Case Study: China's Internal Migration

Migration in China 

  • Since 1978, over 160 million people have left rural China to seek work in the major cities

  • Wages in urban areas are 40% higher than in rural areas 

  • Development is concentrated along the coastal zones

  • The majority of the migrants are:

    • Economically active

    • Mostly female

    • From inland, rural, and poor communities 

    • They are considered a floating population, as they don't have official urban hukou status

China’s internal migration stream 

internal-migration-flows-china
  • China rapidly industrialised after the government created Special Economic Zones (SEZ) during the 1980s

  • These policies allowed for foreign investment into 'special zones', that are managed by a single administration and regulations

  • More than 200 million rural migrants now work in China's main cities, such as Shanghai and Shenzhen

  • Around 20 million people arrive in cities each year

  • Over the next decade, an estimated 60% of Chinese people will live in urban areas

Megacity growth in China 

  • Approximately 56% of the world’s 8 billion people now live in cities

  • This is expected to rise to over 68% by 2050

  • That means 2 out of every 3 people will live in a city

  • China has more than 100 cities with over one million people

  • 6 of them are considered megacities with over 10 million people each

  • China's megacities are:

    • The result of rapid urbanisation, economic growth, and migration from rural areas

    • Centres of innovation, trade, culture, and transportation, with leading technologies such as solar energy, electric cars, high-speed rail, 5G, AI, and space science

    • Face challenges such as environmental pollution, social inequality, traffic congestion, housing affordability, and cultural preservation

  • There are 5 economic zones and 17 open cities

  • These aim to attract inward investment and include groups such as the Jingjinji Integration, the Chengdu-Chongqing City Group, and the Yangtze Delta City Group

  • There are plans to combine the largest megacity, Shanghai, with eight surrounding cities

  • This would create the city of Jing-Jin-Ji with 130 million inhabitants by 2035 

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Jacque Cartwright

Author: Jacque Cartwright

Expertise: Geography Content Creator

Jacque graduated from the Open University with a BSc in Environmental Science and Geography before doing her PGCE with the University of St David’s, Swansea. Teaching is her passion and has taught across a wide range of specifications – GCSE/IGCSE and IB but particularly loves teaching the A-level Geography. For the past 5 years Jacque has been teaching online for international schools, and she knows what is needed to get the top scores on those pesky geography exams.

Bridgette Barrett

Reviewer: Bridgette Barrett

Expertise: Geography Lead

After graduating with a degree in Geography, Bridgette completed a PGCE over 25 years ago. She later gained an MA Learning, Technology and Education from the University of Nottingham focussing on online learning. At a time when the study of geography has never been more important, Bridgette is passionate about creating content which supports students in achieving their potential in geography and builds their confidence.

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