Economic Structure Transformation and Land Use Change of the Changjiang River Basin

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Economic Structure Transformation and Land Use Change of the Changjiang River Basin"

Norah Gallagher
6 years ago
Views:

Chinese Geographical Science 2006 16(4) 289 293 DOI 10.1007/s11769-006-0289-6 www.springerlink.

1 Chinese Geographical Science (4) DOI /s Economic Structure Transformation and Land Use Change of the Changjiang River Basin WU Yingmei 1, 2, SU Yufang 3, ZHANG Lei 1 (1.Yunnan Normal University, Kunming , China; 2. Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing , China; 3. Department of Geography, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby BC, V5A 1S6, Canada) Abstract: Land, as a key factor of production, is an appropriate indicator of national and regional economic structure transformation. Land use in the Changjiang (Yangtze) River Basin (CRB) since the 1950s has experienced these changes. Industrialization has been the most powerful force of the change in the regional development of the CRB. Virtually all regional resources were put into this effort to modernize the industrial production and urban construction systems of the CRB whose industrialization and urbanization has been a success story, with impressive structural change in both production and land use. These changes are evident in modern urban areas, but even more in traditionally rural areas. The regression analysis of regional development in the CRB over an extended period shows that the dominant factor in regional land use change is widespread industrialization in rural areas rather than the expansion of urban area. Thus, urbanization has had a limited influence on land use change in the CRB. A major task in realizing more sustainable land use in the future development of CRB is to relocate industrial activities from rural to urban areas. Keywords: economic structure transformation; land use change; Changjiang River Basin 1 Introduction Economic development in any country or region entails a long process of structural change in production as GDP and income per capita rise. In addition, economic development requires a long period of structural transformation in materials inputs through reallocating natural resources (Cipolla, 1962). Land, as a crucial element and a key factor of production, is always the best witness of such transformations. In China, one of the largest countries in the world, 13.5% of its territory is cultivated land. This implies that China s cultivated land per capita was only 0.08ha, or 41% of the world average (World Bank, 2004). With rapid industrial development and population growth, cultivated land scarcity in China has now become an increasingly important issue, particularly in the Changjiang River Basin (CRB) (Fig. 1). The CRB is the largest inland drainage area of China. With 15.5% of the China s territory, it had nearly 38% of China s total population (more than ) and produced 47% of the China s total GDP in 2004 (at 1952 Fig. 1 Sketch map of the Changjiang River Basin price). The CRB has always been an example of land use change in Chinese economic structure transformation in the past and at present, and will continue to be so in the future (Zhang et al., 2003). 2 Development Process Since its founding in 1949, the People s Republic of China has set itself to the task of developing a modern industrial sector, similar to the industrial revolution that began in western countries almost 200 years ago (Chen- Received date: ; accepted date: Foundation item: Under the auspices of Knowledge Innovation Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KCZX ) Biography: WU Yingmei (1968 ), female, a native of Kunming of Yunnan Province, Ph.D. candidate, associate professor, specialized in resources exploitation and regional development. wuym@igsnrr.ac.cn

2 290 WU Yingmei, SU Yufang, ZHANG Lei ery and Robison, 1986; Feuchtwang et al., 1988). Due to initially unfavorable development conditions, both domestic and international ones, China s regional development policy before 1980 was based on three principal objectives: supporting agricultural development to improve food security; building up heavy industry in target areas to meet the country s growing needs for raw materials and equipment; and developing local light industry at the provincial level to maintain a basic supply of means of livelihood for daily use (Li and Lu, 1995). Under such policies, regions with rich mine such as Liaoning Province, Heilongjiang Province (both in Northeast China), and Shanxi Province (in North China) were the key areas in the spatial organization of national economic development. Hence large investment was poured into these regions rather than into the CRB, once being China s main agricultural center (Yan and Wang, 1997). As a result, the CRB s contribution to national GDP declined from 35% in 1952 to 34% in 1980 (at 1952 price), although its industrial sector continued to perform well in the national economy (Sun, 1996) (Fig. 2). Fig. 2 Industry structure change in the Changjiang River Basin in 1952, 1998 and 2004 (at 1952 price) This situation did not change significantly until China s reform and opening policy, announced in However, the raw material manufacturing and petrochemical industries did expand in the lower and middle sections of the CRB, including the development of the Baoshan Iron and Steel Complex in Shanghai, and the enlargement of the Nanjing Petrochemical Complex in Jiangsu in the 1980s. During that time, the contributions of Shanghai and its inland area to national revenues was so important that the central government tried to avoid the risk of economic experimentation in the early stage of market-oriented economy reforms. In 1990, the share of CRB in China s GDP remained at 34%, showing few change compared with that in the 1980s (Xu et al., 1999). In the early 1990s Shanghai underwent a series of major reforms, and then 14 inland cities along the CRB were designated as open cities in Chinese government viewed the CRB as a major focus of reforms and economic development, in part, in order to balance coastal and inland income differentials. Major infrastructure projects have been planned and constructed, including power projects and shipping terminals, railways, highways, and energy infrastructure. The Three Gorges Dam, approved by Chinese National People s Congress in March of 1992, will be the largest hydroelectric power project in the world. Its construction will cost at least yuan (RMB) (at 1990 price) including construction work and resettlement. Construction of this dam, 30km upstream from the Gezhouba Dam near Yichang, will result in improvement of a 600km stretch of the Changjiang River that will allow l0,000-ton ships to reach as far west as Chongqing, the economic center of Southwest China. Many provinces and cities in the basin have begun to institute far-reaching economic reforms in keeping with those along the southeast coastal regions, particularly in terms of business management and foreign direct investment, which is seen as essential for opening up these markets to the global economy. For example, Wuhan, one of the recently designated open cities, with a population of and situated midway along the CRB, is undergoing changes that could significantly strengthen its strategic role as a major distribution point for inland China. With considerable foreign direct investment, Wuhan is planning to create a large container port for transiting of inland materials and products to Shanghai, and to Hong Kong by railway that may soon be electrified. Wuhan officials plan to become the city to the Chicago of the CRB (Zhang et al., 2003) Active policies to support the CRB s development over the past decade have shown marked success. In 2004, nearly 47% of total GDP of China came from the CRB, which is about 13% higher than that in 1980 (at 1952 price). 3 Economic Structure Transformation and Land Use Change Industrialization has changed China s traditional economy, particularly the use of natural resources. Mineral resources have replaced land resources as major inputs to the nation s economic growth, and also have a change of land use transferring from agricultural production to other productive purposes, especially industrial production. This structural transformation can be observed in China s industrialization, and is particularly evident in the CRB. In the early stages of industrialization, agri-

Economic Structure Transformation and Land Use Change of the Changjiang River Basin 291 culture was still the dominant sector in the CRB s economic development.

3 Economic Structure Transformation and Land Use Change of the Changjiang River Basin 291 culture was still the dominant sector in the CRB s economic development. In 1952, the agricultural sector represented more than 54% of the region s GDP (Fig. 3). Fig. 3 Economic structure transformation in the Changjiang River Basin in (at 1952 price) Since the early 1960s, the industrial sector has superseded agriculture as the most powerful driving force of regional economy, and has contributed an increasingly greater share to the regional economy during the last three decades. By comparison, although the CRB had China s most advanced services sector before 1952, this sector dropped off considerably due to a closed domestic market and self-reliance policies applied at both national and provincial levels. In 1952, the output of the service sector accounted for nearly 26% of total regional GDP, but decreased to less than 18% in Only after 1985 did this situation change, even then only marginally. As the largest riverine transportation system, the transit of freight traffic on the Changjiang River in 1980, for example, was only one-third of the China s total water transport, or less a half than that in Fig. 4 shows land use changes in the CRB during the past 50 years. The lessons that we can learn from this evolution can be described as follows. Fig. 4 Land use change in the Changjiang River Basin in First, with structural change, land use in the CRB became increasingly intensive. According to provincial government statistics, total land use for agricultural, urban and rural residential, industrial production and transportation was ha in After a short period of stability during the Great Leap Forward in the late 1950s, total productive land use in the CRB shrank quickly, following a series of catastrophes in the early 1960s. Little change occurred during the next 20 years. The successful implementation of the household responsibility system in rural areas and the nationwide introduction of economic reforms in urban areas stepped into a new phase of large-scale land reclamation. The CRB s total land use rose from ha in 1975 to ha in 2004, an increase of more than 18%. Second, economic change has had an influence on industry sector in the CRB, even in land use structure. Regression analysis shows the close relationship between economic structure transformation and Land use change in the CRB. The high correlation coefficient (R 2 =0.995) (Fig. 5) indicates that economic structure transformation plays a significant role in long-run land use change. Fig. 5 Correlation between economic structure and land use Third, the only sector which loses share with land use intensification in the CRB is the agricultural sector, whereas total productive land use has increased irregularly over the past 50 years. In the early 1950s, land use for agricultural production stood at more than 90% of the CRB s total land use, but had decreased to 60% by 2004 because of growth in other sectors. In other words, industrial- and service-sector activities have dominated land use change patterns in the CRB during the last 20 years. This dominance has arisen in large part as a result of the development of small businesses, mines, and housing construction in rural areas. The development of township and village enterprises (TVEs), including manufacturing, construction, transportation, and other services, began in the late 1970s with decentralization policies set on optimizing employment and production at local level. Since then, approximately millions of peasants abandoned farmland to look for employment in TVEs. Therefore, the non-agricultural labor force in the rural area of the CRB had risen to about in 1985, and had doubled

4 292 by As a result, land use for non-agricultural purposes, such as housing, construction, industry, mining, and other businesses in rural areas of the CRB increased 40%, while the total land use only rose 18% during the same period (Table 1). Table 1 Structural change of labor force in rural area of the Changjiang River Basin in ( 10 6 ) Agricultural sector Non-agricultural sector Total Sources: National Bureau of Statistics of China, 1986, Urbanization and Land Use Change Although urban areas were considered the center of national and regional industrialization, urbanization was not as rapid as industrialization in the CRB. Generally speaking, urbanization in the CRB was limited before 1990, because initial policy had focused on using rural resources to accelerate industrialization in target urban areas. During the 1950s, urban population grew at an annual rate of 1.3%. But urbanization came to a halt and reversed with the natural catastrophes of the early 1960s. The urban population of CRB dropped from in 1962 to in De-urbanization continued during the Cultural Revolution in the 1970s when tens of millions of young educated people were moved from cities in these areas. The urban population of the CRB continued to remain low until 1975, when it reached its lowest share of total population in the modern history of the CRB (Table 2). In the late 1970s, urbanization recovered, and then accelerated during the next two decades. The region s urban population grew to nearly in 1990 and to more than in Ironically, urbanization in the CRB did not have a dominant influence on land use change as most experts expected. Even after 20 years of rapid urban expansion, urban land use represented the smallest share of productive land use in the CRB. Between 1980 and 2004, urban land use increased 2.5 fold, reaching 117,160ha. However, it only accounted for 4.6% of the CRB s total land use, even though it was the fastest growing land use type in the CRB. In other words, land use change has resulted mainly from economic structure transformation in rural areas rather than that in the CRB as a whole. A good example of this is the industrialization of the Hubei Province, a typical inland province in the mid CRB. During the past 20 years, farmland in Hubei Province clearly declined while its industrialization accelerated WU Yingmei, SU Yufang, ZHANG Lei (Table 3). Year Table 2 Urbanization of the Changjiang River Basin in Total population ( 10 6 ) (1) Urban population ( 10 6 ) (2) Urbanization (%) (2)/(1) Sources: National Bureau of Statistics of China, 1990, 1992, 1996, 2001, 2002, 2005 Table 3 Rural industrialization and urbanization in Hubei Province in Year Employee rate in Farmland Urbanization township and village ( 10 6 ha) (%) enterprises (%) Source: Hubei Provincial Statistics Bureau, 2005 Industrialization in rural areas of Hubei Province was the dominant factor in the decrease in agricultural land, rather than the urbanization itself. Fig. 6 shows that the increase in TVE employees is highly correlated with the decrease in farmland (R 2 =0.9678). Fig. 6 Correlation between farmland and industrialization in rural areas of Hubei Province in In contrast, as Fig. 7 shows, correlation between urbanization and the decrease in farmland in Hubei Province is significantly weaker (R 2 =0.7459).

5 Economic Structure Transformation and Land Use Change of the Changjiang River Basin 293 so that land use change can be controlled and land use planning can be optimized for the sustainable development of the whole CRB. References 5 Conclusions Fig. 7 Correlation between urbanization and farmland in Hubei Province in Industrialization has been the most powerful force of change in the CRB s regional development. Successful industrialization has led the CRB to become the most powerful engine of China s industrial modernization. Structural change, both in production and land use, has accompanied this process of industrialization. These changes are evident in urban areas, but even more in traditionally rural areas. Land, as a kind of key resources, makes a significant contribution to regional development, mainly through land use change on a large scale. Contrary to government expectations, regression analysis of long-term regional development trends shows that the dominant factor behind land use change in the CRB is rural industrialization rather than extensive urban development. In other words, urbanization has had a limited influence on land use change in regional development, even though urban area has expanded rapidly in the last two decades. Given current population growth, a major task for the future development of the CRB is to relocate industrial activities from rural areas to urban areas as much as possible, Chenery H, Robison S, Industrialization and Growth: A Comparative Study. New York: World Bank Publication, Oxford University Press. Cipolla C M, The Economic History of World Population. Baltimore: Penguin Books. Feuchtwang S, Hussian A, Pairault T, Transformating China s Economy in the Eighties. Boulder, Colorado: West View Press. Hubei Provincial Statistics Bureau, Hubei Statistical Yearbook, Beijing: China Statistics Press. (in Chinese) Li Wenyan, Lu Dadao, Industrial Geography of China. Beijng: Science Press. (in Chinese) National Bureau of Statistics of China, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1996, 2001, 2002, China Statistical Yearbook. Beijing: China Statistics Press. (in Chinese) Sun Shangqing, The Development and Opening-up of the Yangtze River. Beijing: Development Press of China. (in Chinese) World Bank, World development report: making services work for poor people. New York: World Bank Publication, Oxford University Press. Xu Guodi, Wang Yiming, Yang Jie et al., The Integrated Development of the Economic Belt along the Yangtze River in 21 st Century. Beijing: China Planning Press. (in Chinese) Yan Heng, Wang Jianguo, A Comparative Study on Economic Development for the Yellow River Basin and the Yangtze River Basin. Zhengzhou: Yellow River Conservancy Press. (in Chinese) Zhang Lei, Liu Yi, Zhang Wenchang, Sustainable Economic Development of the Yangtze River Basin in 21 st Century. Beijing: The Commercial Press. (in Chinese)

Changes in Area and Quality of Cultivated Land in China

1 Changes in Area and Quality of Cultivated Land in China Qinxue WANG* and Kuninori OTSUBO* * National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan Abstract: In this