China's coastline covers approximately 14,500 km (around 9,010 mi) from the Bohai gulf in the north to the Gulf of Tonkin in the south. Most of the northern half is low lying, although some of the mountains and hills of Northeast China and the Shandong Peninsula extend to the coast. The southern half is more irregular. In

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

and

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

provinces, for example, much of the coast is rocky and steep. South of this area the coast becomes less rugged: Low mountains and hills extend more gradually to the coast, and small river deltas are common. The southern coast on the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

is also low, with sweeping hills and plains. China's coasts are on the

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea, also known as the North Sea, is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. Names It is one of four ...

East China Sea The East China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. China names the body of water along its eastern coast as "East Sea" (, ) due to direction, the name of "East China Sea" is otherwise ...

and

. China claims a 12-nautical-mile territorial sea, a 24-nautical-mile contiguous zone, a 200-nautical-mile

exclusive economic zone An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine natural resource, reso ...

, and a 200-nautical-mile continental shelf or the distance to the edge of the

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an islan ...

Natural History

The shape and features of the Chinese coast have been influenced dramatically by

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...

, natural storms,

tides Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

currents Currents, Current or The Current may refer to: Science and technology * Current (fluid), the flow of a liquid or a gas ** Air current, a flow of air ** Ocean current, a current in the ocean *** Rip current, a kind of water current ** Current (hy ...

, sea level changes,

winds Wind is the natural movement of atmosphere of Earth, air or other gases relative to a planetary surface, planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heatin ...

, and

tectonics Tectonics ( via Latin ) are the processes that result in the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. The field of ''planetary tectonics'' extends the concept to other planets and moons. These processes ...

. Inland rivers such as the

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

and Huang He also supply the coast with

sediment Sediment is a solid material that is transported to a new location where it is deposited. It occurs naturally and, through the processes of weathering and erosion, is broken down and subsequently sediment transport, transported by the action of ...

, which influence and control erosional trends. These factors have created a diverse array of ecosystems and landforms. During the prehistoric era, tectonic activity associated with the

Eurasian Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents dates back to antiq ...

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

, and

Philippine The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Plates played a pivotal role in sculpting its coastlines, forming prominent features like the

Bohai Bay Bohai Bay () is one of the three major bays of the Bohai Sea, the northwestern and innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea. It is bounded by the coastlines of eastern Hebei province ( Tangshan and Cangzhou), Tianjin municipality and northern Sha ...

, and

Hong Kong Coastline - panoramio - A J Butler

The

Ice Ages An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and Gre ...

significantly influenced the coastline's modern configuration, fluctuating sea levels due to glaciation. Interglacial periods exposed vast continental shelves, such as those in the

, which were once land bridges supporting diverse prehistoric flora, fauna, and early human migrations. These changes also contributed to the formation of sediment-rich deltas, including the

and

Pearl River The Pearl River (, or ) is an extensive river system in southern China. "Pearl River" is often also used as a catch-all for the watersheds of the Pearl tributaries within Guangdong, specifically the Xi ('west'), Bei ('north'), and Dong ( ...

deltas. Prehistoric

volcanic activity Volcanism, vulcanism, volcanicity, or volcanic activity is the phenomenon where solids, liquids, gases, and their mixtures erupt to the surface of a solid-surface astronomical body such as a planet or a moon. It is caused by the presence of a he ...

also played a significant role, particularly during the

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...

and

Cenozoic The Cenozoic Era ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterized by the dominance of mammals, insects, birds and angiosperms (flowering plants). It is the latest of three g ...

eras, creating islands, altering coastal topography, and depositing rich sedimented soils. It is theorized that small asteroid impacts, such as the one thought to have occurred in the

Bohai Sea The Bohai Sea ( zh, c=渤海, p=Bó Hǎi, l=Bo Sea) is a gulf/inland sea approximately in area on the east coast of Mainland China. It is the northwestern and innermost extension of the Yellow Sea, to which it connects via the Bohai Strait. It ...

region during prehistoric times, may have caused localized reshaping of coastal areas and contributed to mass extinctions that reshuffled marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Today, these regions exhibit a blend of rocky cliffs, sandy beaches, mudflats, and extensive mangrove forests, all within

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

and

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

climates.

Anthropology

Human activity in China's coastal regions is known to have begun in the

Neolithic period The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wid ...

, where small populations were drawn to these areas for their abundant natural resources. Coastal plains and

river deltas A river delta is a landform, wikt:archetype#Noun, archetypically triangular, created by the deposition (geology), deposition of the sediments that are carried by the waters of a river, where the river merges with a body of slow-moving water or ...

like those of the

and

Yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In t ...

Rivers offered fertile soil for early agriculture, while access to marine life supported fishing-based communities. Archaeological evidence from sites such as

Hemudu The Hemudu culture (5500 BC to 3300 BC) was a Neolithic culture that flourished on the Chinese coast, just south of the Hangzhou Bay in Jiangnan in modern Yuyao, Zhejiang, China. The culture may be divided into early and late phases, before ...

Yangshao The Yangshao culture ( zh, c=仰韶文化, p=Yǎngsháo wénhuà) was a Neolithic culture that existed extensively along the middle reaches of the Yellow River in China from around 5000 BC to 3000 BC. The Yangshao culture saw social and ...

, and Longshan, near the

Yangtze River Delta The Yangtze Delta or Yangtze River Delta (YRD), once known as the Shanghai Economic Zone, is a megalopolis generally comprising the Wu-speaking areas of Shanghai, southern Jiangsu, northern Zhejiang, southern Anhui. The area lies in the he ...

, reveals that these coastal societies were among the first in the world to cultivate

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

and develop advanced pottery, establishing the region as a cradle of early East Asian civilisation. Studies show that the ancestors of

Austronesians The Austronesian people, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples who have settled in Taiwan, maritime Southeast Asia, parts of mainland Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melanesi ...

originate from the coastlines of southeastern China although others state that they originate from northeast China. Populations from northeast China also contributed to the genetic makeup of post-

Yayoi The Yayoi period (弥生時代, ''Yayoi jidai'') (c. 300 BC – 300 AD) is one of the major historical periods of the Japanese archipelago. It is generally defined as the era between the beginning of food production in Japan and the emergence o ...

Japanese populations. During the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

, China's coastal areas became hubs of trade and commerce. By the

Shang The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty that ruled in the Yellow River valley during the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Western Zhou dyn ...

and Zhou dynasties (1600–256 BCE), the use of maritime routes allowed for the exchange of goods and technology fostering the growth of early coastal cities. The development of shipbuilding technology and navigation during this time allowed for the expansion of trade networks, particularly in the

, where early maritime Silk Road routes began to emerge. The coastline was a link between inland agricultural societies and external trading, including

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The Chinese imperial period saw coastal regions take on an even more prominent role in China's economic and geopolitical landscape. Cities such as

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

and

Quanzhou Quanzhou is a prefecture-level city, prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China, People's Republic of China. It is Fujian's largest most populous metropolitan region, wi ...

became large ports, central to the trade of

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...

ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porce ...

, and other goods. The

Song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

dynasty (960–1279) marked a peak in maritime activity, with advancements in ship design and navigation, spurring the rise of ocean-going commerce. These regions also became entry points for cultural and technological exchange, including the introduction of

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

from

and the spread of Chinese cultural practices to neighboring countries. Hong Kong 1868

The arrival of

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

colonial powers in the 19th century significantly shifted the nature of commerce on China's coasts.

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, treaty ports established during the

Opium Wars The Opium Wars () were two conflicts waged between China and Western powers during the mid-19th century. The First Opium War was fought from 1839 to 1842 between China and Britain. It was triggered by the Chinese government's campaign to ...

, became epicenters of international trade, but also cultural symbols of foreign domination and economic exploitation. These population centers set the stage for the rapid

industrialization Industrialisation (British English, UK) American and British English spelling differences, or industrialization (American English, US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an i ...

of the coastal region. By the 20th century, cities along the coastline had transformed into hubs of manufacturing, finance, and innovation, driving China's economic ascent. Today, China's coastal regions are among the most densely populated and economically vital areas in the world. Urban centers like

Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

, and

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

benefit from their strategic locations along key shipping routes.

Seas

Straits

Bohai Strait The Bohai Sea ( zh, c=渤海, p=Bó Hǎi, l=Bo Sea) is a gulf/ inland sea approximately in area on the east coast of Mainland China. It is the northwestern and innermost extension of the Yellow Sea, to which it connects via the Bohai Strait. ...

(渤海海峡) *

Taiwan Strait The Taiwan Strait is a strait separating the island of Taiwan and the Asian continent. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is wide. Names Former names of the Tai ...

Qiongzhou Strait The Qiongzhou Strait, also called the is the Chinese strait that separates Guangdong's Leizhou Peninsula from the island province of Hainan. It connects the Gulf of Tonkin on its west to the South China Sea on its east. The strait is on averag ...

Islands

Islands of China This is a list of islands of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Islands that are claimed by the PRC, including List of islands of Taiwan, those under the control of the Republic of China and those disputed with other countries, are note ...

Bays

* Dalian Bay *

Daya Bay Daya Bay (), formerly known as Bias Bay, is a bay of the South China Sea on the south coast of Guangdong Province in China. It is bordered by Shenzhen's Dapeng Peninsula to the west and Huizhou to the north and east. History The bay was a hideo ...

Haitang Bay Haitang Bay () is one of the five major bays in Sanya, Hainan Hainan is an island provinces of China, province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China ...

Hangzhou Bay Hangzhou Bay is a funnel-shaped inlet of the East China Sea on the middle eastern coast of Mainland China, bordered by the province of Zhejiang to the west and south, and the municipality of Shanghai to north. The bay extends westwards to its ...

* Hong Kong bays *

Jiaozhou Bay Jiaozhou Bay (; ; ) is a bay located in the prefecture-level city of Qingdao (Tsingtau), Shandong Province, China. The bay has historically been romanized as Kiaochow, Kiauchau or Kiao-Chau in English and Kiautschou in German. Geography ...

Korea Bay Korea(n) Bay, sometimes West Korea(n) Bay (; ; or ), is a bight and the northern extension of the Yellow Sea, between the southeastern coastline of China's Liaoning Province and the western coastline of North Korea's North Pyongan, South P ...

Laizhou Bay Laizhou Bay () is a bay on the southern shore of the Bohai Sea (also known as the ''Bohai Gulf'', or just ''Bo Hai'', which is a large and relatively shallow westward extension of the northern Yellow Sea), bounded by the northwestern coastline o ...

Liaodong Bay Liaodong Bay is largest and longest of the three main bays of the Bohai Sea, the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea. The other two bays are Laizhou Bay to the south and Bohai Bay to the southwest. Although named after the Liaodong Peninsula (wh ...

Sanya Bay __NOTOC__ Sanya Bay () is one of the five major bays in Sanya City, Hainan Province, China. Located at the southern coast of Hainan, directly south of Sanya city, it has a 22 km beach. It is bordered by a peninsula at the east side. Withi ...

* Yalong Bay *

Yellow River Delta and Bohai Sea The Bohai Economic Rim (BER) or Bohai Bay Economic Rim (BBER) is the economic region surrounding Tianjin (Tientsin). It also includes areas in Hebei, Liaoning and Shandong surrounding the Bohai Sea. This region has undergone major economic and i ...

Peninsulas

Dapeng Peninsula Dapeng Peninsula or Dapengbandao () is a peninsula in the east of Longgang district, that lies in the easternmost part of Shenzhen in the Guangdong Province in China. To the southwest of the peninsula is Mirs Bay and to the northeast is Daya B ...

Leizhou Peninsula The Leizhou Peninsula, alternately romanized as the Luichow Peninsula, is a peninsula in the southernmost part of Guangdong province in South China. As of 2015, the population of the peninsula was 5,694,245. The largest city by population and ...

Liaodong Peninsula The Liaodong or Liaotung Peninsula ( zh, s=辽东半岛, t=遼東半島, p=Liáodōng Bàndǎo) is a peninsula in southern Liaoning province in Northeast China, and makes up the southwestern coastal half of the Liaodong region. It is located ...

Macau Peninsula The Macau Peninsula is the historical and most populous part of Macau. It has an area of () and is geographically connected to Guangdong Province at the northeast through an isthmus wide. The peninsula, together with downtown Zhuhai, sits on ...

Shandong Peninsula The Shandong Peninsula or Jiaodong (tsiaotung) Peninsula is a peninsula in Shandong in eastern China, between the Bohai Sea to the north and the Yellow Sea to the south. The latter name refers to the east and Jiaozhou. Geography The waters ...

Tashi Dor Tashi Dor () is a peninsula protruding into Namtso Lake from its south-eastern corner, in the Tibetan Region of China. On the peninsula is a small monastery and several hermit caves. Nomad Nomads are communities without fixed habitation w ...

Population Centers

Liaoning ) , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = Clockwise: Mukden Palace in Shenyang, Xinghai Square in Dalian, Dalian coast, Yalu River at Dandong , image_map = Liaoning in China (+all claims hatched).svg , ...

Dalian Dalian ( ) is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China (after Shenyang ...

Dandong Dandong ( zh, s=丹东 , t=丹東 , p=Dāndōng; lit. "Red East"), formerly known as Andong, is a coastal prefecture-level city in southeastern Liaoning province, in the northeastern region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest ...

Jinzhou Jinzhou (, zh, s= , t=錦州 , p=Jǐnzhōu), formerly Chinchow, is a coastal prefecture-level city in central-west Liaoning province, China. It is a geographically strategic city located in the Liaoxi Corridor, which connects most of the la ...

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

Qinhuangdao Qinhuangdao (; zh, s=秦皇岛, link=no) is a port city on the coast of China in northern Hebei. It is administratively a prefecture-level city, about east of Beijing, on the Bohai Sea, the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea. Its population d ...

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

Yantai Yantai, formerly known as Chefoo, is a coastal prefecture-level city on the Shandong Peninsula in northeastern Shandong province of the People's Republic of China. Lying on the southern coast of the Bohai Strait, Yantai borders Qingdao ...

Qingdao Qingdao, Mandarin: , (Qingdao Mandarin: t͡ɕʰiŋ˧˩ tɒ˥) is a prefecture-level city in the eastern Shandong Province of China. Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, Qingdao was long an important fortress. In 1897, the city was ceded to G ...

Hangzhou Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...

Ningbo Ningbo is a sub-provincial city in northeastern Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises six urban districts, two satellite county-level cities, and two rural counties, including several islands in Hangzhou Bay and the Eas ...

Wenzhou Wenzhou; Chinese postal romanization, historically known as Wenchow is a prefecture-level city in China's Zhejiang province. Wenzhou is located at the extreme southeast of Zhejiang, bordering Lishui, Zhejiang, Lishui to the west, Taizhou, Zheji ...

Fuzhou Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, China. The city lies between the Min River (Fujian), Min River estuary to the south and the city of Ningde to the north. Together, Fuzhou and Ningde make up the Eastern Min, Mindong linguistic and cultural regi ...

Putian Putian ( zh, s= , Putian dialect: ''Pó-chéng''), also known as Puyang (莆阳) and Puxian (莆仙), historically known as Hinghwa/Hinghua ( zh, s=兴化, t=興化), is a prefecture-level city in Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. I ...

Xiamen Xiamen,), also known as Amoy ( ; from the Zhangzhou Hokkien pronunciation, zh, c=, s=, t=, p=, poj=Ē͘-mûi, historically romanized as Amoy, is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Stra ...

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

Chaozhou Chaozhou ( zh, t=潮州), alternatively Chiuchow, Chaochow or Teochew, is a city in the eastern Guangdong province of China. It borders Shantou to the south, Jieyang to the southwest, Meizhou to the northwest, the province of Fujian to the east, ...

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...

** Zhangjiang **

Beihai Beihai (; Postal romanization: Pakhoi) is a prefecture-level city in the south of Guangxi, People's Republic of China. Its status as a seaport on the north shore of the Gulf of Tonkin has granted it historical importance as a port of internati ...

Qinzhou Qinzhou ( postal: Yamchow or Yen Chow, , Jyutping: ''Jam1 zau1'' ( Canton) /''Ham1 zau1'' (Local) ) is a prefecture-level city in south-central Guangxi, southern China, lying on the Gulf of Tonkin and having a total population of 3,302,238 as ...

Hainan Hainan is an island provinces of China, province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. The name literally mean ...

Haikou Haikou; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanized as Hoihow is the capital city, capital and most populous city of the Chinese province of Hainan. Haikou city is situated on the northern coast of Hainan, by the mouth of the Nandu River. ...

Wenchang Wenchang ( postal: Mencheong; ; Hainanese spellings: Boon Siou) is a county-level city in the northeast of Hainan Island in China. Covering an area of , the city has a coastline of , and is divided into 17 towns. The city is a major target for t ...

Qionghai Qionghai, also called Keng Hai, is a County-level city, county-level city in Hainan, China. It is located in the east of Hainan Island. Kachek city was the capital of Keng Hai. Kachek city was 2nd largest city in Hainan island. Previous counties ...

Wanning Wanning, or in local Hainanese dialect as Ban Ning, is a county-level city in the southeast of Hainan Province, China. Although called a "city", Wanning refers to both the county seat and to the entire county as a whole. The county-wide area ...

** Dongfang

Ports

Ports of China China has 34 major ports and more than 2000 minor ports. The former are mostly sea ports (except for ports such as Shanghai, Nanjing and Jiujiang along the Yangtze and Guangzhou in the Pearl River delta) opening up to the Yellow Sea (Bo Hai), Taiwa ...

Pollution

A total of 145,000 square kilometers of shallow waters along China's vast coast failed to meet national quality standards for clean oceanic water, of which 29,000 square kilometers of seawater were seriously polluted. These severely polluted water areas included East Liaoning, Bohai and Hangzhou bays, and the estuaries of Yellow, Yangtze and Zhujiang rivers, as well as inshore areas of major coastal cities. Content of major pollutants, such as inorganic nitrogen and phosphate, remains high in contaminated seawater. During the past 50 years, the inshore ecosystem had seen 50 percent of coastal wetlands disappear in excessive reclamation and 80 percent of coral reefs and mangroves destroyed.

External links

China Coastal Research NetworkCoastal map of China On Fractal Dimensions of China's Coastlines

Notes

# https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/earth-science/articles/10.3389/feart.2022.1076801/fu
.

.https://www.nsfc.gov.cn/csc/20345/24371/pdf/2009/Coastal%20erosion%20in%20China%20under%20the%20condition%20of%20global%20climate%20change%20and%20measures%20for%20its%20prevention.pdf
# https://web.archive.org/web/20110711084531/http://www.geo-earth.com/forums/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=20698 # https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/B:MATG.0000029299.02919.f8 # https://web.archive.org/web/20090706055219/http://www.coast.org.cn/ # https://seagrant.whoi.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/WHOI-R-87-011-Ying-Wang-and-David-Au.pdf # https://heritagesciencejournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40494-024-01286-2 # https://china-underground.com/2024/02/04/prehistoric-china-from-neolithic-cultures-to-the-dawn-of-dynasties/ # https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/earth-science/articles/10.3389/feart.2021.654416/full # https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/earth-science/articles/10.3389/feart.2020.609912/full

References

{{reflist 01 Coasts of the Pacific Ocean

Natural History

Anthropology

Seas

Straits

Islands

Bays

Peninsulas

Population Centers

Ports

Pollution

See also

External links

Notes

References