Explanatory Notes on
Main Statistical Indicators
Administrative Division
refers to the division of administrative areas by the state. The Constitution
of the People’s Republic of China stipulates that the administrative areas in
China are divided as: 1) The whole Country is divided into provinces,
autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government; 2)
Provinces and autonomous regions are divided into autonomous prefectures,
counties, autonomous counties and cities; 3) Autonomous prefectures are divided
into counties, autonomous counties and cities; 4) Counties and autonomous
counties are divided into townships, nationality townships and towns; 5)
Municipalities and large cities are divided into districts and counties, 6) The
state shall, when necessary, establish special administrative regions.
Territory
refers to territorial land, sea and air space under the administration of a
sovereign state.
Climate
refers to the natural environmental status formed by the long-time exchange of
energy and mass between the earth and the air, and is the results of
interaction of many factors. Climate is both one of the environment factors and
the important resources for the living and production activities of the human
being. The average values across several years of meteorological factors such
as temperature, rainfall and humidity are used as important parameters to
describe the climate of a region, while the average values (or total values) of
a given year or month of meteorological factors reflect the key characteristics
of climate for that period of time.
Natural Resources
refer to material resources that could be obtained from the nature by human
being and used for production and living. Natural resources in general can be
classified as renewable resources and non-renewable resources. Renewable
resources refer to resources that could be renewed and recycled during a
relatively short period of time, including land resource, water resource,
climate resource, biology resource and marine resource. Non-renewable resources
include resources that could not be renewed, such as minerals and geothermal
resource.
Area of Cultivated Land refers
to land for the cultivation of various farm crops, including irrigated land,
manual-watered land, dry land and vegetable land.
Area of Afforestated Land
refer to land for trees bamboo, bushes and mangrove, including forest-cover
land, bush-covered land, sparse forest land, land planned for afforestation and
nurseries of young trees.
Area of Grassland
refers to areas of grassland, grass-slopes and grass-covered hills with a
vegetation-covering rate of over 5% that are used for animal husbandry or
harvesting of grass. It includes natural, cultivated and improved grassland
areas.
Forest Resource refers
to forests, trees, forestland and wild animals, plants and microorganism that
live on forest and trees. Trees include trees and bamboo.
Total Standing Stock Volume
refers to the total stock volume of trees growing in land，including
trees in forest， tress in sparse forest, scattered trees
and trees planted by the side of farm houses and along the roads, rivers and
fields.
Forest Area
refers to the area of forest land where trees and bamboo grow with canopy
density above 0.2，including land of
natural woods and planted woods, but excluding bush land and thin forest land.
It reflects the total areas of afforestation．
Stock Volume of Forest
refers to total stock volume of wood growing in forest area，which
shows the total size and level of forest resources of a Country or a region．It
is also an important indicator illustrating the richness of forest resource and
the status of forest ecological environment.
Forest Coverage Rate
refers to the ratio of area of afforested land to total land area．This
indicator shows the forest resources and afforestation progress of a Country or
a region．According to regulations of the government，
in addition to afforested land，the area of bush forest,
the area of forest land inside farm land and the area of trees planted by the
side of farm houses and along the roads, rivers and fields should also be
included in the area of afforested land in the calculation of the forest
coverage-rate. The formula for calculating forest coverage rate is as follows：
Forestry
coverage rate (%)= (Area of Afforested Land/Area of Total Land)×100%
Water Resource
Water exists in the nature in solid, liquid and gaseous states, is distributed
in the ocean, land (including earth) and air, and constitutes the water
resource through the circulation of water. Water resource includes the surface
water and underground water that is controlled by the human being for
irrigation, power-generation, water supply, navigation and cultivation. It also
includes rivers, lakes, wells, springs, tides, gulf and water area for cultivation.
Water resource as an important natural resource is indispensable for the
development of the national economy.
Surface Water and Underground
Water. Water on earth can be divided into surface water and
underground water according to its distribution. Surface water refers to
moisture exists in rivers, lakes, swamps, glaciers, icecaps and so on. It is
also called land water. The underground water refers to water deposited
underground in the cranny and the hole of saturated rock soil and in the
water-eroded cave.
Inland Water Area
refers to water area of rivers，lakes，ponds，reservoir，etc．
Runoff refers
to the water gathered at the way out of the cross section of drainage area
either from the surface or underground after deducting the wastage of the
precipitation. Runoff can be
divided into surface runoff, underground runoff and within soil runoff. Surface
runoff refers to water flow to the rivers, lakes, swamps, and seas on the
surface of the earth. Underground runoff refers to water flow to rivers, lakes,
swamps, and seas through the water-bearing stratum of confined layer or
unconfined layer.
Volume of Runoff
refers to the total volume of water running through a certain cross section of
a river during a certain period of time, reflecting the water resource condition
in a country or a region. The formula for calculating volume or runoff is as
follows：
Runoff =Precipitation-Evaporation
Mineral Resources refer
to useful minerals that can be used for industrial or agricultural purposes
enriched in lithosphere or on earth due to the geological process.
Ensured Mineral Reserves
refer to the actual mineral reserves, which equal to the proven mineral
reserves (including industrial reserves and prospective reserves) minus
extracted parts and underground losses. This indicator shows the current
condition of the mineral resources of a Country．
Drainage Area
Each river has its own main stream and branches to form the water system of the
river. Each river has its own catchment area, which is also called as the
drainage area of the river.
Out-flowing Rivers
refer to rivers directly or indirectly flowing into the sea. The area providing
water to the out-flowing rivers is called as out-flowing area.
Inland Rivers
refer to rivers in inland dry areas that die away in desert on the way or
infuse into inland lakes. The area providing water to the inland rivers is
called as inland area.
Temperature
refers to the air temperature.
Monthly average temperature
is the summation of average daily temperature of one month divided by the
actual days of that particular month.
Annual average temperature is
the summation of monthly average of a year divided by 12 months.
Relative Humidity
refers to the ratio of actual water vapor pressure to the saturation water
vapor density under the current temperature. The calculation method is the same
as that of temperature.
Volume of Precipitation
refers to the deepness of liquid state or solid state (thawed) water falling
from the sky to the ground that has not been evaporated, infiltrated or run
off. The calculation method is as follows:
Monthly precipitation is
the summation of daily precipitation of a month.
Annual precipitation is
the summation of 12 months precipitation of a year.
Sunshine Hours refer to the actual
hours of sun irradiating the earth. The calculation method is the same as that
of the precipitation.