|
Mainly relying on rainfall, the province's water resource is in scarcity, with only 520 cubic meters of water available for each of its residents, accounting for 18.8 percent of the national average of 2,770 cubic meters per head. For the time being, the water-supply ability of the province is 19.224 billion cubic meters, including 7.844 billion cubic meters of surface water, 5.88 billion cubic meters of underground water and 5.5 billion cubic meters diverted from the Yellow River. When 75 percent of the supply is guaranteed, the province will have 6.4 cubic meters of surface water, 5.2 cubic meters of underground water and 5.5 cubic meters of Yellow River water, a volume of 17.138 cubic meters in total.
There are more than 3,100 varieties of plant, including 645 of wide cash, growing in the province. Among the 450 species of wild land vertebrate animals (accounting for 21 percent of the nation's total), 55 are beasts, 362 are birds, eight are amphibians and 25 are reptiles. In addition, there are many species of land invertebrates, insects in particular, making the province rank No. 1 in the country in varieties of creatures in this category.
One of China's major agricultural production bases, Shandong is known as a warehouse of grains, cotton, and oil, and the land of fruits and aquatic products. It's also an important producer of wheat, cotton, peanut, tobacco, hemp, silkworms, traditional Chinese medicinal herbs and materials. The apples produced in Yantai, pears from Laiyang, peaches of Feicheng, and Leling's golden-threaded jujubes are all famous specialties.
3,000km of Coastline
Shaped like an eagle's beak, Shandong Peninsula protrudes eastward into the Bohai Sea the Yellow Sea, and possesses more than 3,000 km of golden sandy beach. The province's offshore area is more than 170,000 square km, larger than it's land area. It is dotted with 299 islands, with a total coastline of 668.6km. The area is rich in more than 60 kinds of seafood including fish, shrimps, shellfish and aquatic plants. Among others, the province's prawns, scallops, abalone, sea cucumber and sea urchins are particularly famous in and outside China.
Energy Resource Bases
As one of China's most important energy resource bases, Shandong is home to the Shengli Oilfield, the second largest in China. Moreover, the major exploitation area of the Zhongyuan Oilfield is also located in Shandong. Output of crude oil accounts for 16 percent of the national total. In recent years, the Shengli Oilfield has expanded in terms of exploration and exploitation to encompass the Bohai Sea. Thanks to the extensive applications of high-tech drilling technologies, the oil output of the Shengli Oilfield has maintained a stable and rising momentum.
Abutting the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea, the coastal advantage has created a developed marine chemical industry for Shandong. For the time being, Shandong has formed an initial marine chemical chain industry comprising calcined soda, chlorine alkali, bromine and series bromine products, and marine biochemical industry. A good scale has been formed in the intensive processing of soda ash and the comprehensive utilization of chlorine, turning out a series of products, such as lime carbonate, calcium chloride, silica hydrated, polyvinyl chloride, chlorinated polyethylene, and propylene oxide. In terms of production capacity of chlorinated polyethylene, Shandong now ranks top in Asia. In terms of management, production scale and economic returns, Shandong ranks in the national forefront with strong competitive power.
Mineral Resources
Shandong abounds in mineral resources. Across the province 128 kinds of mineral resources have been discovered, accounting for 70 percent of the confirmed mineral categories in the country. Of 74 whose reserves have been proven, more than 30 are among the top 10 richest reserves in the country. The reserves of gold and natural sulfur account for more than 90 percent of the national total, followed by gypsum (79 percent). The oil, diamonds, magnetite, cobalt, hafnium, and granite reserves are the second largest in the country, while those of sylvite, graphite, talcum, bentonite, and lime rock are the third biggest. The other minerals that are including the top 10 reserves in the country are coal, natural gas, iron, barite, diatomite, etc. The annual gold output of the province accounts for a quarter of the national total and makes up more than 50 percent of the total economic returns of the industry.
|
