ABSTRACT
This chapter briefly illustrates the situation of some major resources of China in general, and then identifies some issues and trends of shortages in particular of water, land, energy and mineral resources. Some major strategic resources, including water, oil, natural gas, arable land and others, are ranked in the top positions in terms of total amount in the world, but their per capita levels are far below the world average. The demand for water will greatly increase in coming decades, leading to the world's population to struggle intensively for water resources. As the peak of China's population is approaching and water demand for the rapid development of industrialization and urbanization is gradually increasing, the structural shortage of water resources will become more severe. Differences between the spatial and temporal distribution of water resources results in their scarcity in the north yet abundance in the south of China.
