Northeast China

Northeast China (<a href="/facts/Simplified_Chinese_characters/UcAD6xXs">Chinese</a>: 东北; <a href="/facts/Pinyin/pUwjfMXg">pinyin</a>: Dōngběi) is a <a href="/facts/List_of_regions_of_China/sps3NYSf">geographical region</a> of <a href="/facts/China/lTjIXY5p">China</a>, consisting officially of three <a href="/facts/Provinces_of_China/e3hWhWHj">provinces</a> <a href="/facts/Liaoning/cgS09ncg">Liaoning</a>, <a href="/facts/Jilin/JhwB76Lf">Jilin</a> and <a href="/facts/Heilongjiang/lCa5cxw7">Heilongjiang</a>. The heartland of the region is the <a href="/facts/Northeast_China_Plain/yDeJsV0N">Northeast China Plain</a>, the largest <a href="/facts/Plain/yM1ghtmc">plain</a> in China with an area of over 350,000 km2 (140,000 sq mi). The region is separated from the <a href="/facts/Russian_Far_East/BT7sYGTP">Russian Far East</a> to the north and east by the <a href="/facts/Amur_River/JeIkRTUg">Amur</a>, <a href="/facts/Argun_River_(Asia)/43oC9zLG">Argun</a> and <a href="/facts/Ussuri/eo1b8n33">Ussuri</a> Rivers; from <a href="/facts/North_Korea/Q41laakP">North Korea</a> to the south by the <a href="/facts/Yalu_River/aPuIXhrb">Yalu</a> and <a href="/facts/Tumen_River/AQndhQC7">Tumen Rivers</a>; and from the neighboring <a href="/facts/North_China/mmmH3l53">North China</a> to the west by the <a href="/facts/Greater_Khingan_Range/QTHwYc57">Greater Khingan Range</a> and <a href="/facts/Yan_Mountains/GU4qN45g">Yan Mountains</a>. It is also bounded by the <a href="/facts/Bohai_Bay/pr6YGwnV">Bohai Bay</a> and <a href="/facts/Yellow_Sea/0T615mgC">Yellow Sea</a> to the southwest, about 100 km (62 mi) away from <a href="/facts/East_China/NcUR0JN1">East China</a>'s <a href="/facts/Jiaodong_Peninsula/uh4JeAsn">Jiaodong Peninsula</a> across the <a href="/facts/Bohai_Strait/0qUmCjn2">Bohai Strait</a>, due to be connected via <a href="/facts/Bohai_Strait_tunnel_project/kRfTKWQ6">a proposed undersea tunnel</a>.
The four <a href="/facts/Prefecture_(China)/c4waMFuN">prefectures</a> of <a href="/facts/Inner_Mongolia/6nlXuwM9">Inner Mongolia</a> (which is part of North China) east of the Greater Khingan, i.e. <a href="/facts/Chifeng/NtSpm8nP">Chifeng</a>, <a href="/facts/Tongliao/Es4VM3v9">Tongliao</a>, <a href="/facts/Hinggan_League/GTEqRK5V">Hinggan</a> and <a href="/facts/Hulunbuir/IobQIpcl">Hulunbuir</a>, are sometimes also considered broader parts of Northeast China, and together with the aforementioned three provinces formed what was historically known as Inner Manchuria, in contrast to the <a href="/facts/Outer_Manchuria/k2vz1J5a">Outer Manchuria</a> (or "Outer Northeast" in Chinese literatures) <a href="/facts/Amur_Annexation/zHXcIwb2">annexed</a> by the <a href="/facts/Russian_Empire/hg1g5SpV">Russian Empire</a> during the mid-<a href="/facts/19th_century/6LHXycA8">19th century</a>.
Northeast China is one of the country's most important <a href="/facts/Breadbasket/rMsYJTv3">breadbaskets</a> due to its fertile <a href="/facts/Chernozem/Llzs7akb">black soil</a>, producing over 20% of China's total <a href="/facts/Staple_food/GNo3putV">staple</a> <a href="/facts/Food_production/1JPhss6V">food production</a> in 2020. It was also one of the first regions of China to <a href="/facts/Industrialization_of_China/uSTo93rV">undergo industrialization</a>, and was the pioneering region during the <a href="/facts/Planned_economy/TCMJrC5M">planned economy</a> era that followed the <a href="/facts/Founding_of_the_People%2527s_Republic_of_China/5PRH09rn">founding of the People's Republic of China</a>, earning it the honorfic nickname "the Republic's eldest son" (<a href="/facts/Simplified_Chinese_characters/UcAD6xXs">Chinese</a>: 共和国长子; <a href="/facts/Pinyin/pUwjfMXg">pinyin</a>: gònghéguó zhǎngzǐ). However since the <a href="/facts/Reform_and_opening_up/fhdC9JDe">Chinese economic reform of the 1980s</a>, which had mostly benefited the coastal provinces in <a href="/facts/East_China/NcUR0JN1">East</a> and <a href="/facts/South_China/f6KLGwCP">South China</a> that have direct access to export <a href="/facts/Sea_route/z5cu55nt">sea routes</a> and <a href="/facts/Foreign_direct_investment/6FC93H4n">foreign investments</a>, the Northeast's once-powerful industrial sector has <a href="/facts/Deindustrialization/DCGYhT1B">shrunk</a> significantly with stagnant economic growth, mass <a href="/facts/Layoff/8Nc5HRHV">layoffs</a> from <a href="/facts/State-owned_enterprises_of_China/89JRruJG">state-owned enterprises</a> during the late 1990s, and ongoing exodus of <a href="/facts/Skilled_worker/aU7cn9TL">skilled population</a> since the turn of the 21st century, leading to the region being often referred to as China's <a href="/facts/Rust_Belt/W91XSt7x">Rust Belt</a>. To salvage the situation, an economic campaign named the <a href="/facts/Northeast_Area_Revitalization_Plan/9C3JfHMU">Northeast Area Revitalization Plan</a> was launched in 2003 by the <a href="/facts/State_Council_of_the_People%2527s_Republic_of_China/Wj6VBtnt">State Council</a> and the newly ascended <a href="/facts/Hu%25E2%2580%2593Wen_Administration/Pcv8a9Fm">Hu–Wen Administration</a>, in which five prefectures of eastern Inner Mongolia, namely <a href="/facts/Hulunbuir/IobQIpcl">Hulunbuir</a>, <a href="/facts/Hinggan_League/GTEqRK5V">Hinggan</a>, <a href="/facts/Tongliao/Es4VM3v9">Tongliao</a>, <a href="/facts/Chifeng/NtSpm8nP">Chifeng</a> and <a href="/facts/Xilin_Gol_League/0MBVhcDF">Xilin Gol</a>, are also formally defined as regions of the Northeast.

Northeast China open-in-new

Northeast China