Jiangxi

Province of southeast China, bounded to the north by Hubei and Anhui, to the east by Zhejiang and Fujian, to the south by Guangdong, and to the west by Hunan; area 164,800 sq km/63,600 sq mi; population (2000 est) 41,400,000. The capital is Nanchang; other cities and towns include Ganzhou, Ji'an, Jingdezhen, Jiujiang, and Pingxiang. The Chang Jiang River and Lake Poyang are found in the province. The main industries are porcelain, coal, tungsten, copper, and uranium; agricultural products include rice, tea, cotton, tobacco, and timber. The province was Mao Zedong's original base in the first phase of the communist struggle against the nationalists.

Topography Jiangxi is enclosed by uplands on the west, south, and east, with a central lowland in which lies the Lake Poyang basin in the north and the valley of the Gan River in the south. Lake Poyang, China's largest freshwater lake, collects water from all the rivers of the province and is a natural reservoir in times of flood for the Chang Jiang River, to which it is connected to the north. The Gan River flows into the lake, and crosses the province from south to north, serving as its major navigable waterway.

Climate Jiangxi has mild winters, with January average temperatures ranging from 3°C/37°F to to 9°C/48°F; and hot summers, July temperatures averaging between 27°C/81°F and 31°C/88°F. The highest temperatures are around Lake Poyang; the lowest are in the mountains to the south. About half Jiangxi's heavy rains fall between April and June, with the average annual rainfall ranging from 1,200 mm/50 in to 1,900 mm/75 in. The heaviest precipitation occurs in the northeast of the province, but the amount can vary greatly from year to year. In 1995 heavy summer rains in the province and in neighbouring Hunan and Hubei caused severe flooding, resulting in the destruction of some 900,000 homes and the deaths of 1,200 people.

Economy The central parts of Jiangxi are densely populated. Rice is the major crop, with tea grown on the lower hillslopes; cotton is also produced. In the southern part of the province two crops of rice a year may be obtained, and subtropical crops such as sugarcane and tobacco are also grown. Lumbering is an important industry in the hills.

The main mineral resources are tungsten, mined at Siwashan; and coal, produced particularly at Pingxiang. Copper is mined and processed at Guixi and Yongping. There is good coking coal in the region which supplies the iron and steel plants at Wuhan in Hubei province. Jingdezhen is renowned for the manufacture of porcelain, a long-established industry which has been modernized in recent years.