China's population is increasing by 12 to 15 million people per year, whereas cultivated land is declining by 400,000 to 500,000 per year.
Population growth is most rapid in the economically underdeveloped arid and semi-arid regions.
These regions lack sufficient communication networks and suffer from critical ecological imbalances and natural disasters. According to Qu Geping et al., China has only 35 Mha of non-agricultural land suitable for agricultural production, of which only 14 Mha are suitable for crop cultivation. 3 Estimate of the Quantity and Quality of Cultivated Land for the Year 2000 Rapid population and economic growth contribute to environmental degradation and the loss of cultivable land. Based on these estimates, agricultural land will likely decline by 20 Mha by the year 2000. If we add the 6 to 8 Mha of land that will likely be reclaimed by the year 2000 to this figure, total agricultural land will most likely decrease by approximately 13 Mha.