Most rivers in China cover great distances. The Yangtze River and the Yellow River are famous rivers throughout both Asia and the world. The overall length of the Yangtze River is 6,300 km, third in the world after the Amazon of South America and the Nile of Africa. The Yellow River flows for 5,464 km, just a little shorter than the Mississippi, putting it in fifth place. In addition, the Lancang River (in its lower reaches known as the Mekong) in southwest China and the Heilong River in northeast China rank seventh and ninth respectively. If we linked all these rivers within the boundaries of China together, the overall length would be 430,000 kilometers.
The Yangtze is the longest river in China. It originates in western Qinghai Province and flows through the middle of China, passing through Qinghai, Tibet, Sichuan, Yunnan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui and Jiangsu, and empties into the East China Sea at Shanghai. Its drainage area is 1.8 million square kilometers, making up one-fifth of China's total area. The Yangtze River valley, with 24.67 million hectares of cultivated land, has always been an important agricultural base in China. Grain and cotton outputs make up more than 40 percent and 30 percent of China's total respectively, and rapeseed, sesame, natural silk, tea and tobacco also flourish here. The Yangtze River is a main artery of water transportation between eastern and western China. The cruising range of its trunk stream and tributaries make up 70 percent of China's total inland navigation. Its water transport capacity accounts for 80 percent of the total inland water transport capacity. Many cities along the Yangtze River, such as Chongqing, Wuhan, Nanjing and Shanghai, are not only important ports on the river, but also the economic centers of the regions in which they are located.