Race with China~III

But the fertile central plain is both China‘s strength as well as its weakness. China feeds 23 per cent of the world‘s population from 7 per cent of arable land, by crowding some 2,000 human beings onto each square mile of cultivated earth in the valleys and flood plains. But the narrow coastal zone of prosperity also creates a deep social chasm because it profits hugely from maritime trade which does not flow to the rest of China.