Book Reviews: The National Economic Atlas of China

This is an academic review of The National Economic Atlas of China (Oxford University Press, 1994), compiled by the Institute of Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and other agencies. The review notes that the atlas, a key volume in the National Atlas Series, utilizes approximately 100 million bytes of data from 1985-1990, processed with GIS techniques, to present 265 maps illustrating the spatial patterns of China's restructuring economy. Coverage includes resources, agriculture, industry, transportation, commerce, urban construction, environment, and education. The review praises its cartographic virtuosity and data accuracy, deeming it a definitive reference on China's economic geography. However, it also identifies flaws, including inconsistent mapping in sparsely populated western regions, overly complex multivariate maps, and the lack of post-1990 data.