Introduction to the National Economic Atlas of China

Summary

This paper presents the compilation of the *National Economic Atlas of China* and establishes an imagery transformation model for map compilation. The atlas integrates large-scale, high-quality data from the 1985–1986 Industrial Census and the Fourth Population Census, using over 500 socio-economic variables and 265 maps with counties and cities as the basic geographical units. It systematically reveals China’s socio-economic spatial patterns, highlighting striking regional disparities and the eastward shift of the economic center of gravity. Rigorous data quality assessments demonstrate extremely low error rates, with overall industrial census errors at 0.102% and only 0.06% net undercount in the population census. To raise the map compilation process to a theoretical level of imagery processing, a model of four sequential imagery transformations is proposed: from basic source materials to photographic negatives, from negatives to blueprints, from blueprints to compilation bases, and from compilation bases to final compilation originals. This model abstracts traditional cartographic procedures into an imagery processing framework, facilitating computer-aided interactive editing and large-database management. The atlas is recognized as a monumental achievement, both as a comprehensive cartographic portrait of the world’s most populous country and as a significant contribution to understanding contemporary socio-economic transformations. The imagery transformation model further provides a theoretical basis for advancing computer-assisted cartography.