China has 228 rivers with drainage basins larger than 10,000 square kilometres, with a combined length of 132,500 kilometres. Their annual runoff ranks 6th in the world. Three of the world's ten longest rivers flow through China.

Rivers in China can originate in three main regions: Southeast of the Tibetan Plateau, from where the longest rivers emerge; the corridor between the Da Hinggan Range, Hebei and Shanxi mountains, the Western Henan mountains, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, where rivers typically have smaller flow rates; and the corridor between the Changbai Mountain, Shandong hills, and the southeastern coastal ranges. Rivers that originate in the latter generally have shorter and smaller drainage basins than the former two, but carry abundant water.

Most rivers in China are exorheic, flowing into the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Arctic Ocean. Rivers flowing into the Pacific Ocean cover 56.7% of China's total land area. The area of Greater Khingan–Yin Mountains–Helan Mountains–Eastern Qilian Mountains–Bayan Har Mountains–Gangdise Shan divides China's endorheic and exorheic regions. Rivers west of the area are mostly endorheic. While rivers in the country cover one-third of the land area, they contain less than 5% of the total water.

There are seven drainage systems in China, listed from north to south: Songhua River, Liao River, Hai River, Yellow River, Huai River, Yangtze, and Pearl River. Together, these systems cover most of the country's rivers.

This list includes rivers flowing through China with main stems at least 1,000 km long. Transboundary rivers whose length within China is shorter than 1,000 km are not included.

Rivers The list number is based on the . Numbers vary between sources due to differences in the definition of a river's source or the methods used to measure its length. The list will note figures from other sources if they differ by more than 10%.

In this list, only river length, drainage areas, and discharge within China are counted. The number of rivers outside China, i.e. transboundary rivers, is given in parentheses.

indicated that parts of the river crossed Chinese boundaries (i.e. transboundary river). #NameSome transboundary rivers changed their names after crossing Chinese boundaries. This list retains their Chinese name while linking to their English entry.Length of main stem (km)Flowing area (km2)Flowing regions in ChinaGrouped by Provinces of China. Countries through which the transboundary rivers flow are given in parentheses. Annual flow rate (100 million m3) Flow into Coordinate of its river mouth Picture Citations16300+1800000Qinghai, Sichuan, Tibet, Yunnan, Chongqing, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu, Shanghai9150East China Sea2Yellow River5464813400Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong580Bohai Sea3Heilong River (Russia, Mongolia,) Inner Mongolia, HeilongjiangStrait of Tartary4Tarim River2572 Xinjiang49 Taitema Lake5Songhua River2309 556800Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Jilin783.97Heilong River6Pearl River2214Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Guangdong3264South China Sea7Lancang RiverTibet, Yunnan, (Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam)South China Sea8Yarlung TsangpoTibet, (India, Bangladesh)1649（6179）Ganges9Nu RiverTibet, Yunnan, (Myanmar, Thailand)Andaman Sea10Han River1577159000Shaanxi, Hubei566Yangtze11Yalong River1535128439Qinghai, Sichuan571Yangtze（Jinsha River）12Liao River1345219600Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Liaoning137.2Bohai Sea13Yu River1157Yunnan, Guangxi476.7Pearl River（Xun River）14Hotan River113848870Xinjiang10.28Tarim River15Hai River1122 234618Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong226Bohai Sea16Jialing River1120159800Gansu, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Chongqing659Yangtze17Dadu River 106090700Qinghai, Sichuan495Min River18Wu River103787920Guizhou, Chongqing509Yangtze19Yuan River103389647Hunan, Guizhou671Dongting Lake20Huai River1000 270000Henan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu595Yangtze, etc

Canals

China is one of the oldest canal-constructing civilisations, with the oldest being the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. The largest water transfer scheme in the world is the South–North Water Transfer Project in China. # Name Length of main canal (km)Cities flowing throughMain endpointPicture11801Beijing、Tianjin、Hebei、Shandong、Jiangsu、Zhejiang, Qiantang River21432Henan、Hebei、Tianjin、BeijingDanjiangkou Reservoir (Origin), Tuancheng Lake, Outer Ring Canal of Tianjin3 1156 Jiangsu、Shandong、Hebei、Tianjin (Origin), Tianjin

See also

List of rivers of China List of river systems by length List of longest rivers of the United States List of lakes of China List of dams and reservoirs in China

Notes

References