Land Resources :

There are abundant land resources providing a vast foundation for natural and economic development.  Liaoning boasts significant grasslands for grazing, forest areas, as well as crucial agricultural land.  Urban areas account for 7.1% of the total land area in the province while 6.9% is covered by water

The land of Liaoning can be described by the following:
1. The distribution of quality cultivatable land is not uniform. High output farm lands are distributed mainly in the river valleys of the Liao River, Hun River and Taizi River, as well as the valley area in the eastern mountainous area and coastal area where there are favorable natural and good irrigation infrastructure.  The areas of intermediate grain outputdistribute in hilly land of Liaodong peninsula and in the cities of Jinzhou and Huludao in the western part of the peninsula. The areas of low grain output are located in the districts of Chaoyang and Fuxin and the surrounding areas. High output areas produce about 6,000 kilograms of grain per hectare and those in the low output area are below 3,750 kilograms per hectare.

2. Liaoning province has abundant and vast land resources in its mountainous areas. In eastern mountainous region, there are forests which are suitable for the development of ginseng and medical plants as well as the breeding of tussah silkworms. The climatic conditions in the mountainous regions of the eastern Liaodong peninsula are suitable for  apple orchards or other fruit trees. 

3. The Grassland Resources. Grasslands in the entire province comprise 8,000 square kilometers and occupy 6% of the total land area. These lands can be used for the development of livestock farming.
 
4. Coastline.  There are numerous scenic spots and historical sites which provide favorable conditions for the development of the tourism industry, leisure and recreation industry and port trading.  Up to now, the utilization ratio of land resources is comparatively low. In urban areas, the utilization ratio is about 75% and in the rural area it is below 70%. Only 45% of beaches and shoals have been utilized. Therefore, the potential in utilizing these land resources is very great.

Forest Resources:

There are 3.92 million hectares of forest land in Liaoning  province.  These forest resources of can be divided into different forest vegetation. In the eastern mountainous region, the vegetation is included in category of mixed forest of needle leaf trees and broadleaf trees. The forest there consists mainly of natural secondary forest and the major tree species are toothed oaks, birches, aspens, willows, Chinese lindens, Chinese pines, and Korean pines. In addition, there are also some valuable tree species, such as Japanese yews, ginkgos, Chinese catalpas, northeast China ash, yellow manger and lily magnolia. The eastern forest areas are a base of timber cutting. In the western mountainous region, the vegetation consists mainly of deciduous forests, and on ridges and slopes with southern exposure mixed forests ranging from Chinese pines and toothed oaks. In the hilly areas of the Liaodong peninsula one finds mainly forests of deciduous and broadleaf trees, with the major tree species being pines, toothed oaks, aspens and willows.

Plants:

Having a location in a northern temperate zone with abundant rainfall, sunlight and heat resources Liaoning provides a suitable climate for growing a variety of plants. More than 50 crops and plant species can be cultivated here. The primary crops include rice, maize, Chinese sorghum (kaoliang), wheat, millet, peanuts, soy beans and cotton. Tobacco is also an important economic plant in Liaoning.  Liaoning province is also a major fruit producer with an annual fruit output of more than 1.8 million tons. The apples from Jinzhou and Xiongyue, the white pears from Suizhong and the golden peaches from Dalian are famous all over China.

There are also rich resources of wild plants in Liaoning.  Besides those species which are included in forest and grass land resources, there have been more than 1, 350 species of plants discovered which have economic value.  They can be categorized into the following categories according to their uses:

        1) Plants for medical use: There are more than 830 medical plant species and among them 200 species are considered extremely beneficial and consistently in demand, such as ginseng, radix asari sieboldi, radix tungsten, the fruit of the Chinese magnolia vine and rhizomagastrodiae etc.

        2) Wild fruits which can be used to make starch or wines:  There are more than 70 plant species, such as wild grapes, yangtao, haw,  platycodon, acorn and water caltrops.

        3) Plant species which can be used to make fragrant oils:  There are 89 plant species, such as grass, cortex dictamni, sweetgrass, and peppermint.  All these plant species can be used as the raw materials in the perfume, food and pharmaceutical industries.

        4) Oil crops: There are 149 plant species which can be used to produce plant oils such as pine nuts, Siberian cocklebur, nut catalpa, artemisia and smelly wingceltis etc. All these plants can be utilized in the manufacturing of soap, paint, and medicine.

        5) Fiber crops: There are more than 100 plant species, such as yuedizhu, huzhizi , the bark of the elm tree, lemon tree, and reeds.  They can be used in the textile industry or for making ropes and cords, or used as packing or filling material.

        6) Tanning material crops (for tannic acid or tannin extract):  There are about 53 plant species which can be utilized to extract tanning materials.  The main crops are Chinese chestnuts, radix poplar and Chinese sumac etc.  They have extensive applications in the tannery industry as well as agents for anti-corrosion and medical applications.
        7) Traditional farm chemicals: There are about 55 plant species from which farm chemicals can be extracted.  They include dahue, tiannanxing of northeast China, the root of Chinese pilsatilla, great celandine and rope poisonous weeds.

       8) Natural dyestuff crops: There are about 7 plant species such as yellow cypress.

      9) Edible dried and wild herb: There are approximately 30 plant species included in this category, such as mushrooms, day lily, pteridophyte species (fern or brake) and wild celery etc.

       10) Fodder crops: The main fodder crops which can be utilized are Siberian cocklebur, lamb's-quarters, and the root of blossom etc.

Grass Lands
The area of grass lands, grass-covered mountains and grassy mountain slopes is 2.27 million hectares. They are distributed in hilly regions and in the western part of the province. The area of natural grass lands is 540,000 hectares. There are more than 200 edible grass species and these regions have the highest livestock sustaining capacity.

Animal Resources:

Liaoning province is located at the intersection of three regional ecosystems:  the Northeastern China ecosystem, the North China ecosystem and the Mongolian-Xinjiang ecosystem. Thus it is blessed with abundant animal resources. 827 species of vertebrates have been identified in Liaoning.  Among these there are 6 endangered species enjoying the highest level of protection.

        1) Bird species:  There are 365 species and 25 sub-species of birds, and the total number of bird species constitutes 31% of China's total.  62 bird species have been listed under the highest level of endangerment and protection including the red-crowned crane, white crane, white stork, golden vulture, big and small swans, Chinese Qiusha wild goose, tiger-head sea eagle, and white-head stork etc.
        2) Amphibious and reptile animals There are 13 amphibious animal species, and they belong to 6 categories and 2 orders. They are, eastern bell toad, shi shi toad, frog, Heilongjiang forest frog, Chinese forest frog and spotless rain frog etc.. There are 28 reptile animals, and belong to 42 categories, 3 orders and 16 families. The main reptile animals are frog tortoise, lou skin tortoise, soft-shelled turtle, gecko, lizard (7 species), snake (8 species) and sea viper. The Snake Island that locates 25 nautical miles away , and to northeast of Lushun city is a nature preserve of national grade ( and it has another name of Xiaolongshan) . There are more than ten thousands pallas pit vipers which can be utilized for scientific research, tourism and medical use.
        3) Beasts: There are 74 wild beast species and 62 of them are land beasts and 12 are sea beasts. They belong to 8 orders, 26 families and 52 categories. Among them economically valuable beasts are foxes (grass fox and red fox), badger, leopard cat (mountainous raccoon dog), roe deer, rat, wolf, jackal, leopard, black bear, violet marten, otter, lynx, musk deer, wild boar, and Mongolian gazelle etc.. In sea beasts, seal, dolphin and whale are precious and rare sea animals.
Ocean Resources in Liaoning

Along the coast of Liaoning province, there have stored abundant sea resources and natural tourist resources. In its sea territory and favorable natural conditions of its coast regions,there is a great potentiality for developing the sea resources.

Sea species:

The total number of species of sea living beings is  more than 520 . Among them 107 are plankton, 280 are shallow habituating living beings and 137 are nektons, including cephalopod, and mammals. 80 and more species of sea living beings which have economic values have been utilized by the fishery. Among them 30 and more fish species have been developed and the main fish species are spot fish , flat fish , perch, green face fin, and lion fish etc.. In offshore fish species, there are yellow sea perch carp, yellow croaker and silver pomfret. Major precious sea foods are trepang (sea cucumber) with splinters, disk abalone, scallop (fan shell) etc.. In shrimp species, there are Chinese prawn, Chinese shrimp, eagle feet prawn and crawdad etc..In crabs species, there are swimming crab, Japanese crab, Chinese chela or river pincers. In shellfish species, there are clam,clam with four splinters, oyster. In shallow sea shellfish species, there are blood clam, Kui blood clam, red sea snail etc.. Other sea food resources are jellyfish, kelp, sea weeds and laver.

Marine mineral:
A large number of different marine mineral resources scatter on the vast sea area of Liaoning province. The major marine mineral resources which have been investigated and explored are petroleum, natural gas, iron, coal, sulphur, rock salt, manganese nodule, heavy sand mine and soft sea soil containing many kinds of metals (so called hydrothermal deposits) . Petroleum and natural gas are mainly distributed in Liaodong gulf and the estimated oil resource is about 750 million tons. The estimated reserve of natural gas is approximately 100 billion cubic meters. It has been explored that the oil reserve of 125 million tons and natural gas reserve of 13.5 billion cubic meters are worth to be recovered. In offshore sand mine,thereare diamond, alluvial gold, zircon, cast sand and gravel. All these sea mineral resources have a great development potentiality.