Rethinking China's new great wall.

C hina’s position as the world’s second largest economy is largely due to its rapid economic growth in the coastal region, which composes only 13% of China’s total land area, yet contributes 60% of the gross domestic product (GDP). To create extra land for the rapidly growing economy, coastal wetlands have been enclosed by thousands of kilometers of seawalls, whose length exceeds that of China’s famous ancient “Great Wall” (see photos and map). This new “Great Wall,” covering 60% of the total length of coastBy Zhijun Ma , * David S. Melville, 2 Jianguo Liu, Ying Chen, Hongyan Yang , 5 ,6 Wenwei Ren, 7 Zhengwang Zhang, Theunis Piersma, 6 Bo Li Rethinking China’s new great wall