We compared theestimates of forestareas inChina from the forestcensus database(1989-1993) and theland
cover databasebased on remote sensing dataot the NOAA AVHRRrderived monthly NDVI composite datafrom
Apri11992to March 1993at 1-km resolution, and analyzed thespatial distribution of forestresources. Accordingto
the landcover database,China has a totalforestarea of 1.27 million km2,about 3% lowerthanthe estimate from the
forestcensus database.Our county-level quantitativeanalysis of forestarea and population inChina characterized
the scarcity and uneven spatial distributionsof forestresources per capita inChina. On the average, forestareaper
caPita inChina islessthan one-fifth of the globalaverage ot O,64ha.Forestarea per capita inNerth,Central,and
South China issubstantially lower than the national average of O.11ha,and the spatial distributienin Northeast,
Central, and Seuthwest China isrelatively uneven. This study also highlightsthe challenges forusing ferest
reseurces toimprovethe ecological environment, to raise people'slivingstandards, and tospur economic growth in
China. Based en analytical results, we proposed three perspectivesconcerning China's forestresource
management in the21st century,