Overview of Dalian

Updated: 2026-06-17

01 Overview

Dalian is an important port, industrial, trade, financial, and tourism city in northern China and a leading gateway in Northeast China for opening up to the outside world.

Dalian plans to promote urbanization, new industrialization, smart city development, and agricultural modernization across the entire region. It aims to build a pilot area for industrial structure optimization and a pioneer area for high-quality economic and social development, creating a new paradigm of sustainable and high-quality development featuring an excellent business environment, strong innovation capacity, greater openness, a healthy ecological environment, high happiness index, and vibrant civic culture.

02 Geographical location

Dalian is located on the eastern coast of Eurasia and at the southernmost tip of the Liaodong Peninsula in Northeast China. It borders the Yellow Sea to the east, the Bohai Sea to the west, the Shandong Peninsula across the sea to the south, and the vast Northeast Plain to the north. It serves as a maritime gateway to Northeast China, North China, East China, and the world at large, and is an important center for port operations, trade, industry, and tourism.

The city covers a total area of 12,574 square kilometers, of which the urban core covers 2,415 sq km. The area features numerous mountains and hills, with few plains and lowlands. The terrain is higher and broader in the north and lower and narrower in the south. It slopes downward from the central axis toward the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea on the southeast and northwest sides, respectively. The Yellow Sea coastline is long and gently sloping.

The extensions of the Qianshan Mountains from the Changbai Mountain range run through this area, and most of the terrain consists of mountains and low hills formed by long-term denudation. Plains and lowlands are found only sporadically at river mouths and in some mountain valleys. Karst landforms and coastal erosion landforms are relatively well-developed.

Dalian lies in the warm temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere, featuring a warm temperate continental monsoon climate with maritime characteristics. It experiences mild winters without severe cold, cool summers without extreme heat, and four distinct seasons. The mean annual temperature is 10.5 C, annual precipitation ranges from 550 to 950 millimeters, and annual sunshine hours total 2,500-2,800 hours.

Dalian has two major water systems: the Yellow Sea Basin and the Bohai Sea Basin. The major rivers flowing into the Yellow Sea include the Biliu River, the Yingna River, the Zhuanghe River, the Zanzi River, the Dasha River, the Dengsha River, the Qingshui River, and the Malan River. The main rivers flowing into the Bohai Sea include the Fuzhou River, the Liguan Village River, and the Sanshilibao River. Among them, the largest is the Biliu River, which serves as the primary source for inter-basin water diversion to urban areas. In addition, there are over 200 smaller rivers.

Dalian's total freshwater resources amount to 3.79 billion cubic meters per year, including 3.42 billion cu m of surface water and 884 million cu m of groundwater, with an overlap of 580 million cubic meters.

It administers two county-level cities (Wafangdian and Zhuanghe), one county (Changhai), and seven districts (Zhongshan, Xigang, Shahekou, Ganjingzi, Lyushunkou, Jinzhou, and Pulandian). In addition, it is home to three national pilot areas for opening up to the outside world: the Jinpu New District, the Free Trade Zone, and the High-tech Industrial Park, as well as the Changxing Island Lingang Industrial Zone and the Huayuankou Economic Zone.

03 Natural resources

Land resources: According to the Third National Land Survey, Dalian has 379,852.49 hectares of cultivated land, 134,278.77 hectares of garden land, 409,310.01 hectares of forest land, 52,266.62 hectares of grassland, 47,193.78 hectares of wetlands, 185,582.9 hectares of land for urban villages, industry, and mining, 39,986.17 hectares of transportation land, and 120,030.62 hectares of water areas and water conservancy facility land.

Mineral resources: Dalian is rich in mineral resources, with 44 kinds of minerals discovered at 350 sites, and proven reserves for each. Non-metallic minerals predominate, accounting for 83.6 percent of total mineral resources. Diamond reserves total 9.01 million carats, accounting for 100 percent of the provincial total and 49.2 percent of the national total; flux limestone reserves total 425 million metric tons, accounting for 38.87 percent of the provincial total and ranking first in the province; cement limestone reserves total 818 million tons, accounting for 23.96 percent of the provincial total, ranking second in the province; alkali-production limestone reserves total 384 million tons, accounting for 100 percent of the provincial total; glass-grade quartzite reserves total 141 million tons, accounting for 42.66 percent of the provincial total and ranking first in the province; and construction granite reserves total 92.72 million cubic meters, accounting for 17.51 percent of the provincial total.

Forest resources: Dalian has a total forested area of 4,999 sq km, actual forest cover of 4,249 sq km, a forest coverage rate of 41.5 percent, a green coverage rate of 50 percent, and per capita green space in parks of 11.3 square meters within the built-up area. Ecological public-benefit forests cover an area of 2,755 sq km, including 734 sq km of national-level public-benefit forest and 2,021 sq km of municipal-level public-benefit forest. Natural forests cover an area of 479 sq km. The main forest types in Dalian are oak, black pine, and black locust, with 4,243 sq km of woodland and 6 sq km of specialized shrubland.

Marine resources: Dalian has an administrative maritime area of 30,100 sq km and a coastline of 2,211 km. There are 538 islands, accounting for 85 percent of the provincial total, including 40 inhabited islands and 498 uninhabited islands. There are over 300 km of deep-water shoreline, forming numerous natural harbors, and over 60 beaches. Marine tourism resources are of excellent quality. There are 414 species of marine organisms across 172 families. There are many kinds of economically valuable species, such as fish, shrimp, shellfish, and algae, as well as rare species in marine, coastal, and island ecosystems. Its seafood enjoys a high reputation both at home and abroad.

Nature Reserves: There are 36 nature reserves in Dalian – 11 nature reserves (four at the national level, one at the provincial level, and six at the municipal level); 14 forest parks (10 national and four provincial); three scenic spots (two national and one provincial); four national marine parks; and four geological parks (two national and two provincial).

Wetland resources: Dalian wetlands cover a total area of 3,583 sq km, including 2,421 sq km of offshore and coastal wetlands, 1,043 sq km of artificial wetlands (reservoirs), 115 sq km of river wetlands, and 3 sq km of swamp wetlands. The Dalian Spotted Seal National Nature Reserve was designated as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention in 2002.