1
Yangtze River
- Length on source basis (km)
- 6300
HomeGeography & CitiesChina’s 10 Longest River Main Stems (China Rivers and Lakes Encyclopedia method)
Top 10Updated October 16, 2026
China’s 10 Longest River Main Stems (China Rivers and Lakes Encyclopedia method)
Ranked using China-internal river-length data based on the Encyclopedia of Rivers and Lakes in China. Transboundary rivers use the domestic reach recorded by the source. Headwater definitions and river-system boundaries affect lengths; this list follows the selected source’s conventions and does not recalculate them.
Top 3
- 1Yangtze River
About this ranking
- Ranking type
- Data ranking
- Data as of
- October 16, 2026
- Last source review
- October 16, 2026
The first ten rows follow the selected row-by-row ranking source and its descending river-length order. The source states that its list is based on the Encyclopedia of Rivers and Lakes in China and counts only river length within China; foreign reaches of transboundary rivers are excluded. This table retains the source’s headwater and river-system definitions and does not remeasure them. Tarim uses the source’s four-sources/one-channel definition; Songhua uses the Nen source. An older NBS water-resources table gives Songhua as 2,308 km and Pearl as 2,214 km; the selected source gives Songhua as 2,309 km. Authoritative sources give other lengths for Tarim, Nu, and some other rivers, so the title identifies this as a source-specific comparison and the source notes disclose the differences.
References: 8. Page edits do not imply that the underlying data is newer.
Change history
- The old table mixed source-headwater and river-system conventions, shifting values and ranks. Songhua was listed as 1,927 km, although the selected water-department convention measures 2,309 km from the Nen source; it was consequently ranked below Pearl and Tarim. Tarim’s 2,179 km uses a single Yarkand-source convention, which the old table did not disclose, while the selected consistent ranking source gives 2,572 km under its four-sources/one-channel convention. Pearl was listed at 2,320 km while the selected source gives 2,214 km for the Xi River main stem. The top ten are corrected row by row to the China-internal river-length ordering based on the Encyclopedia of Rivers and Lakes in China, following its own source definitions and domestic-reach rules. Some sources still differ slightly for Songhua and Pearl, and more substantially for Tarim and Nu; the title, method, and source notes identify this as a source-specific ranking rather than claiming that all sources use identical measurements. [corpus433:3df7d2efcbafc5570124e500a8b53d60e161442968a852f16f251a7d797ff19a]
Interesting Facts & Summary
This ranking follows one China Rivers and Lakes Encyclopedia source table. Transboundary rivers use the China-internal lengths listed by that source; Tarim follows its four-sources/one-channel definition. Authoritative references can differ because they define headwaters and river systems differently; see the source notes.
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Sources
- CHINA-RIVER-LENGTHS-ENCYCLOPEDIA-TRANSCRIPTION · Wikipedia contributors; row table cites Encyclopedia of Rivers and Lakes in ChinaList of longest rivers of China
This public row table lists main-stem lengths within China, order, and provinces, and states that the order follows the Encyclopedia of Rivers and Lakes in China, excludes foreign reaches, and varies with source definitions. It is used as an accessible row-by-row transcription; the underlying references are the corresponding basin volumes of the Ministry of Water Resources-organized encyclopedia. Tarim follows its four-sources/one-channel convention.
Accessed: 2026-10-16 - CHINA-RIVERS-LAKES-ENCYCLOPEDIA-PUBLISHER · 中国水利水电出版社Encyclopedia of Rivers and Lakes in China: compilation and volumes
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