China has a continental coastline of approximately 18,000 kilometers. It starts from the estuary of the Yalu River in LiaoNing Province and runs to the estuary of BeiLun River in GuangXi Province. Many excellent ports, most of which are ice-free, dot the coastline. The water bodies of China include the Bo Sea, Yellow Sea, East China Sea, South China Sea and the sea area of the Pacific Ocean east to Taiwan. The Bo Sea is the inland sea of China. The area of the Pacific Ocean east to Taiwan starts north from the Xiandao archipelago, southwest to the LiuQiu archipelago of Japan and southward to the BaShi Strait.

The sea area of China includes the internal waters and territorial sea. The area covers approximately 380,000 square kilometers. The internal waters of China are on the landward side of the coastline. The breadth of the Chinese territorial sea is a 12 nautical mile limit.

There are more than 5,000 islands and islets in the Chinese maritimes with a total area of 80,000 square meters. The coastline of the islands is about 14,000 kilometres. Taiwan（360,000 square kilometers）and HaiNan (340,000 square kilometers) are the biggest islands in the region. Northeast of Taiwan, the islands of Diaoyu and Chiwu Yu represent the eastern islands of China. The islands, reefs and beaches scattered on Nan hai are referred to as the South China Sea Islands. The south-end islands in China are called Dongsha, Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha.