Let’s crunch the numbers.

Here are the 32 administrative divisions of the PRC with, in order, the area (000km2), population (m), cumulative population (m), and density (000/km2) of each. Numbers from Wikipedia. List is by density, most to least.

Macau 0.03 000km2 0.5 m 0.5 m 17310 mm/000km2 Hongkong 1 6.9 7.4 6352 Greater Beijing 17 14.9 22.3 888 Greater Tianjin 12 10.2 32.5 859 Jiangsu 103 75.5 108.0 736 Shandong 157 91.8 199.8 586 Henan 167 97.2 297.0 582 Guangdong 178 83.0 380.0 467 Anhui 139 64.6 444.6 463 Greater Chongqing 82 31.4 476.0 379 Hebei 188 68.1 544.1 363 Hubei 186 60.2 604.3 324 Hunan 212 67.0 671.3 316 Fujian 121 35.1 706.4 289 Liaoning 146 42.2 748.6 289 Jiangxi 167 42.8 791.4 257 Hainan 34 8.2 799.6 241 Guizhou 176 39.0 838.6 222 Shanxi 157 33.4 872.0 213 Guangxi 237 48.9 920.9 207 Shaanxi 206 37.1 958.0 180 Sichuan 485 87.3 1045.3 180 Jilin 187 27.1 1072.4 145 Yunnan 394 44.2 1116.6 112 Ningxia 66 5.9 1122.5 89 Heilongjiang 460 38.2 1160.7 83 Gansu 454 26.2 1186.9 58 Greater Shanghai 6 18.7 1205.6 29.45 Inner Mongolia 1183 23.8 1229.4 20 East Turkestan 1660 19.6 1249.0 12 Qinghai 721 5.4 1254.4 7 Tibet 1228 2.7 1257.1 2.2

Comparing with the table of 230 nations you supplied, we see that:

–a quarter of all Chinese people (314m–more than the entire US population) live in administrative divisions whose density exceeds that of Aruba (ranked 18 of 230 on your list)

–a half of all Chinese people (629m) live in administrative divisions whose density exceeds that of the US Virgin Islands (ranked 34 of 230 on your list)

–three-quarters of all Chinese people (943m) live in administrative divisions whose density exceeds that of Pakistan (ranked 53 of 230 on your list)

Considering the sheer NUMBERS here–which, after all, count for something (if you see what I mean)–I’d say the place is overpopulated.

Look at some first derivatives, too: The population is still increasing (by 0.6 percent per annum, according to the CIA Factbook), while desertification is advancing. Add in chronic water shortages–even in the comparatively wet Northeast–and I don’t think “overpopulated” is a bad descriptor. No, it’s not poverty; it’s the shape of the distribution (as always in statistics), and people vs. resources. And sheer NUMBERS. Surely it’s a bit preposterous to compare China with Monaco.