On its northern territory, the Guanhe River, an inner river of Jiangsu, flows through from west to east until running into the Yellow Sea. The county owns 43 km of the coastal line, facing Japan and Korea by crossing the sea. Stunning local residents over years, tens of false killer whales from the Yellow Sea had swum back into its watergate as deep as 10 km. Covered by abundance of an aquatic plant species, shallow water lotus, the county is honored as a "Town of Shallow Water Lotus". Principal natural resources include its marine area and marshland. The county is currently the largest site for sea salt production in China.
Climate
Xiangshui county has an oceanic monsoon climate with humid changeable wind and distinct four seasons. The average temperature is 14 °C with the hottest 38.7 °C in July and the coldest -17 °C in January. The raining season is from the middle of June to July and the average annual precipitation is 1,000 mm. There are 209 days free of frost.
Xiangshui was traditionally a poor county, and was a testing ground for Jiangsu's economic reform policies. Its 2018 GDP was around 34.5 billion yuan, or a per capita GDP of approximately $8,300, low by Jiangsu standards. By 2018, it had joined the ranks of the "top one hundred counties for investment potential", signalling its more recent economic growth. Xiangshui was a traditional salt-making site but now it is an important agricultural land. The agricultural income occupies 30% of the county revenue. Principal agricultural products include rice, cotton, fruit, livestock and vegetable. In addition, aquatic production has earned the county a national reputation with more than 200 sea food products including fish, crab, shrimp, etc. The county's industrial sectors are still in its early shape, including textile, chemicals, machinery, food manufacturing and pharmaceuticals. Before 2000, Xiangshui is an agricultural land with uncontaminated environment and it still owns a well shaped ecosystem. However, due to more strict regulations in the more prosperous southern parts of Jiangsu province, chemical plants began moving to the relatively poor northern Jiangsu region. These chemical factories usually enjoyed the preferential treatment from the local Xiangshui government. Lacking or without strict regulation and supervision, these chemical plants brought pollution and environmental damage to the county. On November 27, 2007, an explosion occurred in one of the chemical factories in Chenjianggang Chemical Zone, with seven killed and many injured. On March 21, 2019, a major explosion occurred at a chemical plant in Chenjiagang Town. A total of 78 people were killed and more than 600 injured.
