This species is occurs in China (formerly from Liaoning to Guangxi including the lower Yangtze Basin) and Korea; it has been introduced to England and France (Whitehead 1993).

The Chinese population was originally found in Jilin and Liaoning provinces in the northeast of the country, in the eastern Yangtze Basin and islands at the mouth of this river, and in the southeast of the country in northwestern Guangdong, southern Hunan and central and eastern Guangxi (Ohtaishi and Gao 1990). According to Hu et al. (2006) it is now restricted in China to the central portion of that distribution in the eastern Yangtze Basin, and populations in northeastern and southeastern China are now extinct.

Currently, the species' distribution in both Koreas may be substantially reduced, but little specific information is available. It is reported as being ?relatively widespread? in the Republic of Korea (N. Moores pers. comm., 2008), particularly along the west coast. It apparently remains relatively widespread in the lower-lying parts of DPR Korea, but assessing the true status is confounded by repeated reports of widespread and frequent releases of captive-bred stock. It is unclear at what levels these occurred in the past; since the mid-1990s they are likely to have been only at low, if any, levels in all except a few high profile areas. It is possible that Chinese stock have been included in the captive populations within DPR Korea, although this has not been confirmed (J.W. Duckworth in litt. 2008).