| Background: |
For centuries
China has stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the
rest of the world in the arts and sciences. But in the first
half of the 20th century, China was beset by major famines,
civil unrest, military defeats, and foreign occupation.
After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong
established a dictatorship that, while ensuring China's
sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and
cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978,
his successor DENG Xiaoping gradually introduced
market-oriented reforms and decentralized economic decision
making. Output quadrupled in the next 20 years and China now
has the world's second largest GDP. Political controls
remain tight even while economic controls continue to
weaken. |
| Location: |
Eastern Asia,
bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and
South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam |
| Geographic
coordinates: |
35 00 N, 105 00 E |
| Area: |
total:
9,596,960 sq km
land: 9,326,410 sq km
water: 270,550 sq km |
| Area
- comparative: |
slightly smaller
than the US |
| Land
boundaries: |
total:
22,147.24 km
border countries: Afghanistan 76 km, Bhutan 470
km, Burma 2,185 km, Hong Kong 30 km, India 3,380 km,
Kazakhstan 1,533 km, North Korea 1,416 km, Kyrgyzstan 858
km, Laos 423 km, Macau 0.34 km, Mongolia 4,676.9 km, Nepal
1,236 km, Pakistan 523 km, Russia (northeast) 3,605 km,
Russia (northwest) 40 km, Tajikistan 414 km, Vietnam 1,281
km |
| Maritime
claims: |
contiguous
zone: 24 NM
continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the
continental margin
territorial sea: 12 NM |
| Climate: |
extremely
diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north |
| Terrain: |
mostly mountains,
high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in
east |
| Elevation
extremes: |
lowest point:
Turpan Pendi -154 m
highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999
est.) |
| Natural
resources: |
coal, iron ore,
petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony,
manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead,
zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest) |
| Land
use: |
arable land:
10%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 43%
forests and woodland: 14%
other: 33% (1993 est.) |
| Irrigated
land: |
498,720 sq km
(1993 est.) |
| Natural
hazards: |
frequent typhoons
(about five per year along southern and eastern coasts);
damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts |
| Environment
- current issues: |
air pollution
(greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide particulates) from
reliance on coal, produces acid rain; water shortages,
particularly in the north; water pollution from untreated
wastes; deforestation; estimated loss of one-fifth of
agricultural land since 1949 to soil erosion and economic
development; desertification; trade in endangered species |
| Environment
- international agreements: |
party to:
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping,
Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Marine Life Conservation |
| Geography
- note: |
world's
fourth-largest country (after Russia, Canada, and US) |
| Population: |
1,273,111,290
(July 2001 est.) |
| Age
structure: |
0-14 years:
25.01% (male 166,754,893; female 151,598,117)
15-64 years: 67.88% (male 445,222,858; female
418,959,646)
65 years and over: 7.11% (male 42,547,296;
female 48,028,480) (2001 est.) |
| Population
growth rate: |
0.88% (2001 est.) |
| Birth
rate: |
15.95
births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| Death
rate: |
6.74 deaths/1,000
population (2001 est.) |
| Net
migration rate: |
-0.39 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2001 est.) |
| Sex
ratio: |
at birth:
1.09 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female
total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2001
est.) |
| Infant
mortality rate: |
28.08
deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
| Life
expectancy at birth: |
total
population: 71.62 years
male: 69.81 years
female: 73.59 years (2001 est.) |
| Total
fertility rate: |
1.82 children
born/woman (2001 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- adult prevalence rate: |
0.07% (1999 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- people living with HIV/AIDS: |
500,000 (1999
est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- deaths: |
17,000 (1999
est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun:
Chinese (singular and plural)
adjective: Chinese |
| Ethnic
groups: |
Han Chinese
91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu,
Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1% |
| Religions: |
Daoist (Taoist),
Buddhist, Muslim 2%-3%, Christian 1% (est.)
note: officially atheist |
| Languages: |
Standard Chinese
or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue
(Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese),
Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic
groups entry) |
| Literacy: |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 81.5%
male: 89.9%
female: 72.7% (1995 est.) |
| Country
name: |
conventional
long form: People's Republic of China
conventional short form: China
local long form: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo
local short form: Zhong Guo
abbreviation: PRC |
| Government
type: |
Communist state |
| Administrative
divisions: |
23 provinces (sheng,
singular and plural), 5 autonomous regions* (zizhiqu,
singular and plural), and 4 municipalities** (shi, singular
and plural); Anhui, Beijing**, Chongqing**, Fujian, Gansu,
Guangdong, Guangxi*, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang,
Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei
Mongol*, Ningxia*, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanghai**,
Shanxi, Sichuan, Tianjin**, Xinjiang*, Xizang* (Tibet),
Yunnan, Zhejiang; note - China considers Taiwan its 23rd
province; see separate entries for the special
administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau |
| Independence: |
221 BC
(unification under the Qin or Ch'in Dynasty 221 BC; Qing or
Ch'ing Dynasty replaced by the Republic on 12 February 1912;
People's Republic established 1 October 1949) |
| National
holiday: |
Founding of the
People's Republic of China, 1 October (1949) |
| Constitution: |
most recent
promulgation 4 December 1982 |
| Legal
system: |
a complex amalgam
of custom and statute, largely criminal law; rudimentary
civil code in effect since 1 January 1987; new legal codes
in effect since 1 January 1980; continuing efforts are being
made to improve civil, administrative, criminal, and
commercial law |
| Suffrage: |
18 years of age;
universal |
| Executive
branch: |
chief of
state: President JIANG Zemin (since 27 March 1993)
and Vice President HU Jintao (since 16 March 1998)
head of government: Premier ZHU Rongji (since
18 March 1998); Vice Premiers QIAN Qichen (since 29 March
1993), LI Lanqing (29 March 1993), WU Bangguo (since 17
March 1995), and WEN Jiabao (since 18 March 1998)
cabinet: State Council appointed by the
National People's Congress (NPC)
elections: president and vice president elected
by the National People's Congress for five-year terms;
elections last held 16-18 March 1998 (next to be held NA
March 2003); premier nominated by the president, confirmed
by the National People's Congress
election results: JIANG Zemin reelected
president by the Ninth National People's Congress with a
total of 2,882 votes (36 delegates voted against him, 29
abstained, and 32 did not vote); HU Jintao elected vice
president by the Ninth National People's Congress with a
total of 2,841 votes (67 delegates voted against him, 39
abstained, and 32 did not vote) |
| Legislative
branch: |
unicameral
National People's Congress or Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui
(2,979 seats; members elected by municipal, regional, and
provincial people's congresses to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held NA December 1997-NA
February 1998 (next to be held late 2002-NA March 2003)
election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats
- NA |
| Judicial
branch: |
Supreme People's
Court (judges appointed by the National People's Congress);
Local Peoples Courts (comprise higher, intermediate and
local courts); Special Peoples Courts (primarily military,
maritime, and railway transport courts) |
| Political
parties and leaders: |
Chinese Communist
Party or CCP [JIANG Zemin, General Secretary of the Central
Committee]; eight registered small parties controlled by CCP |
| Political
pressure groups and leaders: |
no substantial
political opposition groups exist, although the government
has identified the Falungong sect and the China Democracy
Party as potential rivals |
| International
organization participation: |
AfDB, APEC, ARF
(dialogue partner), AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, CCC,
CDB (non-regional), ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC,
ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO,
Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, LAIA
(observer), MINURSO, NAM (observer), OPCW, PCA, UN, UN
Security Council, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO,
UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNTAET, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WHO, WIPO,
WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer), ZC |
| Diplomatic
representation in the US: |
chief of
mission: Ambassador-designate YANG Jiechi
chancery: 2300 Connecticut Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 328-2500
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los
Angeles, New York, and San Francisco |
| Diplomatic
representation from the US: |
chief of
mission: Ambassador Joseph W. PRUEHER
embassy: Xiu Shui Bei Jie 3, 100600 Beijing
mailing address: PSC 461, Box 50, FPO AP
96521-0002
telephone: [86] (10) 6532-3431
FAX: [86] (10) 6532-6422
consulate(s) general: Chengdu, Guangzhou,
Shanghai, Shenyang |
| Flag
description: |
red with a large
yellow five-pointed star and four smaller yellow
five-pointed stars (arranged in a vertical arc toward the
middle of the flag) in the upper hoist-side corner |
| Economy
- overview: |
In late 1978 the
Chinese leadership began moving the economy from a sluggish
Soviet-style centrally planned economy to a more
market-oriented system. Whereas the system operates within a
political framework of strict Communist control, the
economic influence of non-state managers and enterprises has
been steadily increasing. The authorities have switched to a
system of household responsibility in agriculture in place
of the old collectivization, increased the authority of
local officials and plant managers in industry, permitted a
wide variety of small-scale enterprise in services and light
manufacturing, and opened the economy to increased foreign
trade and investment. The result has been a quadrupling of
GDP since 1978. In 2000, with its 1.26 billion people but a
GDP of just $3,600 per capita, China stood as the second
largest economy in the world after the US (measured on a
purchasing power parity basis). Agricultural output doubled
in the 1980s, and industry also posted major gains,
especially in coastal areas near Hong Kong and opposite
Taiwan, where foreign investment helped spur output of both
domestic and export goods. On the darker side, the
leadership has often experienced in its hybrid system the
worst results of socialism (bureaucracy and lassitude) and
of capitalism (windfall gains and stepped-up inflation).
Beijing thus has periodically backtracked, retightening
central controls at intervals. The government has struggled
to (a) collect revenues due from provinces, businesses, and
individuals; (b) reduce corruption and other economic
crimes; and (c) keep afloat the large state-owned
enterprises many of which had been shielded from competition
by subsides and had been losing the ability to pay full
wages and pensions. From 80 to 120 million surplus rural
workers are adrift between the villages and the cities, many
subsisting through part-time low-paying jobs. Popular
resistance, changes in central policy, and loss of authority
by rural cadres have weakened China's population control
program, which is essential to maintaining growth in living
standards. Another long-term threat to continued rapid
economic growth is the deterioration in the environment,
notably air pollution, soil erosion, and the steady fall of
the water table especially in the north. China continues to
lose arable land because of erosion and economic
development. Weakness in the global economy in 2001 could
hamper growth in exports. Beijing will intensify efforts to
stimulate growth through spending on infrastructure--such as
water control and power grids--and poverty relief and
through rural tax reform aimed at eliminating arbitrary
local levies on farmers. |
| GDP: |
purchasing power
parity - $4.5 trillion (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- real growth rate: |
8% (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- per capita: |
purchasing power
parity - $3,600 (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- composition by sector: |
agriculture:
15%
industry: 50%
services: 35% (2000 est.) |
| Population
below poverty line: |
10% (1999 est.) |
| Household
income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%:
2.4%
highest 10%: 30.4% (1998) |
| Inflation
rate (consumer prices): |
0.4% (2000 est.) |
| Labor
force: |
700 million (1998
est.) |
| Labor
force - by occupation: |
agriculture 50%,
industry 24%, services 26% (1998) |
| Unemployment
rate: |
urban
unemployment roughly 10%; substantial unemployment and
underemployment in rural areas (2000 est.) |
| Budget: |
revenues:
$NA
expenditures: $NA, including capital
expenditures of $NA |
| Industries: |
iron and steel,
coal, machine building, armaments, textiles and apparel,
petroleum, cement, chemical fertilizers, footwear, toys,
food processing, automobiles, consumer electronics,
telecommunications |
| Industrial
production growth rate: |
10% (2000 est.) |
| Electricity
- production: |
1.173 trillion
kWh (1999) |
| Electricity
- production by source: |
fossil fuel:
79.82%
hydro: 18.98%
nuclear: 1.2%
other: 0.01% (1999) |
| Electricity
- consumption: |
1.084 trillion
kWh (1999) |
| Electricity
- exports: |
7.2 billion kWh
(1999) |
| Electricity
- imports: |
90 million kWh
(1999) |
| Agriculture
- products: |
rice, wheat,
potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton,
oilseed; pork; fish |
| Exports: |
$232 billion
(f.o.b., 2000) |
| Exports
- commodities: |
machinery and
equipment; textiles and clothing, footwear, toys and
sporting goods; mineral fuels |
| Exports
- partners: |
US 21%, Hong Kong
18%, Japan 17%, South Korea, Germany, Netherlands, UK,
Singapore, Taiwan (2000) |
| Imports: |
$197 billion
(f.o.b., 2000) |
| Imports
- commodities: |
machinery and
equipment, mineral fuels, plastics, iron and steel,
chemicals |
| Imports
- partners: |
Japan 18%, Taiwan
11%, US 10%, South Korea 10%, Germany, Hong Kong, Russia,
Malaysia (2000) |
| Debt
- external: |
$162 billion
(2000 est.) |
| Economic
aid - recipient: |
$NA |
| Exchange
rates: |
yuan per US
dollar - 8.2776 (January 2001), 8.2785 (2000), 8.2783
(1999), 8.2790 (1998), 8.2898 (1997), 8.3142 (1996)
note: beginning 1 January 1994, the People's
Bank of China quotes the midpoint rate against the US dollar
based on the previous day's prevailing rate in the interbank
foreign exchange market |
| Fiscal
year: |
calendar year |
| Telephones
- main lines in use: |
135 million
(2000) |
| Telephones
- mobile cellular: |
65 million
(January 2001) |
| Telephone
system: |
general
assessment: domestic and international services
are increasingly available for private use; unevenly
distributed domestic system serves principal cities,
industrial centers, and many towns
domestic: interprovincial fiber-optic trunk
lines and cellular telephone systems have been installed; a
domestic satellite system with 55 earth stations is in place
international: satellite earth stations - 5
Intelsat (4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1
Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region) and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific
and Indian Ocean regions); several international fiber-optic
links to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Russia, and Germany
(2000) |
| Radio
broadcast stations: |
AM 369, FM 259,
shortwave 45 (1998) |
| Radios: |
417 million
(1997) |
| Television
broadcast stations: |
3,240 (of which
209 are operated by China Central Television, 31 are
provincial TV stations and nearly 3,000 are local city
stations) (1997) |
| Televisions: |
400 million
(1997) |
| Internet
country code: |
.cn |
| Internet
Service Providers (ISPs): |
3 (2000) |
| Internet
users: |
22 million
(January 2001) |
| Railways: |
total:
67,524 km (including 5,400 km of provincial
"local" rails)
standard gauge: 63,924 km 1.435-m gauge (13,362
km electrified; 20,250 km double track)
narrow gauge: 3,600 km 0.750-m and 1.000-m
gauge local industrial lines (1998 est.)
note: a new total of 68,000 km was estimated
for early 1999 to take new construction programs into
account (1999) |
| Highways: |
total:
1.4 million km
paved: 271,300 km (with at least 16,000 km of
expressways)
unpaved: 1,128,700 km (1999) |
| Waterways: |
110,000 km (1999) |
| Pipelines: |
crude oil 9,070
km; petroleum products 560 km; natural gas 9,383 km (1998) |
| Ports
and harbors: |
Dalian, Fuzhou,
Guangzhou, Haikou, Huangpu, Lianyungang, Nanjing, Nantong,
Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shantou, Tianjin,
Xiamen, Xingang, Yantai, Zhanjiang |
| Merchant
marine: |
total:
1,745 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 16,533,521 GRT/24,746,859
DWT
ships by type: barge carrier 2, bulk 324, cargo
825, chemical tanker 21, combination bulk 11, combination
ore/oil 1, container 132, liquefied gas 24, multi-functional
large-load carrier 5, passenger 7, passenger/cargo 45,
petroleum tanker 258, refrigerated cargo 22, roll on/roll
off 23, short-sea passenger 41, specialized tanker 3,
vehicle carrier 1 (2000 est.) |
| Airports: |
489 (2000 est.) |
| Airports
- with paved runways: |
total:
324
over 3,047 m: 27
2,438 to 3,047 m: 88
1,524 to 2,437 m: 147
914 to 1,523 m: 30
under 914 m: 32 (2000 est.) |
| Airports
- with unpaved runways: |
total:
165
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 29
914 to 1,523 m: 56
under 914 m: 78 (2000 est.) |
| Military
branches: |
People's
Liberation Army (PLA) - which includes Ground Forces, Navy
(includes Marines and Naval Aviation), Air Force, Second
Artillery Corps (the strategic missile force), People's
Armed Police (internal security troops, nominally
subordinate to Ministry of Public Security, but included by
the Chinese as part of the "armed forces" and
considered to be an adjunct to the PLA in wartime) |
| Military
manpower - military age: |
18 years of age |
| Military
manpower - availability: |
males age
15-49: 366,306,353 (2001 est.) |
| Military
manpower - fit for military service: |
males age
15-49: 200,886,946 (2001 est.) |
| Military
manpower - reaching military age annually: |
males:
10,089,458 (2001 est.) |
| Military
expenditures - dollar figure: |
$12.608 billion
(FY99); note - China's real defense spending may be several
times higher than the official figure because a number of
significant items are funded elsewhere |
| Military
expenditures - percent of GDP: |
1.2% (FY99) |
| Disputes
- international: |
most of boundary
with India in dispute; dispute over at least two small
sections of the boundary with Russia remains to be settled,
despite 1997 boundary agreement; portions of the boundary
with Tajikistan are indefinite; 33-km section of boundary
with North Korea in the Paektu-san (mountain) area is
indefinite; involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly
Islands with Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and
possibly Brunei; maritime boundary agreement with Vietnam in
the Gulf of Tonkin awaits ratification; Paracel Islands
occupied by China, but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; claims
Japanese-administered Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu
Tai), as does Taiwan |
| Illicit
drugs: |
major
transshipment point for heroin produced in the Golden
Triangle; growing domestic drug abuse problem; source
country for chemical precursors and methamphetamine |
|
