|
Background:
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For centuries China
stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in
the arts and sciences. But in the 19th and early 20th centuries, China
was beset by civil unrest, major famines, 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, and output quadrupled by 2000.
Political controls remain tight even while economic controls continue
to be relaxed. |
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Location:
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Eastern Asia, bordering
the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea,
between North Korea and Vietnam |
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Geographic coordinates:
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35 00 N, 105 00 E |
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Map references:
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Asia |
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Area:
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total: 9,596,960
sq km
land: 9,326,410 sq km
water: 270,550 sq km |
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Area - comparative:
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slightly smaller than
the US |
|
Land boundaries:
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total: 22,147.34
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
4,677 km, Nepal 1,236 km, Pakistan 523 km, Russia (northeast) 3,605
km, Russia (northwest) 40 km, Tajikistan 414 km, Vietnam 1,281 km |
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Coastline:
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14,500 km |
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Maritime claims:
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contiguous zone:
24 NM
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental
margin
territorial sea: 12 NM |
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Climate:
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extremely diverse;
tropical in south to subarctic in north |
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Terrain:
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mostly mountains, high
plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east |
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point:
Turpan Pendi -154 m
highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.) |
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Natural resources:
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coal, iron ore,
petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese,
molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium,
hydropower potential (world's largest) |
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Land use:
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arable land: 13%
permanent crops: 1%
other: 86% (1998 est.) |
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Irrigated land:
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525,800 sq km (1998
est.) |
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Natural hazards:
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frequent typhoons
(about five per year along southern and eastern coasts); damaging
floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts; land subsidence |
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Environment - current issues:
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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 |
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Environment - international agreements:
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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 |
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Geography - note:
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world's fourth-largest
country (after Russia, Canada, and US); Mount Everest on the border
with Nepal, is the world's tallest peak |
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Population:
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1,284,303,705 (July
2002 est.) |
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Age structure:
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0-14 years:
24.3% (male 163,821,081; female 148,855,387)
15-64 years: 68.4% (male 452,354,428; female 426,055,713)
65 years and over: 7.3% (male 43,834,528; female 49,382,568)
(2002 est.) |
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Population growth rate:
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0.87% (2002 est.) |
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Birth rate:
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15.85 births/1,000
population (2002 est.) |
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Death rate:
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6.77 deaths/1,000
population (2002 est.) |
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Net migration rate:
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-0.38 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2002 est.) |
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Sex ratio:
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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 (2002 est.) |
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Infant mortality rate:
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27.25 deaths/1,000 live
births (2002 est.) |
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Life expectancy at birth:
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total population:
71.86 years
female: 73.86 years (2002 est.)
male: 70.02 years |
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Total fertility rate:
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1.82 children
born/woman (2002 est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
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less than 0.2% (2000-01
est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
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1.25 million (January
2001) |
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HIV/AIDS - deaths:
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17,000 (1999 est.) |
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Nationality:
|
noun: Chinese
(singular and plural)
adjective: Chinese |
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Ethnic groups:
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Han Chinese 91.9%,
Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean,
and other nationalities 8.1% |
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Religions:
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Daoist (Taoist),
Buddhist, Muslim 1%-2%, Christian 3%-4%
note: officially atheist (2002 est.) |
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Languages:
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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) |
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Literacy:
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definition: age
15 and over can read and write
total population: 81.5%
male: 89.9%
female: 72.7% (1995 est.) |
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Country name:
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conventional long
form: People's Republic of China
conventional short form: China
local short form: Zhong Guo
abbreviation: PRC
local long form: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo |
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Government type:
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Communist state |
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Capital:
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Beijing |
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Administrative divisions:
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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 |
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Independence:
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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) |
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National holiday:
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Anniversary of the
Founding of the People's Republic of China, 1 October (1949) |
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Constitution:
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most recent
promulgation 4 December 1982 |
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Legal system:
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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 |
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Suffrage:
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18 years of age;
universal |
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Executive branch:
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chief of state:
President JIANG Zemin (since 27 March 1993) and Vice President HU
Jintao (since 16 March 1998)
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
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)
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) |
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Legislative branch:
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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 |
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Judicial branch:
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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) |
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Political parties and leaders:
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Chinese Communist Party
or CCP [JIANG Zemin, General Secretary of the Central Committee];
eight registered small parties controlled by CCP |
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Political pressure groups and leaders:
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no substantial
political opposition groups exist, although the government has
identified the Falungong sect and the China Democracy Party as
potential rivals |
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International organization participation:
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AfDB, APEC, ARF
(dialogue partner), AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, CCC, CDB,
ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS,
IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAIA
(observer), MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (observer), OPCW, PCA, UN, UN Security
Council, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMEE,
UNMIBH, UNMOVIC, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
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Diplomatic representation in the US:
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chief of mission:
Ambassador YANG Jiechi
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York,
and San Francisco
FAX: [1] (202) 328-2582
telephone: [1] (202) 328-2500
chancery: 2300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 |
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Diplomatic representation from the US:
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chief of mission:
Ambassador Clark T. RANDT, Jr.
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
|
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Flag description:
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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 |
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Economy - overview:
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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
organizations and individual citizens has been steadily increasing.
The authorities have switched to a system of household and village
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 2001, with its 1.27 billion people but a GDP of just
$4,300 per capita, China stood as the second largest economy in the
world after the US (measured on a purchasing power parity basis).
Agriculture and industry have posted major gains, especially in
coastal areas near Hong Kong and opposite Taiwan, where foreign
investment has 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 growing income disparities). 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
subsidies 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 long-term 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. 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. Access to the World
Trade Organization strengthens China's ability to maintain sturdy
growth rates, and at the same time puts additional pressure on the
hybrid system of strong political controls and growing market
influences. Although Beijing has claimed 7%-8% annual growth in recent
years, many observers believe the rate, while strong, is more like 5%.
|
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GDP:
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purchasing power parity
- $5.56 trillion (2001 est.) |
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GDP - real growth rate:
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7.3% (official
estimate) (2001 est.) |
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GDP - per capita:
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purchasing power parity
- $4,300 (2001 est.) |
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GDP - composition by sector:
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agriculture:
17.7%
industry: 49.3%
services: 33% (2001 est.) |
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Population below poverty line:
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10% (2001 est.) |
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Household income or consumption by percentage share:
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lowest 10%: 2.4%
highest 10%: 30.4% (1998) |
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Distribution of family income - Gini index:
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40 (2001) |
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Inflation rate (consumer prices):
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0.8% (2001 est.) |
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Labor force:
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706 million (2000 est.)
|
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Labor force - by occupation:
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agriculture 50%,
industry 23%, services 27% (2001 est.) |
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Unemployment rate:
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urban unemployment
roughly 10%; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural
areas (2001 est.) |
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Budget:
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revenues: $161.8
billion
expenditures: $191.8 billion, including capital expenditures of
$NA (2000) |
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Industries:
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iron and steel, coal,
machine building, armaments, textiles and apparel, petroleum, cement,
chemical fertilizers, footwear, toys, food processing, automobiles,
consumer electronics, telecommunications |
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Industrial production growth rate:
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9.9% (2001 est.) |
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Electricity - production:
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1.308 trillion kWh
(2000) |
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Electricity - production by source:
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fossil fuel:
81.83%
hydro: 16.83%
other: 0.12% (2000)
nuclear: 1.22% |
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Electricity - consumption:
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1.206 trillion kWh
(2000) |
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Electricity - exports:
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10.25 billion kWh
(2000) |
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Electricity - imports:
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400 million kWh (2000)
|
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Agriculture - products:
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rice, wheat, potatoes,
sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton, oilseed; pork; fish
|
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Exports:
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$262.1 billion (f.o.b.,
2001 est.) |
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Exports - commodities:
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machinery and
equipment; textiles and clothing, footwear, toys and sporting goods;
mineral fuels |
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Exports - partners:
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US 21%, Hong Kong 18%,
Japan 17%, South Korea, Germany, Netherlands, UK, Singapore, Taiwan
(2000) |
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Imports:
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$236.2 billion (f.o.b.,
2001 est.) |
|
Imports - commodities:
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machinery and
equipment, mineral fuels, plastics, iron and steel, chemicals |
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Imports - partners:
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Japan 18%, Taiwan 11%,
South Korea 10%, US 10% Germany, Hong Kong, Russia, Malaysia (2000)
|
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Debt - external:
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$167 billion (2001
est.) |
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Economic aid - recipient:
|
$NA |
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Currency:
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yuan (CNY) |
|
Currency code:
|
CNY |
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Exchange rates:
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yuan per US dollar -
8.2767 (January 2002), 8.2771 (2001), 8.2785 (2000), 8.2783 (1999),
8.2790 (1998), 8.2898 (1997) |
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Fiscal year:
|
calendar year |
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Telephones - main lines in use:
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135 million (2000) |
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Telephones - mobile cellular:
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65 million (January
2001) |
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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) |
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Radio broadcast stations:
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AM 369, FM 259,
shortwave 45 (1998) |
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Radios:
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417 million (1997) |
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Television broadcast stations:
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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) |
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Televisions:
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400 million (1997) |
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Internet country code:
|
.cn |
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Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
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3 (2000) |
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Internet users:
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26.5 million (2001)
|
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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 (1999 est.) |
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Highways:
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total: 1.4
million km
paved: 271,300 km (with at least 16,000 km of expressways)
unpaved: 1,128,700 km (1999) |
|
Waterways:
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110,000 km (1999) |
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Pipelines:
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crude oil 9,070 km;
petroleum products 560 km; natural gas 9,383 km (1998) |
|
Ports and harbors:
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Dalian, Fuzhou,
Guangzhou, Haikou, Huangpu, Lianyungang, Nanjing, Nantong, Ningbo,
Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shantou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Wenzhou,
Xiamen, Xingang, Yantai, Zhanjiang (2001) |
|
Merchant marine:
|
total: 1,764
ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 16,915,047 GRT/25,366,296 DWT
ships by type: barge carrier 2, bulk 328, cargo 822, chemical
tanker 25, combination bulk 10, combination ore/oil 1, container 134,
liquefied gas 26, multi-functional large-load carrier 6, passenger 7,
passenger/cargo 45, petroleum tanker 263, refrigerated cargo 26, roll
on/roll off 23, short-sea passenger 42, specialized tanker 3, vehicle
carrier 1
note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a
flag of convenience: Croatia 1, Germany 1, Hong Kong 16, Japan 2,
Panama 2, South Korea 1, Spain 1, Taiwan 9, Tanzania 1, Turkey 1 (2002
est.) |
|
Airports:
|
489 (2001) |
|
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 (2001) |
|
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 (2001) |
|
Military branches:
|
People's Liberation
Army (PLA): comprises ground forces, Navy (including naval infantry
and naval aviation), Air Force, and II Artillery Corps (strategic
missile force), People's Armed Police Force (internal security troops,
nominally a state security body but included by the Chinese as part of
the "armed forces" and considered to be an adjunct to the PLA),
militia |
|
Military manpower - military age:
|
18 years of age (2002
est.) |
|
Military manpower - availability:
|
males age 15-49:
370,087,489 (2002 est.) |
|
Military manpower - fit for military service:
|
males age 15-49:
203,003,036 (2002 est.) |
|
Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
|
males:
10,089,458 (2002 est.) |
|
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
|
$20.048 billion (2002);
note - this is the officially announced figure, but actual defense
spending more likely ranges from $45 billion to $65 billion for 2002
|
|
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
|
1.6% (2002); note -
this is the officially announced figure, but actual defense spending
is more likely between 3.5% to 5.0% of GDP for 2002 |
|
Transnational Issues |
China |
|
Disputes - international:
|
in 2000, China joined
ASEAN discussions towards creating a South China Sea "code of conduct"
- a non-legally binding, confidence-building measure; much of the
rugged, militarized boundary with India is in dispute, but talks to
resolve the least contested middle sector resumed in 2001; ongoing
talks with Tajikistan have failed to resolve the longstanding dispute
over the indefinite boundary; Kazakhstan is working rapidly with China
to delimit its large open borders to control population migration,
illegal activities, and trade; 2001 Treaty of Good Neighborliness,
Friendship, and Cooperation commits Russia and China to seek peaceable
unanimity over disputed alluvial islands at the confluence of the Amur
and Ussuri rivers and a small island on the Argun; 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; demarcation of the land boundary with Vietnam has
commenced, but details of the alignment have not been made public;
33-km section of boundary with North Korea in the Paektu-san
(mountain) area is indefinite |
|
Illicit drugs:
|
major transshipment
point for heroin produced in the Golden Triangle; growing domestic
drug abuse problem; source country for chemical precursors and
methamphetamine |
|
