Map of China | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | More stats

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Background: For most of its 3,500 years of history, China led the world in agriculture, crafts, and science, then fell behind in the 19th century when the Industrial Revolution gave the West clear superiority in military and economic affairs. In the first half of the 20th century, China continued to suffer from major famines, civil unrest, military defeat, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established a dictatorship that, while ensuring China's autonomy, imposed strict controls over all aspects of life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping decentralized economic decision making; output soured. Political controls remain tight at the same time economic controls have been weakening. Present issues are: closing down inefficient state-owned enterprises; modernizing the military; fighting corruption; and providing support to tens of millions of displaced workers.


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Location: Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam

Geographic coordinates

Map reference: Asia

Area
Total area total: 9,596,960 km²
Land: 9,326,410 km²
Comparative: slightly larger than the US

Land boundaries: total 22,143.34 km, 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 4,673 km, Nepal 1,236 km, Pakistan 523 km, Russia (northeast) 3,605 km, Russia (northwest) 40 km, Tajikistan 414 km, Vietnam 1,281 km

Coastline: 14,500 km

Maritime claims
Continental shelf: claim to shallow areas of East China Sea and Yellow Sea
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

Natural resources: coal, iron ore, petroleum, 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%
Meadows and pastures: 31%
Forest and woodland: 14%
Other: 45%

Irrigated land: 478,220 km² (1991 - Chinese data)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography
Note: world's third-largest country (after Russia and Canada)


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Population: 1,203,097,268 (July 1995 est.)
Growth rate: 1.04% (1995 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%

Languages: Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic divisions entry)

Religions: Daoism (Taoism), Buddhism, Muslim 2%-3%, Christian 1% (est.)
Note: officially atheist, but traditionally pragmatic and eclectic

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 26% (female 151,266,866; male 167,234,782)
15-64 years: 67% (female 391,917,572; male 419,103,994)
65 years and over: 7% (female 39,591,692; male 33,982,362) (July 1995 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 1.04% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 17.78 births/1000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 7.36 deaths/1000 population (1995 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1000 population (1995 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: air pollution from the overwhelming use of high-sulfur coal as a fuel, produces acid rain which is damaging forests; water shortages experienced throughout the country, particularly in urban areas; future growth in water usage threatens to outpace supplies; water pollution from industrial effluents; much of the population does not have access to potable water; less than 10% of sewage receives treatment; deforestation; estimated loss of one-fifth of agricultural land since 1957 to soil erosion and economic development; desertification; trade in endangered species
Current issues natural hazards: frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern and eastern coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts
Current issues international agreements: party to - Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling; signed, but not ratified - Desertification, Law of the Sea

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 52.1 deaths/1000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 68.08 years
Male: 67.09 years
Female: 69.18 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.84 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
Total population: 78%
Male: 87%
Female: 68%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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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

Government type: Communist state

Capital: Beijing

Administrative divisions: 23 provinces (sheng, singular and plural), 5 autonomous regions* (zizhiqu, singular and plural), and 3 municipalities** (shi, singular and plural); Anhui, Beijing**, 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

Dependent areas

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: National Day, 1 October (1949)

Constitution: most recent promulgated 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

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President JIANG Zemin (since 27 March 1993); Vice President RONG Yiren (since 27 March 1993); election last held 27 March 1993 (next to be held 1998); results - JIANG Zemin was nominally elected by the Eighth National People's Congress
Head of government: Premier LI Peng (Acting Premier since 24 November 1987, Premier since 9 April 1988) Vice Premier ZHU Rongji (since 8 April 1991); Vice Premier ZOU Jiahua (since 8 April 1991); Vice Premier QIAN Qichen (since 29 March 1993); Vice Premier LI Lanqing (29 March 1993); Vice Premier WU Bangguo (since 17 March 1995); Vice Premier JIANG Chunyun (since 17 March 1995)
Cabinet: State Council; appointed by the National People's Congress (NPC)

Legislative branch: unicameral
National Peoples Congress: (, Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui) elections last held March 1993 (next to be held March 1998); results - CCP is the only party but there are also independents; seats - (2,977 total) (elected at county or xian level)

Judicial branch: Supreme People's Court

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: AfDB, APEC, AsDB, CCC, ESCAP, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, NAM (observer), PCA, UN, UN Security Council, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNOMIL, UNOMOZ, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador LI Daoyu
In the us chancery: 2,300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 328-2,500 through 2,502
In the us consulates general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador J. Stapleton ROY
From the us embassy: Xiu Shui Bei Jie 3, 100,600 Beijing
From the us mailing address: PSC 461, Box 50, Beijing; FPO AP 96,521-0002
From the us telephone: [86] (1) 5,323,831
From the us FAX: [86] (1) 5,323,178
From the us consulates 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

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: Beginning in late 1978 the Chinese leadership has been trying to move the economy from the sluggish Soviet-style centrally planned economy to a more productive and flexible economy with market elements, but still within the framework of monolithic Communist control. To this end the authorities 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 strong surge in production, particularly in agriculture in the early 1980s. Industry also has posted major gains, especially in coastal areas near Hong Kong and opposite Taiwan, where foreign investment and modern production methods have helped spur production of both domestic and export goods. Aggregate output has more than doubled since 1978. On the darker side, the leadership has often experienced in its hybrid system the worst results of socialism (bureaucracy, lassitude, corruption) and of capitalism (windfall gains and stepped-up inflation). Beijing thus has periodically backtracked, retightening central controls at intervals. In 1992-94 annual growth of GDP accelerated, particularly in the coastal areas - to more than 10% annually according to official claims. In late 1993 China's leadership approved additional long-term reforms aimed at giving more play to market-oriented institutions and at strengthening the center's control over the financial system. In 1994 strong growth continued in the widening market-oriented areas of the economy. At the same time, the government struggled to (a) collect revenues due from provinces, businesses, and individuals; (b) keep inflation within bounds; (c) reduce extortion and other economic crimes; and (d) keep afloat the large state-owned enterprises, most of which had not participated in the vigorous expansion of the economy. From 60 to 100 million surplus rural workers are adrift between the villages and the cities, many barely subsisting through part-time low-pay 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 the nation's long-term economic viability. One of the most dangerous long-term threats 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.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 11.8% (1994 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $2,500 (1994 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: accounts for almost 30% of GDP; among the world's largest producers of rice, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, and pork; commercial crops include cotton, other fibers, and oilseeds; produces variety of livestock products; basically self-sufficient in food; fish catch of 13.35 million metric tons (including fresh water and pond raised) (1991)

Industries: iron and steel, coal, machine building, armaments, textiles and apparel, petroleum, cement, chemical fertilizers, consumer durables, food processing, autos, consumer electronics, telecommunications

Industrial production growth rate: 17.5% (1994 est.)

Labor force: 583.6 million (1991)
By occupation agriculture and forestry: 60%
By occupation industry and commerce: 25%
By occupation constructionandmining: 5%
By occupation socialservices: 5%
By occupation other: 5% (1990 est.)

Unemployment rate: 2.7% in urban areas (1994; substantial underemployment

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: deficit $13.7 billion (1994)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $121 billion (f.o.b., 1994)
Commodoties: textiles, garments, footwear, toys, machinery and equipment, weapon systems
Partners: Hong Kong, Japan, US, Germany, South Korea, Russia (1993)

Imports: $115.7 billion (c.i.f., 1994)
Commodoties: rolled steel, motor vehicles, textile machinery, oil products, aircraft
Partners: Japan, Taiwan, US, Hong Kong, Germany, South Korea (1993)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $100 billion (1994 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: yuan (Y) per US$1 - 8.4413 (January 1995), 8.6187 (1994), 5.7620 (1993), 5.5146 (1992), 5.3234 (1991), 4.7832 (1990)
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


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Electricity
Capacity: 162,000,000 kW
Production: 746 billion kWh
Production consumption per capita: 593 kWh (1993)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones

Telephone system: 20,000,000 telephones (summer 1994); domestic and international services are increasingly available for private use; unevenly distributed internal system serves principal cities, industrial centers, and most townships; expanding phone lines, interprovincial fiber optic links, satellite communications, cellullar/mobile communications, etc.
Local: NA
Intercity: fiber optic trunk lines, 55 earth stations for domestic satellites
International: 5 INTELSAT earth stations (4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) and 1 INMARSAT earth station; several international fiber optic links to Japan and Hong Kong

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures: defense budget - 63.09 billion yuan, NA% of GDP (1995 est.), note - conversion of the defense budget into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading results

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 204
With paved runways over 3047 m: 17
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 69
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 89
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 9
With paved runways under 914 m: 7
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2438 m: 7
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 3
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 3

Heliports

Pipelines: crude oil 9,700 km; petroleum products 1,100 km; natural gas 6,200 km (1990)

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 138,600 km; about 109,800 km navigable

Merchant marine
Total: 1,628 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 16,013,532 GRT/24,027,766 DWT
Ships by type: barge carrier 3, bulk 298, cargo 849, chemical tanker 14, combination bulk 10, container 98, liquefied gas tanker 4, multifunction large load carrier 1, oil tanker 212, passenger 24, passenger-cargo 25, refrigerated cargo 21, roll-on/roll-off cargo 24, short-sea passenger 44, vehicle carrier 1
Note: China beneficially owns an additional 250 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling approximately 8,831,462 DWT that operate under Panamanian, Hong Kong, Maltese, Liberian, Vanuatu, Cypriot, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Bahamian, and Singaporean registry

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: boundary with India in dispute; disputed sections of the boundary with Russia remain to be settled; boundary with Tajikistan in dispute; a short section of the boundary with North Korea is indefinite; involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; maritime boundary dispute with Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin; Paracel Islands occupied by China, but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; claims Japanese-administered Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu Tai), as does Taiwan

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: illicit producer of opium; bulk of production is in Yunnan Province (which produced 25 metric tons in 1994; transshipment point for heroin produced in the Golden Triangle