Map of China | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | 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: incorporating Hong Kong into the Chinese system; 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: 35 00 N, 105 00 E

Map reference: Asia

Area
Total: 9,596,960 km²
Land: 9,326,410 km²
Water: 270,550 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than the US

Land boundaries
Total: 22,143.34 km
Border countries: (16) Afghanistan 76 km; , Bhutan 470 km; , Burma 2,185 km; , Hong Kong 30 km; , India 3,380 km; , Kazakstan 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
Contiguous zone: 24 nm
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
Extremes lowest point: Turpan Pendi -154 m
Extremes highest point: Mount Everest 8,848 m

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%
Permanent pastures: 43%
Forests and woodland: 14%
Other: 33% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 498,720 km² (1993 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern and eastern coasts; damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts

Geography
Note: world's fourth-largest country (after Russia, Canada, and US)


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Population: 1,221,591,778 (July 1997 est.)
Growth rate: 0.93% (1997 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 (Shanghaiese), 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% (male 166,319,939; female 150,125,798)
15-64 years: 68% (male 427,340,489; female 393,914,502)
65 years and over: 6% (male 36,201,623; female 41,689,427) (July 1997 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 0.93% (1997 est.)

Birth rate: 16.52 births/1000 population (1997 est.)

Death rate: 6.87 deaths/1000 population (1997 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.34 migrant(s)/1000 population (1997 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 1949 to soil erosion and economic development; desertification; trade in endangered species

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.11 male(s)/female
Under 15 years: 1.11 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.87 male(s)/female
Total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (1997 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 37.9 deaths/1000 live births (1997 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 69.98 years
Male: 68.61 years
Female: 71.5 years (1997 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.81 children born/woman (1997 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
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 81.5%
Male: 89.9%
Female: 72.7% (1995 est.)

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
Abbreviation: PRC

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) and Vice President RONG Yiren (since 27 March 1993)
Head of government: Premier LI Peng (acting premier since 24 November 1987, premier since 9 April 1988); Vice Premiers ZHU Rongji (since 8 April 1991), ZOU Jiahua (since 8 April 1991), QIAN Qichen (since 29 March 1993), LI Lanqing (29 March 1993), WU Bangguo (since 17 March 1995), and JIANG Chunyun (since 17 March 1995)
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; election last held 27 March 1993 (next to be held NA March 1998); premier and vice premiers nominated by the president, confirmed by the National People's Congress
Election results: JIANG Zemin elected by the Eighth National People's Congress; percent of National People's Congress vote - NA

Legislative branch: unicameral National People's Congress or Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui (2,977 seats; members indirectly elected at county or xian level to serve five-year terms)
Elections: last held NA March 1993 (next to be held NA March 1998)
Election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - NA

Judicial branch: Supreme People's Court, judges appointed by the National People's Congress

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: AfDB, APEC, AsDB, BIS (pending member), CCC, ESCAP, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), Mekong Group, MINURSO, NAM (observer), PCA, UN, UN Security Council, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (applicant)

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 James R. SASSER
From the us embassy: Xiu Shui Bei Jie 3, 100,600 Beijing
From the us mailing address: PSC 461, Box 50, FPO AP 96,521-0002
From the us telephone: [86] (10) 6,532-3,831
From the us FAX: [86] (10) 6,532-6,422
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 a sluggish Soviet-style centrally planned economy to one that is more market-oriented but still within a rigid political framework of Communist Party 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 quadrupling of GDP since 1978. 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, lassitude, corruption) and of capitalism (windfall gains and stepped-up inflation). Beijing thus has periodically backtracked, retightening central controls at intervals. In 1992-96 annual growth of GDP accelerated, particularly in the coastal areas - averaging more than 10% annually according to official figures. In late 1993 China's leadership approved additional long-term reforms aimed at giving still more play to market-oriented institutions and at strengthening the center's control over the financial system; state enterprises would continue to dominate many key industries in what was now termed "a socialist market economy." In 1995-96 inflation dropped sharply, reflecting tighter monetary policies and stronger measures to control food prices. At the same time, the government 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, most of which had not participated in the vigorous expansion of the economy and many of which have been losing the ability to pay full wages and pensions. From 60 to 100 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; furthermore, the regime gives insufficient priority to agricultural research. The next few years will witness increasing tensions between a highly centralized political system and an increasingly decentralized economic system. Rapid economic growth likely will continue but at a declining rate.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 9.7% (1996 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $2,800 (1996 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 20%
Industry: 49%
Services: 31% (1995 est.)

Agriculture products: rice, wheat, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton, other fibers, oilseed; pork and other livestock products; fish

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: 13% (1996 est.)

Labor force
Total: 614.7 million (1994)
By occupation agriculture and forestry: 54%
By occupation industry and commerce: 26%
By occupation constructionandmining: 7%
By occupation socialservices: 6%
By occupation other: 7% (1994)

Unemployment rate: officially 3% in urban areas; probably 8%-10%; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas (1996 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $N/A
Expenditures: $N/A, including capital expenditures of $N/A

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
Total value: $151.07 billion (f.o.b., 1996)
Commodities: clothing, miscellaneous consumer goods, fabrics, footwear, toys, electrical machinery and switchgear (1995)
Partners: Hong Kong, Japan, US, South Korea, Germany, Singapore (1995)

Imports
Total value: $138.83 billion (c.i.f., 1996)
Commodities: plastics, fabrics, telecommunications equipment, electrical machinery and switchgear, transistors, other industrial machinery (1995)
Partners: Japan, US, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Germany, Russia (1995)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $92 billion (1994 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: yuan (¥) per US$1 - 8.2963 (January 1997), 8.3142 (1996), 8.3514 (1995), 8.6187 (1994), 5.7620 (1993), 5.5146 (1992)
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: 210 million kW (1995)
Production: 859 billion kWh (1994)
Consumption per capita: 684 kWh (1995 est.)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones: 20 million (1994 est.)

Telephone system: domestic and international services are increasingly available for private use; unevenly distributed domestic system serves principal cities, industrial centers, and most townships
Domestic: telephone lines are being expanded to 100 million by 1996; 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, and Hong Kong

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: the officially announced but suspect figure is 70.2 billion yuan (1995 est.), note - conversion of the defense budget into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading results
Percent of gdp: NA%

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: 206 (1996 est.)
With paved runways total: 192
With paved runways over 3047 m: 18
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 65
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 90
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 13
With paved runways under 914 m: 6 (1996 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 14
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 8
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 5
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 1 (1996 est.)

Heliports

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

Railways
Total: 62,500 km (including 5,400 km of provincial "local" rails)
Standard gauge: 58,900 km 1.435-m gauge (9,700 km electrified; 18,100 km double track)
Narrow gauge: 3,600 km 0.750-m gauge local industrial lines (1996 est.)

Roadways

Waterways: 138,600 km; about 110,600 km navigable

Merchant marine
Total: 1,736 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 16,749,069 GRT/25,196,607 DWT
Ships by type: barge carrier 2, bulk 325, cargo 883, chemical tanker 16, combination bulk 11, container 109, liquefied gas tanker 9, multifunction large-load carrier 6, oil tanker 232, passenger 6, passenger-cargo 47, refrigerated cargo 24, roll-on/roll-off cargo 22, short-sea passenger 43, specialized tanker 1
Note: China owns an additional 270 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 8,754,413 DWT operating under the registries of Panama, Hong Kong, Malta, Liberia, Vanuatu, Cyprus, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Marshall Islands, and Singapore (1996 est.)

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; 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: major transshipment point for heroin produced in the Golden Triangle; growing domestic drug abuse problem