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.

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: 22,147.24 km
Border countries: (16) 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

Coastline: 14,500 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
Extremes 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 km² (1993 est.)

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)

Population: 1,273,111,290 (July 2001 est.)
Growth rate: 0.88% (2001 est.)
Below poverty line: 10% (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%

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)

Religions
Note: officially atheist

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/1000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 6.74 deaths/1000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.39 migrant(s)/1000 population (2001 est.)

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
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
International agreements signed but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Marine Life Conservation

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.09 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.1 male/female
15-64 years: 1.06 male/female
65 years and over: 0.89 male/female
Total population: 1.06 male/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 28.08 deaths/1000 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.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.07% (1999 est.)
People living with hivaids: 500,000 (1999 est.)
Deaths: 17,000 (1999 est.)

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

Capital: Beijing

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
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

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
In the us chancery: 2,300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 328-2,500
In the us consulates general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Joseph W. PRUEHER
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) 6,532-3,431
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

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.

Real gdp growth rate: 8% (2000 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $3,600 (2000 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 15%
Industry: 50%
Services: 35% (2000 est.)

Agriculture products: rice wheat potatoes sorghum peanuts tea millet barley cotton oilseed; pork; fish

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.)

Labor force: 700 million (1998 est.)
By occupation agriculture: 50%
By occupation industry: 24%
By occupation services: 26% (1998)

Unemployment rate: urban unemployment roughly 10%; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas (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)

Budget
Revenues: $NA
Expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 0.4% (2000 est.)

Exports: $232 billion (f.o.b. 2000)
Commodities: machinery and equipment; textiles and clothing footwear toys and sporting goods; mineral fuels
Partners: US 21% Hong Kong 18% Japan 17% South Korea Germany Netherlands UK Singapore Taiwan (2000)

Imports: $197 billion (f.o.b. 2000)
Commodities: machinery and equipment mineral fuels plastics iron and steel chemicals
Partners: Japan 18% Taiwan 11% US 10% South Korea 10% Germany Hong Kong Russia Malaysia (2000)

Debt external: $162 billion (2000 est.)

Exchange rates
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

Electricity
Production: 1.173 trillion kWh (1999)
Production by source fossil fuel: 79.82%
Production by source hydro: 18.98%
Production by source nuclear: 1.2%
Production by source other: 0.01% (1999)
Consumption: 1.084 trillion kWh (1999)
Exports: 7.2 billion kWh (1999)
Imports: 90 million kWh (1999)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 135 million (2000)
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)

Internet
Country code: .cn
Service providers isps: 3 (2000)
Users: 22 million (January 2001)

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
Percent of gdp: 1.2% (FY99)

Airports: 489 (2000 est.)
With paved runways total: 324
With paved runways over 3047 m: 27
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 88
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 147
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 30
With paved runways under 914 m: 32 (2000 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 165
With unpaved runways over 3047 m: 1
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 1
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 29
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 56
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 78 (2000 est.)

Pipelines: crude oil 9,070 km; petroleum products 560 km; natural gas 9,383 km (1998)

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)

Waterways: 110,000 km (1999)

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.)

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