Background: 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.

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: 22,147.34 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 4,677 km; , Nepal 1,236 km; , Pakistan 523 km; , Russia (northeast) 3,605 km; , Russia (northwest) 40 km; , Tajikistan 414 km; , Vietnam 1,281 km

Coastline: 14,500 km

Maritime claims
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

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: 13.31%
Permanent crops: 1.2%
Other: 85.49% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 525,800 km² (1998 est.)

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

Geography
Note: world's fourth-largest country (after Russia Canada and US); Mount Everest on the border with Nepal is the world's tallest peak; soybean one of the oldest of cultivated crops is believed to have originated in China

Population: 1,284,303,705 (July 2002 est.)
Growth rate: 0.87% (2002 est.)
Below poverty line: 10% (2001 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 (2002 est.)

Age structure
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.)

Population growth rate: 0.87% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 15.85 births/1000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 6.77 deaths/1000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.38 migrant(s)/1000 population (2002 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

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 (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 27.25 deaths/1000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 71.86 years
Female: 73.86 years (2002 est.)
Male: 70.02 years

Total fertility rate: 1.82 children born/woman (2002 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: less than 0.2% (2000-01 est.)
People living with hivaids: 1.25 million (January 2001)
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 short form: Zhong Guo
Abbreviation: PRC
Local long form: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo

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: Anniversary of the 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 Hu Jintao (since 15 March 2003) and Vice President ZENG Qinghong (since 15 March 2003)
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 WEN Jiabao (since 16 March 2003); 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)

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 [HU Jintao 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 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

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador YANG Jiechi
In the us consulates general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco
In the us fax: [1] (202) 328-2,582
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 328-2,500
In the us chancery: 2,300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Clark T. RANDT, Jr.
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) 6,532-6,929
From the us consulates general: Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, 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 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 2002 with its 1.28 billion people but a GDP of just $4,600 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 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%.

Real gdp growth rate: 8% (official estimate) (2002 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $4,600 (2002 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 18%
Industry: 49%
Services: 33% (2001 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: 13.5% (2002 est.)

Labor force: 706 million (2000 est.)
By occupation agriculture: 50%
By occupation industry: 23%
By occupation services: 27% (2001 est.)

Unemployment rate: urban unemployment roughly 10%; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas (2002 est.)

Population below poverty line: 10% (2001 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 2%
Highest 10: 30% (1998)

Distribution of family income gini index: 40 (2001)

Budget
Revenues: $161.8 billion
Expenditures: $191.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: -0.8% (2002 est.)

Exports: $312.8 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Commodities: machinery and equipment; textiles and clothing footwear toys and sporting goods; mineral fuels
Partners: US 20.4% Hong Kong 17.5% Japan 16.9% South Korea 4.7% Germany 3.7% Netherlands 2.7% UK 2.6% Singapore 2.2% Taiwan (2001)

Imports: $268.6 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Commodities: machinery and equipment mineral fuels plastics iron and steel chemicals
Partners: Japan 17.6% Taiwan 11.2% US 10.8% South Korea 9.6% Germany 5.7% Hong Kong 3.9% Russia 3.3% Malaysia 2.5% (2001)

Debt external: $149.4 billion (2002 est.)

Exchange rates: yuan per US dollar - 8.2767 (January 2002) 8.2771 (2001) 8.2785 (2000) 8.2783 (1999) 8.2790 (1998) 8.2898 (1997)

Electricity
Production: 1.308 trillion kWh (2000)
Production by source fossil fuel: 82%
Production by source hydro: 17%
Production by source other: 0% (2000)
Production by source nuclear: 1%
Consumption: 1.206 trillion kWh (2000)
Exports: 10.25 billion kWh (2000)
Imports: 400 million kWh (2000)

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: 45.8 million (2002)

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
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

Airports: 489 (2001)
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 (2002)
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 (2002)

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 (1999 est.)

Waterways: 110,000 km (1999)

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.)

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