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 the country was beset by civil unrest major famines military defeats and foreign occupation. After World War II the Communists under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist system 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 and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by 2000 output had quadrupled. For much of the population living standards have improved dramatically and the room for personal choice has expanded yet political controls remain tight.

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: 22,117 km
Border countries: (14) Afghanistan 76 km; , Bhutan 470 km; , Burma 2,185 km; , India 3,380 km; , Kazakhstan 1,533 km; , North Korea 1,416 km; , Kyrgyzstan 858 km; , Laos 423 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
Regional borders: Hong Kong 30 km, Macau 0.34 km

Coastline: 14,500 km

Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Contiguous zone: 24 nm
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin

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

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: 14.86%
Permanent crops: 1.27%
Other: 83.87% (2005)

Irrigated land: 545,960 km² (2003)

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

Population: 1,321,851,888 (July 2007 est.)
Growth rate: 0.606% (2007 est.)
Below poverty line: 10% (2004 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 groups entry)

Religions
Note: officially atheist (2002 est.)

Age structure
0-14 years: 20.4% (male 143,527,634/female 126,607,344)
15-64 years: 71.7% (male 487,079,770/female 460,596,384)
65 years and over: 7.9% (male 49,683,856/female 54,356,900) (2007 est.)

Median age
Total: 33.2 years
Male: 32.7 years
Female: 33.7 years (2007 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.606% (2007 est.)

Birth rate: 13.45 births/1000 population (2007 est.)

Death rate: 7 deaths/1000 population (2007 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.39 migrant(s)/1000 population (2007 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, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.11 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.134 male/female
15-64 years: 1.057 male/female
65 years and over: 0.914 male/female
Total population: 1.06 male/female (2007 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 22.12 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 20.01 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 24.47 deaths/1000 live births (2007 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 72.88 years
Male: 71.13 years
Female: 74.82 years (2007 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.75 children born/woman (2007 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.1% (2003 est.)
People living with hivaids: 840,000 (2003 est.)
Deaths: 44,000 (2003 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 90.9%
Male: 95.1%
Female: 86.5% (2000 census)

Country name
Conventional long form: People's Republic of China
Conventional short form: China
Local long form: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo
Local short form: Zhongguo
Abbreviation: PRC

Government type: Communist state

Capital
Name: Beijing
Geographic coordinates: 39 55 N, 116 23 E
Time difference: UTC+8 (13 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Note: despite its size, all of China falls within one time zone

Administrative divisions
Provinces: Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang; (see note on Taiwan)
Autonomous regions: Guangxi, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Xinjiang Uygur, Xizang (Tibet)
Municipalities: Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Tianjin
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); 1 January 1912 (Manchu Dynasty replaced by a Republic); 1 October 1949 (People's Republic established)

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: based on civil law system; derived from Soviet and continental civil code legal principles; legislature retains power to interpret statutes; constitution ambiguous on judicial review of legislation; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President HU Jintao (since 15 March 2003); Vice President ZENG Qinghong (since 15 March 2003)
Head of government: Premier WEN Jiabao (since 16 March 2003); Vice Premier WU Yi (17 March 2003), Vice Premier ZENG Peiyan (since 17 March 2003), and Vice Premier HUI Liangyu (since 17 March 2003)
Cabinet: State Council appointed by the National People's Congress (NPC)
Elections: president and vice president elected by the National People's Congress for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); elections last held 15-17 March 2003 (next to be held in mid-March 2008); premier nominated by the president, confirmed by the National People's Congress
Election results: HU Jintao elected president by the 10th National People's Congress with a total of 2,937 votes (4 delegates voted against him, 4 abstained, and 38 did not vote); ZENG Qinghong elected vice president by the 10th National People's Congress with a total of 2,578 votes (177 delegates voted against him, 190 abstained, and 38 did not vote); 2 seats were vacant

Legislative branch
Elections: last held December 2002-February 2003 (next to be held in late 2007-February 2008)
Election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - NA

Judicial branch: Supreme People's Court (judges appointed by the National People's Congress); Local People's Courts (comprise higher intermediate and local courts); Special People's Courts (primarily military maritime and railway transport courts)

Political parties and leaders: Chinese Communist Party or CCP [HU Jintao]; eight registered small parties controlled by CCP

International organization participation: AfDB APEC APT ARF AsDB ASEAN (dialogue partner) BCIE BIS CDB EAS FAO G-24 (observer) G-77 IAEA IBRD ICAO ICC ICRM IDA IFAD IFC IFRCS IHO ILO IMF IMO IMSO Interpol IOC IOM (observer) IPU ISO ITSO ITU LAIA (observer) MIGA MINURSO MONUC NAM (observer) NSG OAS (observer) OPCW PCA PIF (partner) SAARC (observer) SCO UN UN Security Council UNCTAD UNESCO UNHCR UNIDO UNIFIL UNITAR UNMEE UNMIL UNMIS UNMOVIC UNOCI UNTSO UNWTO UPU WCO WHO WIPO WMO WTO ZC

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador ZHOU Wenzhong
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 fax: [1] (202) 328-2,582
In the us consulates general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco
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) 6,532-3,831
From the us fax: [86] (10) 6,532-3,178
From the us consulates general: Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macau, 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: China's economy during the last quarter century has changed from a centrally planned system that was largely closed to international trade to a more market-oriented economy that has a rapidly growing private sector and is a major player in the global economy. Reforms started in the late 1970s with the phasing out of collectivized agriculture and expanded to include the gradual liberalization of prices fiscal decentralization increased autonomy for state enterprises the foundation of a diversified banking system the development of stock markets the rapid growth of the non-state sector and the opening to foreign trade and investment. China has generally implemented reforms in a gradualist or piecemeal fashion including the sale of equity in China's largest state banks to foreign investors and refinements in foreign exchange and bond markets in 2005. The restructuring of the economy and resulting efficiency gains have contributed to a more than tenfold increase in GDP since 1978. Measured on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis China in 2006 stood as the second-largest economy in the world after the US although in per capita terms the country is still lower middle-income and 130 million Chinese fall below international poverty lines. Economic development has generally been more rapid in coastal provinces than in the interior and there are large disparities in per capita income between regions. The government has struggled to: (a) sustain adequate job growth for tens of millions of workers laid off from state-owned enterprises migrants and new entrants to the work force; (b) reduce corruption and other economic crimes; and (c) contain environmental damage and social strife related to the economy's rapid transformation. From 100 million to 150 million surplus rural workers are adrift between the villages and the cities many subsisting through part-time low-paying jobs. One demographic consequence of the 'one child' policy is that China is now one of the most rapidly aging countries in the world. 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. China has benefited from a huge expansion in computer Internet use with more than 100 million users at the end of 2005. Foreign investment remains a strong element in China's remarkable expansion in world trade and has been an important factor in the growth of urban jobs. In July 2005 China revalued its currency by 2.1% against the US dollar and moved to an exchange rate system that references a basket of currencies. In 2006 China had the largest current account surplus in the world - nearly $180 billion. More power generating capacity came on line in 2006 as large scale investments were completed. Thirteen years in construction at a cost of $24 billion the immense Three Gorges Dam across the Yangtze River was essentially completed in 2006 and will revolutionize electrification and flood control in the area. The 11th Five-Year Program (2006-10) approved by the National People's Congress in March 2006 calls for a 20% reduction in energy consumption per unit of GDP by 2010 and an estimated 45% increase in GDP by 2010. The plan states that conserving resources and protecting the environment are basic goals but it lacks details on the policies and reforms necessary to achieve these goals.

Real gdp purchasing power parity: $10.21 trillion (2006 est.)

Real gdp growth rate: 11.1% (official data) (2006 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $7,800 (2006 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 11.7%
Industry: 48.9%
Services: 39.3%
Note: industry includes construction (2006 est.)

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

Industries: mining and ore processing iron steel aluminum and other metals coal; machine building; armaments; textiles and apparel; petroleum; cement; chemicals; fertilizers; consumer products including footwear toys and electronics; food processing; transportation equipment including automobiles rail cars and locomotives ships and aircraft; telecommunications equipment commercial space launch vehicles satellites

Industrial production growth rate: 22.9% (2006 est.)

Labor force: 795.3 million (2006 est.)
By occupation agriculture: 45%
By occupation industry: 24%
By occupation services: 31% (2005 est.)

Unemployment rate: 4.2% official registered unemployment in urban areas in 2005; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas (2005)

Population below poverty line: 10% (2004 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 1.6%
Highest 10: 34.9% (2004)

Distribution of family income gini index: 46.9 (2004)

Budget
Revenues: $482.2 billion
Expenditures: $515.8 billion (2006 est.)

Public debt: 22.1% of GDP (2006 est.)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 1.7% (2006 est.)

Market value of publicly traded shares: $2.426 trillion (2006)

Current account balance: $249.9 billion (2006 est.)

Exports: $969.7 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Commodities: machinery and equipment plastics optical and medical equipment iron and steel
Partners: US 21% Hong Kong 16% Japan 9.5% South Korea 4.6% Germany 4.2% (2006)

Imports: $751.9 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Commodities: machinery and equipment oil and mineral fuels plastics optical and medical equipment organic chemicals iron and steel
Partners: Japan 14.6% South Korea 11.3% Taiwan 10.9% US 7.5% Germany 4.8% (2006)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $1.073 trillion (2006 est.)

Debt external: $315 billion (2006 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home: $699.5 billion (2006 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad: $67.4 billion (2006 est.)

Exchange rates: yuan per US dollar - 7.97 (2006) 8.1943 (2005) 8.2768 (2004) 8.277 (2003) 8.277 (2002)

Electricity
Production: 2.372 trillion kWh (2005)
Consumption: 2.197 trillion kWh (2005)
Exports: 11.19 billion kWh (2005)
Imports: 5.011 billion kWh (2005)

Natural gas
Production: 47.88 billion m³ (2005 est.)
Consumption: 44.93 billion m³ (2005 est.)
Exports: 2.944 billion m³ (2005)
Imports: 0 m³ (2005)
Proven reserves: 1.448 trillion m³ (1 January 2006 est.)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 368 million (2006)
Mobile cellular: 461.1 million (2006)

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; China continues to develop its telecommunications infrastructure, and is partnering with foreign providers to expand its global reach; 3 of China's 6 major telecommunications operators are part of an international consortium which, in December 2006, signed an agreement with Verizon Business to build the first next-generation optical cable system directly linking the US mainland and China
Domestic: interprovincial fiber-optic trunk lines and cellular telephone systems have been installed; mobile-cellular subscribership is increasing rapidly; broadband Internet subscribership reached 50 million in 2006; a domestic satellite system with 55 earth stations is in place
International: country code - 86; a number of submarine cables provide connectivity to Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and the US; 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) (2007)

Internet
Country code: .cn
Hosts: 10.637 million (2007)
Users: 137 million (2006)

Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: 4.3% (2006)

Military service age and obligation: 18-22 years of age for selective compulsory military service with 24-month service obligation; no minimum age for voluntary service (all officers are volunteers); 18-19 years of age for women high school graduates who meet requirements for specific military jobs (2007)

Airports: 467 (2007)
With paved runways total: 403
With paved runways over 3047 m: 58
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 128
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 130
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 20
With paved runways under 914 m: 67 (2007)
With unpaved runways total: 64
With unpaved runways over 3047 m: 4
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 4
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 13
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 17
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 26 (2007)

Heliports: 35 (2007)

Pipelines: gas 22,664 km; oil 15,256 km; refined products 6,106 km (2006)

Railways
Total: 75,438 km
Standard gauge: 75,438 km 1.435-m gauge (20,151 km electrified) (2005)

Roadways
Total: 1,870,661 km
Paved: 1,515,797 km (with at least 34,288 km of expressways)
Unpaved: 354,864 km (2004)

Waterways: 124,000 km navigable (2006)

Merchant marine
Total: 1,775 ships (1000 GRT or over) 22,219,786 GRT/33,819,636 DWT
By type: barge carrier 3, bulk carrier 415, cargo 689, carrier 3, chemical tanker 62, combination ore/oil 2, container 157, liquefied gas 35, passenger 8, passenger/cargo 84, petroleum tanker 250, refrigerated cargo 33, roll on/roll off 9, specialized tanker 8, vehicle carrier 17
Foreign owned: 12 (Ecuador 1, Greece 1, Hong Kong 6, Japan 2, South Korea 1, Norway 1)
Registered in other countries: 1,366 (Bahamas 9, Bangladesh 1, Belize 107, Bermuda 10, Bolivia 1, Cambodia 166, Cyprus 10, France 5, Georgia 4, Germany 2, Honduras 3, Hong Kong 309, India 1, Indonesia 2, Liberia 32, Malaysia 1, Malta 13, Marshall Islands 3, Mongolia 3, Norway 47, Panama 473, Philippines 2, Sierra Leone 8, Singapore 19, St Vincent and The Grenadines 106, Thailand 1, Turkey 1, Tuvalu 25, unknown 33) (2007)

Ports and terminals: Dalian Guangzhou Ningbo Qingdao Qinhuangdao Shanghai Shenzhen Tianjin

Disputes international: based on principles drafted in 2005 China and India continue discussions to resolve all aspects of their extensive boundary and territorial disputes together with a security and foreign policy dialogue to consolidate discussions related to the boundary regional nuclear proliferation and other matters; recent talks and confidence-building measures have begun to defuse tensions over Kashmir site of the world's largest and most militarized territorial dispute with portions under the de facto administration of China (Aksai Chin) India (Jammu and Kashmir) and Pakistan (Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas); India does not recognize Pakistan's ceding historic Kashmir lands to China in 1964; lacking any treaty describing the boundary Bhutan and China continue negotiations to establish a boundary alignment to resolve substantial cartographic discrepancies the largest of which lies in Bhutan's northwest; China asserts sovereignty over the Spratly Islands together with Malaysia Philippines Taiwan Vietnam and possibly Brunei; the 2002 'Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea' eased tensions in the Spratly's but is not the legally binding 'code of conduct' sought by some parties; Vietnam and China continue to expand construction of facilities in the Spratly's and in March 2005 the national oil companies of China the Philippines and Vietnam signed a joint accord on marine seismic activities in the Spratly Islands; China occupies some of the Paracel Islands also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; China and Taiwan continue to reject both Japan's claims to the uninhabited islands of Senkaku-shoto (Diaoyu Tai) and Japan's unilaterally declared equidistance line in the East China Sea the site of intensive hydrocarbon prospecting; certain islands in the Yalu and Tumen rivers are in dispute with North Korea; China seeks to stem illegal migration of North Koreans; China and Russia have demarcated the once disputed islands at the Amur and Ussuri confluence and in the Argun River in accordance with their 2004 Agreement; in 2006 China and Tajikistan pledged to commence demarcation of the revised boundary agreed to in the delimitation of 2002; demarcation of the China-Vietnam land boundary proceeds slowly and although the maritime boundary delimitation and fisheries agreements were ratified in June 2004 implementation remains stalled; in 2004 international environmentalist and political pressure from Burma and Thailand prompted China to halt construction of 13 dams on the Salween River

Refugees and internally displaced persons
Refugees country of origin: 300,897 (Vietnam), estimated 30,000-50,000 (North Korea)
Idps: 90,000 (2006)

Illicit drugs: major transshipment point for heroin produced in the Golden Triangle region of Southeast Asia; growing domestic drug abuse problem; source country for chemical precursors despite new regulations on its large chemical industry