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Complex. Contradictory. Confusing. China’s emergence on the world stage will be one of the most momentous – and challenging – developments of the 21st century.
How China will develop – both internally and in its relations with the rest of the world – remains a great unknown for policy makers and the public alike. It is this uncertainty that raises questions about China’s intentions and future path – and the implications for the United States, Europe and the rest of Asia.
Published by PublicAffairs Books
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| People's Republic of China |
| GEOGRAPHY |
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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 |
| Bordering countries: 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; and Vietnam 1,281 km |
| Area: 9,596,960 sq km |
| Coastline: 14,500 km |
| Climate: extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north |
| Terrain: mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east |
| Natural hazards: frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern and eastern coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts; and land subsidence |
| PEOPLE more |
Population: 1,313,973,713 (2006 est.)*
Beijing: 13.83 million (2002)**
Shanghai: 16.14 million (2002)**
Chongqing: 30.97 million (2002)**
Tianjin: 10.04 million (2002)** |
Age Structure:
0-14 years: 21.4% (male 148,134,928/female 131,045,415)
15-64 years: 71% (male 477,182,072/female 450,664,933)
65 years and over: 7.6% (male 47,400,282/female 51,886,182) (2005 est.) |
Health: (2005 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 24.18 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth: 72.27 years (overall)
Total fertility rate: 1.72 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.05% (2005 est.)***
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 650,000 (2005 est.)***
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 25,000 (2005 est.)*** |
Literacy: 90.9% (2002 est.)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write |
| 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) |
| Ethnic groups: Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1% |
Religion: China is officially atheist
Buddhism 8%, Taoism (no official est.), Islam 1.5%, Catholicism 0.4-0.6%, and Protestantism 1.2-1.5%**** |
*US Bureau of the Census, Current Population Projections 2006
**National Population and Family Commission 2002
***2005 Update on the HIV/AIDS Epidemic and Response in China
****Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor 2005 |
| ECONOMY more |
GDP (purchasing power parity): $8.158 trillion (2005 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $6,200 (2005 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 9.2% (official data) (2005 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
Agriculture: 14.4%
Industry and construction: 53.1%
Services: 32.5% (2005 est.) |
| Distribution of family income - Gini index: 44 (2002) |
| Unemployment rate: 4.2% official registered unemployment in urban areas in 2005*; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas; an official Chinese journal estimated overall unemployment (including rural areas) for 2003 at 20% (2004) |
| Population below poverty line: 16.6% (2003 est.)** |
| Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $795.1 billion (2005 est.) |
| Debt - external: $242 billion (2005 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) |
| Agriculture: Major Products: Among the world's largest producers of rice, wheat, potatoes, corn, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, apples, cotton, oilseed, pork, fish; commercial crops include cotton, other fibers, oilseeds, pork and fish; produces variety of livestock products.*** |
| 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 and satellites. |
| Trade (2005): Exports--$752.2 billion f.o.b.: mainly electrical machinery and equipment, power generation equipment, apparel, toys, footwear. Main partners--U.S., Hong Kong, Japan, EU, South Korea, Singapore. Imports--$631.8 billion f.o.b.: mainly electrical equipment, power generation equipment, petroleum products, chemicals, steel. Main partners--Japan, EU, Taiwan, South Korea, U.S., Hong Kong. |
*Xinhua News
**UNDP 2003
***US State Department Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs |
| GOVERNMENT |
| Government type: Communist state |
| Capital: Beijing |
Administrative divisions:
23 provinces: Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang. (Note: China considers Taiwan its 23rd province.)
Five Autonomous Regions: Guangxi, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Xizang (Tibet)
Four municipalities: Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Tianjin |
| Constitution: Most recent promulgation 4 December 1982 |
Government Structure:
Executive branch:
Chief of State: President HU Jintao (since 15 March 2003) and Vice President ZENG Qinghong (since 15 March 2003)
Head of Government: Premier WEN Jiabao (since 16 March 2003); Vice Premiers HUANG Ju (since 17 March 2003), WU Yi (17 March 2003), ZENG Peiyan (since 17 March 2003), and HUI Liangyu (since 17 March 2003)
Cabinet: State Council appointed by the National People's Congress (NPC) |
| Legislative branch: unicameral National People's Congress or Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui (2,985 seats; members elected by municipal, regional, and provincial people's congresses to serve five-year terms) |
| 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) |
| Legal System: A complex amalgam of custom and statue, 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. |
| Political parties and leaders: Chinese Communist Party or CCP [HU Jintao, General Secretary of the Central Committee]; eight registered small parties controlled by CCP |
| MILITARY more |
| Military branches: People's Liberation Army (PLA): Ground Forces, Navy (includes marines and naval aviation), Air Force (includes Airborne Forces), and II Artillery Corps (strategic missile force); People's Armed Police Force (internal security troops considered to be an adjunct to the PLA); Militia (2003) |
| Military service age and obligation: 18-22 years of age for compulsory military service, with 24-month service obligation; no minimum age for voluntary service; 17 years of age for women who meet requirements for specific military jobs (2004) |
| Manpower available for military service: 342,956,265 (2005 est.)* |
| Manpower fit for military service: 281,240,272 (2005 est.)* |
| Manpower reaching military service age annually: males: 13,186,433 (2005 est.) |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure: $67.49 billion (2004) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 4.3% (2004) |
| * Males age 18-49 |
| INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS |
| International organization participation: AfDB, APEC, APT, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BCIE, BIS, CDB, EAS, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), ONUB, OPCW, PCA, PIF (partner), SAARC (observer), SCO, UN, UN Security Council, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMOVIC, UNOCI, UNTSO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC |
| Countries with Diplomatic Relations: China conducts official diplomatic relations with almost all nations. |
Source: CIA World Factbook 2006, unless otherwise indicated
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