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Introduction China
Geography China
Geographic coordinates: 35 00 N, 105 00 E
Map references: Asia
Area: total: 9,596,960 sq km
land: 9,326,410 sq km
water: 270,550 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than the US
Land boundaries: total: 22,117 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
Climate: extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Turpan Pendi -154 m
highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m
Land use: arable land: 15.4%
other: 83.36% (2001)
permanent crops: 1.25%
Irrigated land: 525,800 sq km (1998 est.)
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
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;
People China
Population: 1,298,847,624 (July 2004 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 22.3% (male 153,401,051; female 135,812,993)
15-64 years: 70.3% (male 469,328,664; female 443,248,860)
65 years and over: 7.5% (male 46,308,923; female 50,747,133) (2004 est.)
Median age: total: 31.8 years
male: 31.5 years
female: 32.2 years (2004 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.57% (2004 est.)
Birth rate: 12.98 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Death rate: 6.92 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Net migration rate: -0.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)
under 15 years: 1.13 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.91 male(s)/female
Infant mortality rate: total: 25.28 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 29.14 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
male: 21.84 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 71.96 years
male: 70.4 years
female: 73.72 years (2004 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.69 children born/woman (2004 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 44,000 (2003 est.)
Nationality: noun: Chinese (singular and plural)
adjective: Chinese
Religions: Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Muslim 1%-2%, Christian 3%-4%
note: officially atheist (2002 est.)
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 90.9%
male: 95.1%
female: 86.5% (2002)
Government China
Country name: conventional long form: People's Republic of China
conventional short form: China
local long form: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo
abbreviation: PRC
local short form: Zhong Guo
Government type: Communist state
Capital: Beijing
: municipalities: Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Tianjin
National holiday: Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China, 1 October (1949)
Constitution: most recent promulgation 4 December 1982
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - NA
Political parties and leaders: Chinese Communist Party or CCP [HU Jintao, General Secretary of the Central Committee]; eight registered small parties controlled by CCP
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador YANG Jiechi
chancery: 2300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
FAX: [1] (202) 328-2582
telephone: [1] (202) 328-2500
embassy: Xiu Shui Bei Jie 3, 100600 Beijing
telephone: [86] (10) 6532-3831
FAX: [86] (10) 6532-6929
consulate(s) general: Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenyang
Economy China
Economy - overview: In late 1978 the Chinese leadership began moving the economy from a sluggish, inefficient, 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 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 enterprises 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. Measured on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis, China in 2003 stood as the second-largest economy in the world after the US, although in per capita terms the country is still poor. Agriculture and industry have posted major gains especially in coastal areas near Hong Kong, opposite Taiwan, and in Shanghai, where foreign investment has helped spur output of both domestic and export goods. The leadership, however, often has experienced - as a result of its hybrid system - the worst results of socialism (bureaucracy and lassitude) and of capitalism (growing income disparities and rising unemployment). China thus has periodically backtracked, retightening central controls at intervals. The government has struggled to (a) sustain adequate jobs 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) 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 says it will intensify efforts to stimulate growth through spending on infrastructure - such as water supply and power grids - and poverty relief and through rural tax reform. Accession to the World Trade Organization helps strengthen its ability to maintain strong growth rates but at the same time puts additional pressure on the hybrid system of strong political controls and growing market influences. China has benefited from a huge expansion in computer internet use. Foreign investment remains a strong element in China's remarkable economic growth. Growing shortages of electric power and raw materials will hold back the expansion of industrial output in 2004.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $6.449 trillion (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 9.1% (official data) (2003 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $5,000 (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 14.8%
industry and construction: 52.9%
services: 32.3% (2003)
Investment (gross fixed): 43.4% of GDP (2003)
Population below poverty line: 10% (2001 est.)
highest 10%: 30.4% (1998)
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 40 (2001)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.2% (2003 est.)
Labor force: 778.1 million (2003 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 50%, industry 22%, services 28% (2001 est.)
Unemployment rate: 10.1% urban unemployment roughly 10%; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas (2003 est.)
Budget: revenues: $265.8 billion
expenditures: $300.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2003)
Public debt: 30.1% of GDP (2003)
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: 30.4% (2003 est.)
Electricity - production: 1.42 trillion kWh (2001)
Electricity - consumption: 1.312 trillion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports: 10.3 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports: 1.8 billion kWh (2001)
Oil - production: 3.3 million bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption: 4.57 million bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports: 151,200 bbl/day (2001)
Oil - imports: 1.207 million bbl/day (2001)
Oil - proved reserves: 26.75 billion bbl (1 January 2002)
Natural gas - production: 30.3 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: 27.4 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves: 1.29 trillion cu m (1 January 2002)
Current account balance: $31.17 billion (2003)
Exports: $436.1 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Exports - commodities: machinery and equipment, textiles and clothing, footwear, toys and sporting goods, mineral fuels
Exports - partners: US 21.1%, Hong Kong 17.4%, Japan 13.6%, South Korea 4.6%, Germany 4% (2003)
Imports: $397.4 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, mineral fuels, plastics, iron and steel, chemicals
Imports - partners: Japan 18%, Taiwan 11.9%, South Korea 10.4%, US 8.2%, Germany 5.9% (2003)
Reserves of foreign exchange & gold: $412.7 billion (2003)
Debt - external: $197.8 billion (2003 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: NA
Currency: yuan (CNY)
note:: also referred to as the Renminbi (RMB)
Currency code: CNY
Exchange rates: yuan per US dollar - 8.277 (2003), 8.277 (2002), 8.2771 (2001), 8.2785 (2000), 8.2783 (1999)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications China
Telephones - main lines in use: 263 million (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 269 million (2003)
Radios: 417 million (1997)
Televisions: 400 million (1997)
Internet country code: .cn
Internet hosts: 160,421 (2003)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 3 (2000)
Internet users: 94 million (2004)
Transportation China
Railways: total: 70,058 km
standard gauge: 68,000 km 1.435-m gauge (18,668 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 3,600 km 1.000-m and 0.750-m gauge local industrial lines
dual gauge: 22,640 km (not included in total) (2003)
Highways: total: 1,402,698 km
paved: 314,204 km (with at least 16,314 km of expressways)
unpaved: 1,088,494 km (2000)
Waterways: 121,557 km (2002)
Pipelines: gas 15,890 km; oil 14,478 km; refined products 3,280 km (2004)
Ports and harbors: Dalian, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Haikou, Huangpu, Lianyungang, Nanjing, Nantong, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shantou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Wenzhou, Xiamen, Xingang, Yantai, Zhanjiang (2001)
Merchant marine: total: 1,850 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 18,724,653 GRT/27,749,784 DWT
by type: barge carrier 2, bulk 355, cargo 822, chemical tanker 28, combination bulk 10, combination ore/oil 2, container 165, liquefied gas 28, multi-functional large load carrier 8, passenger 6, passenger/cargo 46, petroleum tanker 272, rail car carrier 1, refrigerated cargo 27, roll on/roll off 25, short-sea/passenger 39, specialized tanker 10, vehicle carrier 4
foreign-owned: Cambodia 1, Greece 2, Hong Kong 12, Japan 1, South Korea 2, Liberia 1, Malaysia 1, Panama 1, Taiwan 2, Tanzania 1
registered in other countries: 790 (2004 est.)
Airports: 507 (2003 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 332
over 3,047 m: 49
2,438 to 3,047 m: 97
914 to 1,523 m: 22
under 914 m: 35 (2003 est.)
1,524 to 2,437 m: 129
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 175
under 914 m: 66 (2003 est.)
over 3,047 m: 23
2,438 to 3,047 m: 10
914 to 1,523 m: 40
1,524 to 2,437 m: 36
Heliports: 15 (2003 est.)
Military China
Military branches: People's Liberation Army (PLA): comprises ground forces, Navy (including naval infantry and naval aviation), Air Force, and II Artillery Corps (strategic missile force), People's Armed Police Force (internal security troops, nominally a state security body but included by the Chinese as part of the "armed forces" and considered to be an adjunct to the PLA), militia
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 379,524,688 (2004 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 208,143,352 (2004 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 12,494,201 (2004 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $60 billion (2003 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 3.5-5.0% (FY03 est.)
This page was last updated on 1 January 2003
