 Nationality Chinese (singular and plural) Ethnic Composition
Religious Composition
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Languages SpokenStandard 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) |
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Education and LiteracyAge 15 and over that can read and write: 81.5% total; 89.9% male, 72.7% female |
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Labor ForceTotal: 706 million (2000)By occupation:
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Geography |
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Land Mass Total3,705,406 sq mi (9,596,960 sq km) |
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Land3,600,947 sq mi (9,326,410 sq km) |
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Water104,459 sq mi (270,550 sq km) |
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Land BoundariesTotal: 13,759 mi (22,143.34) kmBorder countries: Afghanistan 47 mi (76 km), Bhutan 292 mi (470 km), Burma 1,357 mi (2,185 km), Hong Kong 18 mi (30 km), India 2,100 mi (3,380 km), Kazakhstan 952 mi (1,533 km), North Korea 879 mi (1,416 km), Kyrgyzstan 533 mi (858 km), Laos 262 mi (423 km), Macau 0.2 mi (0.34 km), Mongolia 2,903 mi (4,673 km), Nepal 768 mi (1,236 km), Pakistan 324 mi (523 km), Russia (northeast) 2,240 mi (3,605 km), Russia (northwest) 24 mi (40 km), Tajikistan 257 mi (414 km), Vietnam 795 mi (1,281 km). |
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Coastline9,009 mi (14,500 km) |
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Maritime claimContiguous zone: 24 nmContinental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin Territorial sea: 12 nm |
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Climate/WeatherExtremely diverse; tropical in south to sub Arctic in north. |
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TerrainMountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and rolling hills in east. |
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Elevation extremesLowest: Turpan Pendi -505 ft (154 m)Highest: Mount Everest 29,035 ft (8,850 m) |
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Natural ResourcesCoal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest). |
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Land use
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Natural hazardsFrequent typhoons (about five per year along southern and eastern coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts. |
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Environment - current issuesAir 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. |
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Geography NoteWorld's fourth-largest country (after Russia, Canada, and United States). |
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Demographics |
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Population1,284,303,705 (July 2002) |
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Age structure
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Growth Rate0.87% (2002) |
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Life Expectancy71.86 years (2002)female: 73.86 years male: 70.02 years |
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GDP Per CapitaPurchasing power parityUS$4,300 (2001) |
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Infant Mortality27.25 deaths/1,000 live births (2002) |
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Sex ratio
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Net migration rate-0.38 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002) |
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Economy & Trade |
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 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 2001, with its 1.27 billion people but a GDP of just $4,300 per capita, China stood as the second largest economy in the world after the U.S. (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 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. 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 percent to 8 percent annual growth in recent years, many observers believe the rate, while strong, is more like 5 percent. If, as the critics suspect, China's growth is substantially less than advertised it would mean that the country would not be able to generate enough cash flow to service its sovereign debt to foreign creditors. Besides this shortfall, China's banks are also known to be sitting on a considerable amount of "bad debt" from loans to both private and state-owned enterprises. Little has been done to relieve this problem and the most optimistic investors stake their hopes on the fact that since the banks are state-owned they will not be "permitted" to implode. Lastly, China's lack of a free-floating "convertible" currency continues to thwart the nation's efforts to be taken as a serious player in the global markets. |
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UnemploymentUrban unemployment roughly 10%; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas (2001) |
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Inflation Rate0.8% (2001) |
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IndustriesIron and steel, coal, machine building, armaments, textiles and apparel, petroleum, cement, chemical fertilizers, footwear, toys, food processing, automobiles, consumer electronics, telecommunications. |
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ExportsUS$262.1 billion (f.o.b., 2001) |
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ImportsUS$236.2 billion (f.o.b., 2001) |
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Total TradePurchasing power parityGDP US$5.56 trillion (2001) |
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Top Export PartnersUS 21%, Hong Kong 18%, Japan 17%, South Korea, Germany, Netherlands, UK, Singapore, Taiwan (2000) |
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Top Import PartnersJapan 18%, Taiwan 11%, South Korea 10%, US 10% Germany, Hong Kong, Russia, Malaysia (2000) |
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Top ExportsMachinery and equipment; textiles and clothing, footwear, toys and sporting goods; mineral fuels |
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Top ImportsMachinery and equipment, mineral fuels, plastics, iron and steel, chemicals |
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Debt - externalUS$167 billion (2001) |
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Economic aidRecipient, N/A |
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Fiscal Year:Calendar year |
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Business Workweek |
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Note: All China runs on Beijing time. In a country as large as this, 7a.m. in western Qinghai Province is pitch black year-round... |
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Holidays |
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Official Holidays
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