China - A diverse land, with a
diverse people and a diverse history.
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.
General Info:
After 1978, his successor
DENG Xiaoping gradually introduced market-oriented reforms and
decentralized economic decision making. Output quadrupled by 2000.
Political controls remain tight while economic controls continue to be
relaxed.
Area:
land: 9,326,410
sq km . slightly smaller than the US
Climate:
extremely diverse; tropical in south to
subarctic in north
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.)
Religious
affiliation:
Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Muslim 1%-2%, Christian 3%-4%
note: officially atheist (2002 est.)
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)
Economy:
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.
Labor force by occupation:
agriculture 50%, industry 22%, services 28%
(2001 est.)
Industries:
iron and steel, coal, machine building,
armaments, textiles and
apparel, petroleum, cement, chemical fertilizers, footwear, toys, food
processing, automobiles, consumer electronics, telecommunications
Natural Hazzards:
frequent typhoons (about five per year along
southern and eastern
coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts; land
subsidence
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)
Environmental
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
Export Partners:
US 21.1%, Hong Kong 17.4%, Japan 13.6%, South Korea
4.6%, Germany 4% (2003)
HIV/AIDS:
People living with AIDS: 840,000 (2003 est.)
Primary Source: World Fact Book
See also: China Update 2005
Important
China Internet
Resources:
Academic Info -
China studies, links to information on history, language linguistics,
religion and culture
Acupuncture
| The New Mexico Aids Info Net
AIDS
in China
Asia's Best Universities
2000 - Asiaweek ranks, including a section on
China
Bibliography
of Modern Chinese Literature, Film and Culture
Bike China Adventures
Bridge to Asia - sharing
knowledge between East and West
Browser, Viewing
Chinese
on your Browser
Buddhist
and Confucian Traditions
Business-China.com
Children from China
- resources for families adopting children
from China
China
Business Direcotry
China
Business Market - Info for business professionals investing, or
marketing products on the Chinese market.
China
Education
Resources on the Internet - compiled by Centre
of R.on E.in C., University of Hong Kong
China Facts & Figures
China
Government Directory
CND - China News
Digest
China
Government
China Labour
Bulletin
China Law
China News Media
-
Institute of Chinese Studies, University of Heidelberg
China Online
- business news, informationa and analysis from third party sources
China
Property Rights
China Sports
China Sources - directory
of products, suppliers and buyers from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and
beyond
China the Beautiful -
collections of Chinese arts, poetry, philosophy, history...
China
- the Internet Travel Guide
China
Trade Directory
China
Travel Guide
China
Virtual Tours
Chinese Civil Law
Forum - CCLAW.NET
Chinese
Inventions @ The Franklin Institute
Chinese
Language information and links
Chinese Medicine, - history of traditional
- lots of links to
Chinese
Military Power - compiled by the Commonwealth
Institute
Chinese
New Year
Chinese
Non-Profit Organizations
Chinese
Religions
Chinese
Philosophy
Chinese
Popular Culture
Chinese
Surnames - Chinese family names and
genealogies information
Churches
in China - and Chinese churches in
other countries
Communist
Party of China
Condensed China -
Chinese history for beginners
Embassy
Listings for China - directory of foreign
embassies and consulates in China and some Chinese embassies in other
countries
Expats
in China - reviews, experiences and facts about
expatriates living in China.
Forums -
index of Chinese forums websites
Gateway2China
Geledraak.nl:
DE site voor Nederlandstalige informatie over China
Health
Information for Travelers to China
Human Rights
Watch: Asia : China
ICXO Digest
- business news in Chinese
Inside China
- News, commentaries... in English from the
European Internet Network
Library of China,
the National
Maps of
China
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