China

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China

General Information
Geography
Government
Economy
Population
Health
Communications and media
Chronology


GENERAL INFORMATION

National name Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo (Zhongguo)/People's Republic of China Area 9,572,900 sq km/3,696,000 sq mi Capital Beijing (or Peking) Language Chinese (dialects include Mandarin (official), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbai, Minnah, Xiang, Gan, and Hakka) Religion Taoist, Confucianist, and Buddhist; Muslim 2–3%; Christian about 1% (divided between the ‘patriotic’ church established in 1958 and the ‘loyal’ church subject to Rome); Protestant 3 million Time difference GMT +8 Major holidays 1 January, 8 March, 1 May, 1 August, 9 September, 1–2 October; variable: Spring Festival (January/February, 4 days)


GEOGRAPHY

Major towns/cities Shanghai, Hong Kong, Chongqing, Tianjin, Guangzhou (English Canton), Shenyang (formerly Mukden), Wuhan, Nanjing, Harbin, Chengdu, Xi'an Major ports Tianjin, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Qingdao, Guangzhou Physical features two-thirds of China is mountains or desert (north and west); the low-lying east is irrigated by rivers Huang He (Yellow River), Chang Jiang (Yangtze-Kiang), Xi Jiang (Si Kiang) Territories Paracel Islands Airports four principal international airports and 202 other airports, of which 136 are equipped to handle large aircraft; total passengers carried: 86.1 million (2003 est) Railways total length: 60,627 km/37,671 mi; total passenger journeys: 1.2 billion (2001) Roads total road network: 1,809,829 km/1,124,575 mi, of which 79.5% paved (2003 est); passenger cars: 15.2 per 1,000 people (2003 est)


GOVERNMENT

Head of state Hu Jintao from 2003 Head of government Wen Jiabao from 2003 Political system communist Political executive communist Administrative divisions 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities,and two special administrative regions Political party Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Marxist-Leninist-Maoist; eight registered small parties controlled by the CCP Death penalty retained and used for ordinary crimes Armed forces 2,255,000; plus some 800,000 reserves and paramilitary forces of 4 million (2006 est) Conscription selective conscription for two years Defence spend (% GDP) 2 (2005 est) Education spend (% GDP) 2 (1999) Health spend (% GDP) 2 (2004)


ECONOMY

Currency yuan GDP (US$) 2,228.9 billion (2005 est) Real GDP growth (% change on previous year) 10 (2006 est) GNI (US$) 2,263.8 billion (2005 est) GNI per capita (PPP) (US$) 6,600 (2005 est) Consumer price inflation 1.5% (2006 est) Unemployment 9.2% (2005 est) Labour force 44.1% agriculture, 17.7% industry, 16.2% services (2003) Foreign debt (US$) 280.5 billion (2005 est) Major trading partners USA, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Germany, the Netherlands, UK, Singapore, Malaysia Resources coal, graphite, tungsten, molybdenum, antimony, tin (world's largest producer), lead (world's fifth-largest producer), mercury, bauxite, phosphate rock, iron ore (world's largest producer), diamonds, gold, manganese, zinc (world's third-largest producer), petroleum, natural gas, fish Industries raw cotton and cotton cloth, cement, paper, sugar, salt, plastics, aluminium ware, steel, rolled steel, chemical fertilizers, silk, woollen fabrics, bicycles, cameras, electrical appliances; tourism is growing Exports office machines and data processing equipment, miscellaneous manufactured articles (particularly clothing and toys), crude petroleum, machinery and transport equipment, telecomminications equipment, fishery products, cereals, canned food, tea, raw silk, cotton cloth. Principal market: USA 21.4% (2005) Imports electrical machinery, petroleum and related products, professional and scientific instruments, office machines and data processing equipment, general industrial machines, transport equipment, basic manufactures, chemicals, wheat, rolled steel, fertilizers. Principal source: Japan (2004) Arable land 14.9% (2006 est) Agricultural products sweet potatoes, wheat, maize, soybeans, rice, sugar cane, tobacco, cotton, jute; world's largest fish catch


POPULATION

Population 1,323,635,900 (2006 est) Population growth rate 0.6% (2005–10) Population density (per sq km) 138 (2006 est) Urban population (% of total) 41 (2005 est) Age distribution (% of total population) 0–14 21%, 15–59 68%, 60+ 11% (2005 est) Ethnic groups 92% Han Chinese, the remainder being Zhuang, Uygur, Hui (Muslims), Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, or Korean; numerous lesser nationalities live mainly in border regions Life expectancy 71 (men); 75 (women) (2005–10) Child mortality rate (under 5, per 1,000 live births) 31 (2004) Education (compulsory years) 9 Literacy rate 95% (men); 87% (women) (2004 est)


HEALTH

Physicians (per 10,000 people) 16.4 (2004 est) Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) 2.5 (2002 est) HIV infection (% of population aged 15–49) 0.1 (2005 est) AIDS deaths 31,000 (2005 est) Access to drinking-water source (% of total population) 92 (urban); 68 (rural) (2002)


COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

Landline telephones (per 100 people) 26.6 (2005 est) Mobile phone subscribers (per 100 people) 29.9 (2005 est) Radios (per 1,000 people) 339 (2001 est) TV sets (per 1,000 people) 382 (2004 est) Personal computer users (per 100 people) 4.1 (2005 est) Internet users (per 100 people) 8.4 (2005 est)


CHRONOLOGY

c. 3000 BC Yangshao culture reached its peak in the Huang He Valley; displaced by Longshan culture in eastern China. c. 1766–c. 1122 BC First major dynasty, the Shang, arose from Longshan culture; writing and calendar developed. c. 1122–256 BC Zhou people of western China overthrew Shang and set up new dynasty; development of money and written laws. c. 500 BC Confucius expounded the philosophy that guided Chinese government and society for the next 2,000 years. 403–221 BC ‘Warring States Period’: Zhou Empire broke up into small kingdoms. 221–206 BC Qin kingdom defeated all rivals and established first empire with strong central government; emperor Shi Huangdi built the Great Wall of China. 202 BC–AD 220 Han dynasty expanded empire into central Asia; first overland trade with Europe; art and literature flourished; Buddhism introduced from India. AD 220–581 Large-scale rebellion destroyed the Han dynasty; the empire split into three competing kingdoms; several short-lived dynasties ruled parts of China. 581–618 Sui dynasty reunified China and repelled Tatar invaders. 618–907 Tang dynasty enlarged and strengthened the empire; great revival of culture; major rebellion (875–84). 907–60 ‘Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms’: disintegration of the empire amid war and economic decline; development of printing. 960–1279 Song dynasty reunified China and restored order; civil service examinations introduced; population reached 100 million; Manchurians occupied northern China in 1127. 1279 Mongols conquered all China, which became part of the vast empire of Kublai Khan, founder of the Yuan dynasty; the Venetian traveller Marco Polo visited China (1275–92). 1368 Rebellions drove out the Mongols; Ming dynasty expanded the empire; architecture flourished in the new capital of Beijing. 1516 Portuguese explorers reached Macau. Other European traders followed, with the first Chinese porcelain arriving in Europe in 1580. 1644 Manchurian invasion established the Qing (or Manchu) dynasty; Manchurians were assimilated and Chinese trade and culture continued to thrive. 1796–1804 Anti-Manchu revolt weakened the Qing dynasty; a population increase in excess of food supplies led to falling living standards and cultural decline. 1839–42 First Opium War; Britain forced China to cede Hong Kong and open five ports to European trade; Second Opium War extracted further trade concessions (1856–60). 1850–64 Millions died in the Taiping Rebellion; Taipings combined Christian and Chinese beliefs and demanded land reform. 1894–95 Sino–Japanese War: Chinese driven out of Korea. 1897–98 Germany, Russia, France, and Britain leased ports in China. 1898 Hong Kong was secured by Britain on a 99-year lease. 1900 Anti-Western Boxer Rebellion crushed by foreign intervention; jealousy between the Great Powers prevented partition. 1911 Revolution broke out; Republic of China proclaimed by Sun Zhong Shan (Sun Yat-sen) of Guomindang (National People's Party). 1912 Abdication of infant emperor Pu-i; Gen Yuan Shih-K'ai became dictator. 1916 The power of the central government collapsed on the death of Yuan Shih-K'ai; northern China dominated by local warlords. 1919 Beijing students formed the 4th May movement to protest at the transfer of German possessions in China to Japan. 1921 Sun Zhong Shan elected president of nominal national government; Chinese Communist Party founded; communists worked with Guomindang to reunite China from 1923. 1925 Death of Sun Zhong Shan; leadership of Guomindang gradually passed to military commander Jiang Jie Shi (Chiang Kai-shek). 1926–28 Revolutionary Army of Jiang Jie Shi reunified China; Guomindang broke with communists and tried to suppress them in civil war. 1932 Japan invaded Manchuria and established the puppet state of Manchukuo. 1934–35 Communists undertook Long March from Jiangxi and Fujian in south to Yan'an in north to escape encirclement by Guomindang. 1937–45 Japan renewed invasion of China; Jiang Jie Shi received help from USA and Britain from 1941. 1946 Civil war resumed between Guomindang and communists led by Mao Zedong. 1949 Victorious communists proclaimed People's Republic of China under Chairman Mao; Guomindang fled to Taiwan. 1950–53 China intervened heavily in Korean War. 1958 ‘Great Leap Forward’: extremist five-year plan to accelerate output severely weakened the economy. 1960 Sino-Soviet split: China accused USSR of betraying communism. 1962 Economic recovery programme under Liu Shaoqi caused divisions between ‘rightists’ and ‘leftists’; brief border war with India. 1966–69 ‘Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution’; leftists overthrew Liu Shaoqi with support of Mao; Red Guards disrupted education, government, and daily life in attempt to enforce revolutionary principles. 1970 Mao supported the efforts of Prime Minister Zhou Enlai to restore order. 1971 People's Republic of China admitted to United Nations. 1976 Deaths of Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong led to a power struggle between rightists and leftists; Hua Guofeng became leader. 1977–81 Rightist Deng Xiaoping emerged as supreme leader; pragmatic economic policies introduced market incentives and encouraged foreign trade. 1979 Full diplomatic relations with USA established 1987 Deng Xiaoping retired from Politburo but remained a dominant figure. 1989 Over 2,000 people were killed when army crushed pro-democracy student demonstrations in Tiananmen Square, Beijing; international sanctions imposed. 1991 China and USSR reached agreement on their disputed border. 1993 Jiang Zemin became head of state 1996 Reunification with Taiwan declared a priority. 1997 Border agreement signed with Russia. Hong Kong returned to Chinese sovereignty. 1998 Zhu Rongji became prime minister. The Yangtze in Hubei province flooded, causing widespread devastation. Dissident Xu Wenli jailed for trying to set up opposition party. 1999 USA and China announced deal to allow China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), in exchange for opening China's markets to foreign firms. Macau returned to China, with the promise that it would have an independent political system for fifty years. Religious sect Falun Gong banned and its leaders arrested. 2000 Drive against corruption convicted a number of high-ranking government officials. First verdicts in trials of at least 200 officials accused of evading tariffs on importing US$6.6 billion worth of goods; 14 people sentenced to death. 2001 Five members of Falun Gong set themselves alight in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, in protest at continued government crackdown on the sect. Mid-air collision of US spy plane and Chinese fighter jet provoked diplomatic crisis. 2002 China became member of WTO. Contact re-established between Dalai Lama and Chinese government over issue of Tibet for first time since 1993. 2003 Hu Jintao became state president of China. Killer pneumonia-like virus identified as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) originated in Guangdong province and spread worldwide. Yang Liwei became first Chinese astronaut after 21-hour orbital mission. A de facto agreement with India reached over status of Tibet and Sikkim, within an unprecedented cross-border trade agreement. About half a million people marched in Hong Kong against controversial antisubversion bill; it was shelved 2004 China signed landmark trade agreement with ten southeast Asian countries that could eventually bring one-quarter of world's population within regional free-trade zone. 2005 First direct flights between China and Taiwan since 1949 made on Lunar New Year holiday. First post-1949 meeting between Nationalist and Communist Party leaders took place when Taiwan's National Party leader visited China. Hong Kong's Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa resigned; replaced by Donald Tsang. Explosion at chemical plant contaminated Songhua River, leaving millions without water. 2006 Three Gorges Dam, world's largest hydroelectric power project, completed. 18 million people affected by worst drought in 50 years. China–Africa summit held in Beijing; nearly $2 billion of business deals signed; China promised more in credit and loans. Government announced pollution had critically damaged China's environment; nation's health and social stability endangered. 2007 Prime Minister Wen Jiabao paid landmark visit to Japan; first Chinese prime minister to address Japan's parliament. Two countries agreed to work on resolving differences. China's food and drug agency chief, convicted of taking bribes, executed. Scandals regarding Chinese food, drugs, and children's toys, sparked international fears about safety of Chinese products. New Roman Catholic bishop of Beijing (first in over 50 years officially approved by the Pope) consecrated.


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