CIA World Fact Book, 2004/China


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!| 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, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by 2000 output had quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically and the room for personal choice has expanded, yet political controls remain tight.
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!| Location: !| Geographic coordinates: !| Map references: !| Area: land: 9,326,410 sq km water: 270,550 sq km !| Area - comparative: !| Land boundaries: border 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, Vietnam 1,281 km regional borders: Hong Kong 30 km, Macau 0.34 km !| Coastline: !| Maritime claims: contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin !| Climate: !| Terrain: !| Elevation extremes: highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m !| Natural resources: !| Land use: other: 83.36% (2001) permanent crops: 1.25% !| Irrigated land: !| Natural hazards: !| Environment - current issues: !| Environment - international agreements: signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements !| Geography - note:
 * Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam
 * 35 00 N, 105 00 E
 * Asia
 * total: 9,596,960 sq km
 * slightly smaller than the US
 * total: 22,117 km
 * 14,500 km
 * territorial sea: 12 nm
 * extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north
 * mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east
 * lowest point: Turpan Pendi -154 m
 * coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest)
 * arable land: 15.4%
 * 525,800 sq km (1998 est.)
 * frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern and eastern coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts; land subsidence
 * 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
 * party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
 * world's fourth largest country (after Russia, Canada, and US); Mount Everest on the border with Nepal is the world's tallest peak;
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!| Population: !| Age structure: 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: male: 31.5 years female: 32.2 years (2004 est.) !| Population growth rate: !| Birth rate: !| Death rate: !| Net migration rate: !| Sex ratio: 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 total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2004 est.) !| Infant mortality rate: female: 29.14 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) male: 21.84 deaths/1,000 live births !| Life expectancy at birth: male: 70.4 years female: 73.72 years (2004 est.) !| Total fertility rate: !| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: !| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: !| HIV/AIDS - deaths: !| Nationality: adjective: Chinese !| Ethnic groups: !| Religions: note: officially atheist (2002 est.) !| Languages: !| Literacy: total population: 90.9% male: 95.1% female: 86.5% (2002)
 * 1,298,847,624 (July 2004 est.)
 * 0-14 years: 22.3% (male 153,401,051; female 135,812,993)
 * total: 31.8 years
 * 0.57% (2004 est.)
 * 12.98 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)
 * 6.92 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)
 * -0.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)
 * at birth: 1.12 male(s)/female
 * total: 25.28 deaths/1,000 live births
 * total population: 71.96 years
 * 1.69 children born/woman (2004 est.)
 * 0.1% (2003 est.)
 * 840,000 (2003 est.)
 * 44,000 (2003 est.)
 * noun: Chinese (singular and plural)
 * Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1%
 * Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Muslim 1%-2%, Christian 3%-4%
 * 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)
 * definition: age 15 and over can read and write
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!| Country name: conventional short form: China local long form: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo abbreviation: PRC local short form: Zhong Guo !| Government type: !| Capital: !| Administrative divisions: : provinces: Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang : autonomous regions: Guangxi, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Xizang (Tibet) note: China considers Taiwan its 23rd province; see separate entries for the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau : municipalities: Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Tianjin !| Independence: !| National holiday: !| Constitution: !| Legal system: !| Suffrage: !| Executive branch: cabinet: State Council appointed by the National People's Congress (NPC) election results: HU Jintao elected president by the Tenth National People's Congress with a total of 2,937 votes (4 delegates voted against him, 4 abstained, and 38 did not vote); ZENG Qinghong elected vice president by the Tenth National People's Congress with a total of 2,578 votes (177 delegates voted against him, 190 abstained, and 38 did not vote); 2 seats were vacant elections: president and vice president elected by the National People's Congress for five-year terms; elections last held 15-17 March 2003 (next to be held mid-March 2008); premier nominated by the president, confirmed by the National People's Congress 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) !| Legislative branch: elections: last held December 2002-February 2003 (next to be held late 2007-February 2008) election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - NA !| Judicial branch: !| Political parties and leaders: !| Political pressure groups and leaders: !| International organization participation: !| Diplomatic representation in the US: chancery: 2300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 FAX: [1] (202) 328-2582 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco telephone: [1] (202) 328-2500 !| Diplomatic representation from the US: embassy: Xiu Shui Bei Jie 3, 100600 Beijing mailing address: PSC 461, Box 50, FPO AP 96521-0002 telephone: [86] (10) 6532-3831 FAX: [86] (10) 6532-6929 consulate(s) general: Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenyang !| Flag description:
 * conventional long form: People's Republic of China
 * Communist state
 * Beijing
 * 23 provinces (sheng, singular and plural), 5 autonomous regions (zizhiqu, singular and plural), and 4 municipalities (shi, singular and plural)
 * 221 BC (unification under the Qin or Ch'in Dynasty); 1 January 1912 (Manchu Dynasty replaced by a Republic); 1 October 1949 (People's Republic established)
 * Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China, 1 October (1949)
 * most recent promulgation 4 December 1982
 * a complex amalgam of custom and statute, 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
 * 18 years of age; universal
 * chief of state: President HU Jintao (since 15 March 2003) and Vice President ZENG Qinghong (since 15 March 2003)
 * 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)
 * 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)
 * Chinese Communist Party or CCP [HU Jintao, General Secretary of the Central Committee]; eight registered small parties controlled by CCP
 * no substantial political opposition groups exist, although the government has identified the Falungong spiritual movement and the China Democracy Party as subversive groups
 * AfDB, APEC, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, CDB, 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, MONUC, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), ONUB, OPCW, PCA, SCO, UN, UN Security Council, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMOVIC, UNOCI, UNTSO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC
 * chief of mission: Ambassador YANG Jiechi
 * chief of mission: Ambassador Clark T. RANDT, Jr.
 * red with a large yellow five-pointed star and four smaller yellow five-pointed stars (arranged in a vertical arc toward the middle of the flag) in the upper hoist-side corner
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!| Economy - overview: !| GDP: !| GDP - real growth rate: !| GDP - per capita: !| GDP - composition by sector: industry and construction: 52.9% services: 32.3% (2003) !| Investment (gross fixed): !| Population below poverty line: !| Household income or consumption by percentage share: highest 10%: 30.4% (1998) !| Distribution of family income - Gini index: !| Inflation rate (consumer prices): !| Labor force: !| Labor force - by occupation: !| Unemployment rate: !| Budget: expenditures: $300.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2003) !| Public debt: !| Agriculture - products: !| Industries: !| Industrial production growth rate: !| Electricity - production: !| Electricity - consumption: !| Electricity - exports: !| Electricity - imports: !| Oil - production: !| Oil - consumption: !| Oil - exports: !| Oil - imports: !| Oil - proved reserves: !| Natural gas - production: !| Natural gas - consumption: !| Natural gas - exports: !| Natural gas - imports: !| Natural gas - proved reserves: !| Current account balance: !| Exports: !| Exports - commodities: !| Exports - partners: !| Imports: !| Imports - commodities: !| Imports - partners: !| Reserves of foreign exchange & gold: !| Debt - external: !| Economic aid - recipient: !| Currency: note:: also referred to as the Renminbi (RMB) !| Currency code: !| Exchange rates: !| Fiscal year:
 * 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.
 * purchasing power parity - $6.449 trillion (2003 est.)
 * 9.1% (official data) (2003 est.)
 * purchasing power parity - $5,000 (2003 est.)
 * agriculture: 14.8%
 * 43.4% of GDP (2003)
 * 10% (2001 est.)
 * lowest 10%: 2.4%
 * 40 (2001)
 * 1.2% (2003 est.)
 * 778.1 million (2003 est.)
 * agriculture 50%, industry 22%, services 28% (2001 est.)
 * 10.1% urban unemployment roughly 10%; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas (2003 est.)
 * revenues: $265.8 billion
 * 30.1% of GDP (2003)
 * rice, wheat, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton, oilseed, pork, fish
 * iron and steel, coal, machine building, armaments, textiles and apparel, petroleum, cement, chemical fertilizers, footwear, toys, food processing, automobiles, consumer electronics, telecommunications
 * 30.4% (2003 est.)
 * 1.42 trillion kWh (2001)
 * 1.312 trillion kWh (2001)
 * 10.3 billion kWh (2001)
 * 1.8 billion kWh (2001)
 * 3.3 million bbl/day (2001 est.)
 * 4.57 million bbl/day (2001 est.)
 * 151,200 bbl/day (2001)
 * 1.207 million bbl/day (2001)
 * 26.75 billion bbl (1 January 2002)
 * 30.3 billion cu m (2001 est.)
 * 27.4 billion cu m (2001 est.)
 * 0 cu m (2001 est.)
 * 0 cu m (2001 est.)
 * 1.29 trillion cu m (1 January 2002)
 * $31.17 billion (2003)
 * $436.1 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
 * machinery and equipment, textiles and clothing, footwear, toys and sporting goods, mineral fuels
 * US 21.1%, Hong Kong 17.4%, Japan 13.6%, South Korea 4.6%, Germany 4% (2003)
 * $397.4 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
 * machinery and equipment, mineral fuels, plastics, iron and steel, chemicals
 * Japan 18%, Taiwan 11.9%, South Korea 10.4%, US 8.2%, Germany 5.9% (2003)
 * $412.7 billion (2003)
 * $197.8 billion (2003 est.)
 * NA
 * yuan (CNY)
 * CNY
 * yuan per US dollar - 8.277 (2003), 8.277 (2002), 8.2771 (2001), 8.2785 (2000), 8.2783 (1999)
 * calendar year
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!| Telephones - main lines in use: !| Telephones - mobile cellular: !| Telephone system: domestic: interprovincial fiber-optic trunk lines and cellular telephone systems have been installed; a domestic satellite system with 55 earth stations is in place international: country code - 86; satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region) and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific and Indian Ocean regions); several international fiber-optic links to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Russia, and Germany (2000) !| Radio broadcast stations: !| Radios: !| Television broadcast stations: !| Televisions: !| Internet country code: !| Internet hosts: !| Internet Service Providers (ISPs): !| Internet users:
 * 263 million (2003)
 * 269 million (2003)
 * general assessment: domestic and international services are increasingly available for private use; unevenly distributed domestic system serves principal cities, industrial centers, and many towns
 * AM 369, FM 259, shortwave 45 (1998)
 * 417 million (1997)
 * 3,240 (of which 209 are operated by China Central Television, 31 are provincial TV stations and nearly 3,000 are local city stations) (1997)
 * 400 million (1997)
 * .cn
 * 160,421 (2003)
 * 3 (2000)
 * 94 million (2004)
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!| Railways: 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: paved: 314,204 km (with at least 16,314 km of expressways) unpaved: 1,088,494 km (2000) !| Waterways: !| Pipelines: !| Ports and harbors: !| Merchant marine: 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: !| Airports - with paved runways: 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: 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:
 * total: 70,058 km
 * total: 1,402,698 km
 * 121,557 km (2002)
 * gas 15,890 km; oil 14,478 km; refined products 3,280 km (2004)
 * Dalian, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Haikou, Huangpu, Lianyungang, Nanjing, Nantong, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shantou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Wenzhou, Xiamen, Xingang, Yantai, Zhanjiang (2001)
 * total: 1,850 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 18,724,653 GRT/27,749,784 DWT
 * 507 (2003 est.)
 * total: 332
 * total: 175
 * 15 (2003 est.)
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!| Military branches: !| Military manpower - military age and obligation: !| Military manpower - availability: !| Military manpower - fit for military service: !| Military manpower - reaching military age annually: !| Military expenditures - dollar figure: !| Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
 * 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
 * 18 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)
 * males age 15-49: 379,524,688 (2004 est.)
 * males age 15-49: 208,143,352 (2004 est.)
 * males: 12,494,201 (2004 est.)
 * $60 billion (2003 est.)
 * 3.5-5.0% (FY03 est.)
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