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Background Note: China
PROFILE
OFFICIAL NAME:
People's Republic of
China
Geography
Total area: 9,596,960 sq. km. (about 3.7 million sq. mi.).
Cities: Capital--Beijing. Other major cities--Shanghai,
Tianjin, Shenyang, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Harbin, Chengdu.
Terrain: Plains, deltas, and hills in east; mountains, high
plateaus, deserts in west.
Climate: Tropical in south to subarctic in north.
People
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Chinese (singular and
plural).
Population (2006 est.): 1.3 billion.
Population growth rate (2006 est.): 0.6%.
Health (2006 est.): Infant mortality rate--23.12/1,000.
Life expectancy--72.58 years (overall); 70.89 years for
males, 74.46 years for females.
Ethnic groups: Han Chinese--91.9%; Zhuang, Manchu, Hui,
Miao, Uygur, Yi, Mongolian, Tibetan, Buyi, Korean, and other
nationalities--8.1%.
Religions: Officially atheist; Taoism, Buddhism, Islam,
Christianity.
Language: Mandarin (Putonghua), plus many local dialects.
Education: Years compulsory--9. Literacy--89%.
Work force (2001 est., 711 million): Agriculture and
forestry--50%; industry and commerce--23%;
other--27%.
Government
Type: Communist party-led state.
Constitution: December 4, 1982.
Independence: Unification under the Qin (Ch'in) Dynasty 221 BC;
Qing (Ch'ing or Manchu) Dynasty replaced by a republic on
February 12, 1912; People's Republic established October 1,
1949.
Branches: Executive--president, vice president, State
Council, premier. Legislative--unicameral National
People's Congress. Judicial--Supreme People's Court.
Administrative divisions: 23 provinces (the P.R.C. considers
Taiwan to be its 23rd province); 5 autonomous regions, including
Tibet; 4 municipalities directly under the State Council.
Political parties: Chinese Communist Party, 70.8 million
members; 8 minor parties under communist supervision.
Suffrage: Universal at 18.
Economy
GDP (2005): $2.26 trillion (exchange rate based).
Per capita GDP (2005): $1,700 (exchange rate based).
GDP real growth rate (2005): 9.9%.
Natural resources: Coal, iron ore, crude oil, mercury, tin,
tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite,
aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world's
largest).
Agriculture: Products--Among the world's largest
producers of rice, wheat, potatoes, corn, peanuts, tea, millet,
barley; commercial crops include cotton, other fibers, apples,
oilseeds, pork and fish; produces variety of livestock products.
Industry: Types--mining and ore processing; iron;
steel; aluminum; coal, machinery; textiles and apparel;
armaments; petroleum; cement; chemicals; fertilizers; consumer
products including footwear, toys, and electronics; automobiles
and other transportation equipment including rail cars and
locomotives, ships, and aircraft; and telecommunications.
Trade (2005): Exports--$762.3 billion: electronics;
machinery; apparel; optical, photographic, and medical
equipment; and furniture. Main partners--U.S., Hong
Kong, Japan, EU, South Korea, Singapore. Imports--$660.2
billion: electronics, machinery, petroleum products, chemicals,
steel. Main partners--Japan, EU, Taiwan, South Korea,
U.S., Hong Kong.
PEOPLE
Ethnic Groups
The largest ethnic group is the Han Chinese, who constitute
about 91.9% of the total population. The remaining 8.1% are
Zhuang (16 million), Manchu (10 million), Hui (9 million), Miao
(8 million), Uygur (7 million), Yi (7 million), Mongolian (5
million), Tibetan (5 million), Buyi (3 million), Korean (2
million), and other ethnic minorities.
Language
There are seven major Chinese dialects and many subdialects.
Mandarin (or Putonghua), the predominant dialect, is spoken by
over 70% of the population. It is taught in all schools and is
the medium of government. About two-thirds of the Han ethnic
group are native speakers of Mandarin; the rest, concentrated in
southwest and southeast China, speak one of the six other major
Chinese dialects. Non-Chinese languages spoken widely by ethnic
minorities include Mongolian, Tibetan, Uygur and other Turkic
languages (in Xinjiang), and Korean (in the northeast).
The Pinyin System of Romanization
On January 1, 1979, the Chinese Government officially adopted
the pinyin system for spelling Chinese names and places in Roman
letters. A system of Romanization invented by the Chinese,
pinyin has long been widely used in China on street and
commercial signs as well as in elementary Chinese textbooks as
an aid in learning Chinese characters. Variations of pinyin also
are used as the written forms of several minority languages.
Pinyin has now replaced other conventional
spellings in China's English-language publications. The U.S.
Government also has adopted the pinyin system for all names and
places in China. For example, the capital of China is now
spelled "Beijing" rather than "Peking."
Religion
Religion plays a significant part in the life of many Chinese.
Buddhism is most widely practiced, with an estimated 100 million
adherents. Traditional Taoism also is practiced. Official
figures indicate there are 20 million Muslims, 5 million
Catholics, and 15 million Protestants; unofficial estimates are
much higher.
While the Chinese constitution affirms
religious toleration, the Chinese Government places restrictions
on religious practice outside officially recognized
organizations. Only two Christian organizations--a Catholic
church without official ties to Rome and the
"Three-Self-Patriotic" Protestant church--are sanctioned by the
Chinese Government. Unauthorized churches have sprung up in many
parts of the country and unofficial religious practice is
flourishing. In some regions authorities have tried to control
activities of these unregistered churches. In other regions,
registered and unregistered groups are treated similarly by
authorities and congregations worship in both types of churches.
Most Chinese Catholic bishops are recognized by the Pope, and
official priests have Vatican approval to administer all the
sacraments.
Population Policy
With a population officially just over 1.3 billion and an
estimated growth rate of about 0.6%, China is very concerned
about its population growth and has attempted with mixed results
to implement a strict birth limitation policy. China's 2002
Population and Family Planning Law and policy permit one child
per family, with allowance for a second child under certain
circumstances, especially in rural areas, and with guidelines
looser for ethnic minorities with small populations. Enforcement
varies, and relies largely on "social compensation fees" to
discourage extra births. Official government policy opposes
forced abortion or sterilization, but in some localities there
are instances of forced abortion. The government's goal is to
stabilize the population in the first half of the 21st century,
and current projections are that the population will peak at
around 1.6 billion by 2050.
China Background Briefing and Profile Above
Provided By U.S. Dept. of State @
http://www.state.gov/misc/list/index.htm
China (CN)
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