1992 Edition

Climate

extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north

Coastline

14,500 km

Comparative area

slightly larger than the US

Continental shelf

claim to shallow areas of East China Sea and Yellow Sea

Disputes

boundary with India; bilateral negotiations are under way to resolve disputed sections of the boundary with Russia; boundary with Tajikistan

indefinite; involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; maritime boundary dispute with Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin; Paracel Islands occupied by China, but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; claims Japanese-administered Senkaku-shoto, as does Taiwan, (Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu Tai)

under dispute

a short section of the boundary with North Korea is

Environment

frequent typhoons (about five times per year along southern and eastern coasts), damaging floods, tsunamis, earthquakes; deforestation; soil erosion; industrial pollution; water pollution; air pollution; desertification

Land area

9,326,410 km2

Land boundaries

22,143.34 km; Afghanistan 76 km, Bhutan 470 km, Burma 2,185 km, Hong Kong 30 km, India 3,380 km, Kazakhstan 1,533 km, North Korea 1,416 km, Kyrgyzstan 858 km, Laos 423 km, Macau 0.34 km, Mongolia 4,673 km, Nepal 1,236 km, Pakistan 523 km, Russia (northeast) 3,605 km, Russia (northwest) 40 km, Tajikistan 414 km, Vietnam 1,281 km

Land use

arable land 10%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and pastures 31%; forest and woodland 14%; other 45%; includes irrigated 5%

Natural resources

coal, iron ore, crude oil, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, world's largest hydropower potential

Note

world's third-largest country (after Russia and Canada)

Terrain

mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east

Territorial sea

12 nm

Total area

9,596,960 km2

Birth rate

22 births/1,000 population (1992)

Death rate

7 deaths/1,000 population (1992)

Ethnic divisions

Han Chinese 93.3%; Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 6.7%

Infant mortality rate

32 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)

Labor force

567,400,000; agriculture and forestry 60%, industry and commerce 25%, construction and mining 5%, social services 5%, other 5% (1990 est.)

Languages

Standard Chinese (Putonghua) or Mandarin (based on the Beijing dialect); also Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, and minority languages (see ethnic divisions)

Life expectancy at birth

69 years male, 72 years female (1992)

Literacy

73% (male 84%, female 62%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

Nationality

noun - Chinese (singular and plural); adjective - Chinese

Net migration rate

0 migrants/1,000 population (1992)

Organized labor

All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) follows the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party; membership over 80 million or about 65% of the urban work force (1985)

Population

1,169,619,601 (July 1992), growth rate 1.6% (1992)

Religions

officially atheist, but traditionally pragmatic and eclectic; most important elements of religion are Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism; Muslim 2-3%, Christian 1% (est.)

Total fertility rate

2.3 children born/woman (1992)

Administrative divisions

23 provinces (sheng, singular and plural), 5 autonomous regions* (zizhiqu, singular and plural), and 3 municipalities** (shi, singular and plural); Anhui, Beijing Shi**, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi*, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol*, Ningxia*, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanghai Shi**, Shanxi, Sichuan, Tianjin Shi**, Xinjiang*, Xizang*, Yunnan, Zhejiang; note - China considers Taiwan its 23rd province

Capital

Beijing

Chief of State

President YANG Shangkun (since 8 April 1988); Vice President WANG Zhen (since 8 April 1988)

Chief of State and Head of Government (de facto)

DENG Xiaoping (since mid-1977)

Communists

49,000,000 party members (1990 est.)

Constitution

most recent promulgated 4 December 1982

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador ZHU Qizhen; Chancery at 2300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008; telephone (202) 328-2500 through 2502; there are Chinese Consulates General in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco US: Ambassador J. Stapleton ROY; Embassy at Xiu Shui Bei Jie 3, Beijing (mailing address is 100600, PSC 461, Box 50, Beijing or FPO AP 96521-0002); telephone [86] (1) 532-3831; FAX [86] (1) 532-3178; there are US Consulates General in Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenyang

Executive branch

president, vice president, premier, five vice premiers, State Council

Flag

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

Head of Government

Premier LI Peng (Acting Premier since 24 November 1987, Premier since 9 April 1988); Vice Premier YAO Yilin (since 2 July 1979); Vice Premier TIAN Jiyun (since 20 June 1983); Vice Premier WU Xueqian (since 12 April 1988); Vice Premier ZOU Jiahua (since 8 April 1991); Vice Premier ZHU Rongji (since 8 April 1991)

Independence

unification under the Qin (Ch'in) Dynasty 221 BC, Qing (Ch'ing) Dynasty replaced by the Republic on 12 February 1912, People's Republic established 1 October 1949

Judicial branch

Supreme People's Court

Legal system

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

Legislative branch

unicameral National People's Congress (Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui)

Long-form name

People's Republic of China; abbreviated PRC

Member of

AfDB, APEC, AsDB, CCC, ESCAP, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UN Security Council, UNTSO, UN Trusteeship Council, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

National holiday

National Day, 1 October (1949)

National People's Congress

last held March 1988 (next to be held March 1993); results - CCP is the only party but there are also independents; seats - (2,976 total) CCP and independents 2,976 (indirectly elected at county or xian level)

Other political or pressure groups

such meaningful opposition as exists consists of loose coalitions, usually within the party and government organization, that vary by issue

Political parties and leaders

- Chinese Communist Party (CCP), JIANG Zemin, general secretary of the Central Committee (since 24 June 1989); also, eight registered small parties controlled by CCP

President

last held 8 April 1988 (next to be held March 1993); results - YANG Shangkun was nominally elected by the Seventh National People's Congress

Suffrage

universal at age 18

Type

Communist Party - led state

Agriculture

accounts for 26% of GNP; among the world's largest producers of rice, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, and pork; commercial crops include cotton, other fibers, and oilseeds; produces variety of livestock products; basically self-sufficient in food; fish catch of 8 million metric tons in 1986

Budget

deficit $9.5 billion (1990)

Currency

yuan (plural - yuan); 1 yuan (Y) = 10 jiao

Economic aid

donor - to less developed countries (1970-89) $7.0 billion; US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-87), $220.7 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $13.5 billion

Electricity

138,000,000 kW capacity (1990); 670,000 million kWh produced (1991), 582 kWh per capita (1991)

Exchange rates

yuan (Y) per US$1 - 5.4481 (January 1992), 5.3234 (1991), 4.7832 (1990), 3.7651 (1989), 3.7221 (1988), 3.7221 (1987)

Exports

$71.9 billion (f.o.b., 1991) commodities: textiles, garments, telecommunications and recording equipment, petroleum, minerals partners: Hong Kong, Japan, US, USSR, Singapore (1990)

External debt

$51 billion (1990 est.)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GNP

$NA, per capita $NA; real growth rate 6% (1991)

Illicit drugs

transshipment point for heroin produced in the Golden Triangle

Imports

$63.8 billion (c.i.f., 1991) commodities: specialized industrial machinery, chemicals, manufactured goods, steel, textile yarn, fertilizer partners: Hong Kong, Japan, US, Germany, Taiwan (1990)

Industrial production

growth rate 14.0% (1991); accounts for 45% of GNP

Industries

iron, steel, coal, machine building, armaments, textiles, petroleum, cement, chemical fertilizers, consumer durables, food processing

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

2.1% (1991)

Overview

Beginning in late 1978 the Chinese leadership has been trying to move the economy from the sluggish Soviet-style centrally planned economy to a more productive and flexible economy with market elements, but still within the framework of monolithic Communist control. To this end the authorities have switched to a system of household 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 foreign economic sector to increased trade and joint ventures. The most gratifying result has been a strong spurt in production, particularly in agriculture in the early 1980s. Industry also has posted major gains, especially in coastal areas near Hong Kong and opposite Taiwan, where foreign investment and modern production methods have helped spur production of both domestic and export goods. Aggregate output has more than doubled since 1978. On the darker side, the leadership has often experienced in its hybrid system the worst results of socialism (bureaucracy, lassitude, corruption) and of capitalism (windfall gains and stepped-up inflation). Beijing thus has periodically backtracked, retightening central controls at intervals and thereby lessening the credibility of the reform process. In 1991 output rose substantially, particularly in the favored coastal areas. Popular resistance, changes in central policy, and loss of authority by rural cadres have weakened China's population control program, which is essential to the nation's long-term economic viability.

Unemployment rate

4.0% in urban areas (1991)

Airports

330 total, 330 usable; 260 with permanent-surface runways; fewer than 10 with runways over 3,500 m; 90 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 200 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air

284 major transport aircraft (1988 est.)

Highways

about 1,029,000 km (1990) all types roads; 170,000 km (est.) paved roads, 648,000 km (est.) gravel/improved earth roads, 211,000 km (est.) unimproved earth roads and tracks

Inland waterways

138,600 km; about 109,800 km navigable

Merchant marine

1,454 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 13,887,312 GRT/20,916,127 DWT; includes 25 passenger, 42 short-sea passenger, 18 passenger-cargo, 6 cargo/training, 801 cargo, 10 refrigerated cargo, 77 container, 19 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 1 multifunction/barge carrier, 177 petroleum tanker, 10 chemical tanker, 254 bulk, 3 liquefied gas, 1 vehicle carrier, 9 combination bulk, 1 barge carrier; note - China beneficially owns an additional 194 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling approximately 7,077,089 DWT that operate under Panamanian, British, Hong Kong, Maltese, Liberian, Vanuatu, Cyprus, and Saint Vincent registry

Pipelines

crude oil 9,700 km (1990); petroleum products 1,100 km; natural gas 6,200 km

Ports

Dalian, Guangzhou, Huangpu, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Xingang, Zhanjiang, Ningbo, Xiamen, Tanggu, Shantou

Railroads

total about 54,000 km common carrier lines; 53,400 km 1.435-meter standard gauge; 600 km 1.000-meter gauge; of these 11,200 km are double track standard-gauge lines; 6,900 km electrified (1990); 10,000 km dedicated industrial lines (gauges range from 0.762 to 1.067 meters)

Telecommunications

domestic and international services are increasingly available for private use; unevenly distributed internal system serves principal cities, industrial centers, and most townships; 11,000,000 telephones (December 1989); broadcast stations - 274 AM, unknown FM, 202 (2,050 repeaters) TV; more than 215 million radio receivers; 75 million TVs; satellite earth stations - 4 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT, 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT, 1 INMARSAT, and 55 domestic

Branches

People's Liberation Army (PLA), PLA Navy (including Marines), PLA Air Force, People's Armed Police

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $12-15 billion, NA of GNP (1991 est.)

Manpower availability

males 15-49, 339,554,712; 188,995,620 fit for military service; 11,691,967 reach military age (18) annually