China

"PRC" redirects here. For other uses, see

PRC (disambiguation).
This article is about the People's Republic
of China. For the Republic of China, see
Taiwan. For other uses, see China
(disambiguation).
People's Republic of
China

Zhnghu Rnmn
Gnghgu

Flag

National
Emblem

Anthem:
Page 1 of 125


Yyngjn
Jnxngq (Pinyin)

Area controlled by the

People's Republic of
China shown in dark
green; claimed but
uncontrolled regions
shown in light green.
Capital

Beijing[a]
3955N
11623E
/ 39.917
Page 2 of 125

N
116.383
E/
39.917;
116.383
Largest city

Shanghai[
1]

Official
languages

Standard
Chinese[2
][b]
Mongolia
n

Recognised Tibetan
regional lan Uyghur
guages
Zhuang
various
others
Official
written

Vernacula
Page 3 of 125

language

r Chinese

Official
script

Simplified
Chinese[2
]

Ethnic group 91.51%

s
Han
55
minorities
[c][show]
1.30%
Zhuang
0.86%
Manchu
0.79%
Uyghur
0.79%
Hui
0.72%
Page 4 of 125

Miao
0.65% Yi
0.62%
Tujia
0.47%
Mongol
0.44%
Tibetan
0.26%
Buyei
0.15%
Korean
1.05%
others
Demonym

Chinese

Government Singleparty
socialist
Page 5 of 125

state
-President

Xi
Jinping[d]

-Premier

Li
Keqiang

Congress
Chairman

Zhang
Dejiang

Yu
Conference
Zhengshe
Chairman
ng
Legislature

National
People's
Congress

Formation
Unification 221 BCE
-of China
Page 6 of 125

under the
Qin
Dynasty
Republic
1 January
established 1912
People's
1 October
-Republic
1949
proclaimed
Area

-Total

9,706,96
1 km2[e]
(3rd/4th)
3,747,87
9 sq mi

-Water (%)

0.28%[f]

Population
Page 7 of 125

1,350,69
2012 estim
5,000[7]
ate
(1st)
1,339,72
2010 censu
4,852[8]
s
(1st)

-Density

139.6/km
2 (81st)
363.3/sq
mi

GDP (PPP)

2013 esti
mate

-Total

$13.374
trillion[9]
(2nd)

-Per capita

$9,828[9]
(92nd)

GDP (nomin 2013 esti

Page 8 of 125

al)

mate

-Total

$8.939
trillion[9]
(2nd)

-Per capita

$6,569[9]
(87th)

Gini (2012)

47.4[10]
high

HDI (2012)

0.699[1
1]
medium
101st

Currency

Renminbi
(yuan) ()
(CNY)

Time zone

China
Standard
Time
Page 9 of 125

(UTC+8)
yyyy-mmdd
Date format

or yyyy
md
(CE; CE1949)

Drives on
the

right[g]

Calling code +86

ISO 3166
code

CN
.cn

Internet TLD .
.
China ( i/tan/; Chinese: ; pinyin:
Zhnggu), officially the People's Republic
of China, is a sovereign state located in
Page 10 of 125

East Asia. It is the world's most populous

country, with a population of over
1.35 billion. The PRC is a single-party
state governed by the Communist Party,
with its seat of government in the capital
city of Beijing.[12] It exercises jurisdiction
over 22 provinces, five autonomous
regions, four direct-controlled
municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai,
and Chongqing), and two mostly selfgoverning special administrative regions
(Hong Kong and Macau). The PRC also
claims Taiwan which is controlled by the
Republic of China (ROC), a separate
political entity as its 23rd province, a
claim controversial due to the complex
political status of Taiwan and the
unresolved Chinese Civil War.[13]
Covering approximately 9.6 million square
kilometres, China is the world's secondlargest country by land area,[14] but only
Page 11 of 125

the third or fourth-largest by total area,

depending on the method of
measurement.[h] China's landscape is
vast and diverse, ranging from forest
steppes and the Gobi and Taklamakan
deserts in the arid north to subtropical
forests in the wetter south. The Himalaya,
Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan
mountain ranges separate China from
South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and
Yellow Rivers, the third- and sixth-longest
in the world, run from the Tibetan Plateau
to the densely populated eastern
seaboard. China's coastline along the
Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometres
(9,000 mi) long, and is bounded by the
Bohai, Yellow, East and South China Seas.
The ancient Chinese civilization one of
the world's earliest flourished in the
fertile basin of the Yellow River in the
North China Plain. For millennia, China's
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political system was based on hereditary

monarchies, known as dynasties,
beginning with the semi-mythological Xia
of the Yellow River basin (c. 2000 BCE).
Since 221 BCE, when the Qin Dynasty first
conquered several states to form a
Chinese empire, the country has
expanded, fractured and been reformed
numerous times. The Republic of China
(ROC) overthrew the last dynasty in 1911,
and ruled the Chinese mainland until
1949. After the defeat of the Empire of
Japan in World War II, the Communist
Party defeated the nationalist Kuomintang
in mainland China and established the
People's Republic of China in Beijing on 1
October 1949, while the Kuomintang
relocated the ROC government to its
present capital of Taipei.
Since the introduction of economic
reforms in 1978, China has become the
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world's fastest-growing major economy.

As of 2013, it is the world's secondlargest economy by both nominal total
GDP and purchasing power parity (PPP),
and is also the world's largest exporter
and importer of goods.[15] China is a
recognized nuclear weapons state and
has the world's largest standing army,
with the second-largest defense budget.
[16] The PRC has been a United Nations
member since 1971, when it replaced the
ROC as a permanent member of the U.N.
Security Council. China is also a member
of numerous formal and informal
multilateral organizations, including the
WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai
Cooperation Organisation, the BCIM and
the G-20. China is a regional power within
Asia and has been characterized as a
potential superpower by a number of
commentators.[17][18]
Page 14 of 125

Contents
[hide]
1 Etymology
2 History
2.1 Prehistory
2.2 Early dynastic rule
2.3 Imperial China
2.4 End of dynastic rule
2.5 Republic of China (19121949)
2.6 People's Republic of China (1949
present)
3 Geography
3.1 Political geography
3.2 Landscape and climate
3.3 Biodiversity
3.4 Environmental issues
4 Politics
Page 15 of 125

4.1 Administrative divisions

4.2 Foreign relations
4.2.1 Trade relations
4.2.2 Territorial disputes
4.2.3 Emerging superpower status
4.3 Sociopolitical issues and reform
5 Military
6 Economy
6.1 Economic history and growth
6.2 China in the global economy
6.3 Class and income equality
6.4 Internationalization of the renminbi
7 Science and technology
7.1 Historical
7.2 Modern era
8 Infrastructure
Page 16 of 125

8.1 Communications
8.2 Transport
9 Demographics
9.1 Ethnic groups
9.2 Languages
9.3 Urbanization
9.4 Education
9.5 Health
9.6 Religion
10 Culture
10.1 Cuisine
10.2 Sports
11 See also
12 Footnotes
13 References
14 Further reading
Page 17 of 125

15 External links
Etymology
Main article: Names of China
[show]China
Chinese name
Simplified Chi

nese:
Traditional Ch

inese:
Literal
meaning:

Middle
Kingdom[19
][20]

[show]Transliterations
Gan
Romanization Tung-koee t
:
Kejia
Page 18 of 125

Dung24
Romanization
Gued2
:
Mandarin
Zhnggu
Hanyu Pinyin:
Tongyong Pin Jhonggu
yin:
- Wade-Giles: Chung1kuo2
Gwoyeu Rom Jong'gwo
atzyh:
- Bopomofo

- Xiao'erjing

Min
Page 19 of 125

Tiong-kok
Hokkien POJ:
- Min
Dong BUC:

Dng-guk

Wu
Tson koh
Romanization

:
Xiang
/tan33
Romanization
kw24/
:
Yue
- Jyutping:

Zung1
gwok3

Yale Romaniz Jnggwok

ation:
People's Republic of China
Page 20 of 125

Alternative Chinese name

Simplified Chi

nese:
Traditional Ch

inese:
[show]Transliterations
Gan
Chungfa
Romanization Ninmin
:
Khungfokoet
Hakka
Dung24
Romanization fa11 ngin11
:
min11
kiung55
fo11 gued2
Mandarin
Zhnghu
Hanyu Pinyin Rnmn
Page 21 of 125

Gnghgu

- Bopomofo

- Xiao'erjing

Min
Tiong-ha
Hokkien POJ: jn-bn
king-hkok
- Min
Dong BUC:

Dng-hu
ng-mng
Gng-huguk

Wu
Tson gho
Romanization zin min
Page 22 of 125

gon
ghu koh

Xiang
/tan33 go13
Romanization in13 min13
:
gan45 gu13
kw24/
Yue
- Jyutping:

Zung1 waa4
jan4 man4
gung6 wo4
gwok3

Jngwh
Yhnmhn
Yale Romaniz
Guhngwhg
ation:
wok
Mongolian name
Mongolian:
[show]Transliterations
Page 23 of 125

- SASM/GNC Bgde
nayiramdaqu
dumdadu
arad ulus
Tibetan name
Tibetan:

[show]Transliterations
- Wylie:

krung hwa
mi dmangs
spyi mthun
rgyal khab

Zhunghua
Zangwen Pin Mimang Jitun
yin:
Gyalkab
Uyghur name
Uyghur:

Page 24 of 125

[show]Transliterations
- Latin Yziqi:Jungxua Xelq
Jumhuriyiti
- Yengi Yezikk: Junghua Hlkk
Jumhkuriyiti
- SASM/GNC: Junghua Hlkk
Jumuriyiti
- Siril Yziqi:

Zhuang name
Zhuang:

Cunghvaz
Yinzminz
Gunghozgo
z

This article
contains Chinese
Page 25 of 125

text. Without
proper rendering
support, you may
see question
marks, boxes, or
other symbols
instead of
Chinese
characters.
The word "China" is derived from the
Persian word Cin (), which is from the
Sanskrit word Cna ().[21] It is first
recorded in 1516 in the journal of the
Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa.[22]
It first appears in English in a translation
published by Richard Eden in 1555.[23] It
is commonly thought that the word is
derived from the name of the Qin (Chin;
) Dynasty.[24]
The common Chinese names for the
present country are Zhnggu (Chinese:
Page 26 of 125

, from zhng, "central" or "middle",

and gu, "state" or "states," and in
modern times, "nation") and Zhnghu
(Chinese: ), although the country's
official name has been changed
numerous times by successive dynasties
and modern governments. The term
Zhnggu appeared in various ancient
texts, such as the Classic of History of the
6th century BCE,[25] and in pre-imperial
times it was often used as a cultural
concept to distinguish the Huaxia tribes
from perceived "barbarians". The term,
which can be either singular or plural,
referred to the group of states or
provinces in the central plain, but was not
used as a name for the country as a
whole until the nineteenth century. The
Chinese were not unique in regarding
their country as "central", since other
civilizations had the same view of
themselves.[26]
Page 27 of 125

History
Main articles: History of China and
Timeline of Chinese history

Jade deer ornament dating from the

Shang Dynasty (17th11th centuries BCE)

Page 28 of 125

Some of the thousands of life-size

Terracotta Warriors of the Qin Dynasty,
ca. 210 BCE
Prehistory
Main article: Chinese prehistory
Archaeological evidence suggests that
early hominids inhabited China between
250,000 and 2.24 million years ago.[27] A
cave in Zhoukoudian (near present-day
Beijing) exhibits hominid fossils dated at
between 300,000 and 780,000 BCE.[28]
[29][30] The fossils are of Peking Man, an
example of Homo erectus who used fire.
[31] The Peking Man site has also yielded
remains of Homo sapiens dating back to
Page 29 of 125

18,00011,000 BCE.[32] Some scholars

assert that a form of proto-writing existed
in China as early as 3000 BCE.[33]
According to Chinese tradition, the first
imperial dynasty was the Xia, which
emerged around 2070 BCE.[34] However,
the dynasty was considered mythical by
historians until scientific excavations
found early Bronze Age sites at Erlitou,
Henan in 1959.[35] Archaeologists have
since uncovered urban sites, bronze
implements, and tombs in locations cited
as Xia in ancient historical texts, but it is
impossible to verify that these remains
are of the Xia without written records
from the period.
Early dynastic rule
Further information: Dynasties in Chinese
history

Page 30 of 125

The first Chinese dynasty that left

historical records, the loosely feudal
Shang (Yin),[36] settled along the Yellow
River in eastern China from the 17th to
the 11th century BCE.[37] The oracle
bone script of the Shang Dynasty
represents the oldest form of Chinese
writing yet found,[38] and is a direct
ancestor of modern Chinese characters.
[39] The Shang were conquered by the
Zhou, who ruled between the 12th and
5th centuries BCE, until its centralized
authority was slowly eroded by feudal
warlords. Many independent states
eventually emerged from the weakened
Zhou state and continually waged war
with each other in the 300-year Spring
and Autumn Period, only occasionally
deferring to the Zhou king. By the time of
the Warring States period of the 5th3rd
centuries BCE, there were seven powerful
Page 31 of 125

sovereign states in what is now China,

each with its own king, ministry and army.
Imperial China
The Warring States period ended in 221
BCE, after the state of Qin conquered the
other six kingdoms and established the
first unified Chinese state. Qin Shi Huang,
the emperor of Qin, proclaimed himself
the "First Emperor" () and imposed
reforms throughout China, notably the
forced standardization of the Chinese
language, measurements, length of cart
axles, and currency. The Qin Dynasty
lasted only fifteen years, falling soon after
Qin Shi Huang's death, as its harsh
legalist and authoritarian policies led to
widespread rebellion.[40][41]

Page 32 of 125

The Great Wall of China was built by

several dynasties over two thousand
years to protect the sedentary
agricultural regions of the Chinese interior
from incursions by nomadic pastoralists of
the northern steppes.
The subsequent Han Dynasty ruled China
between 206 BCE and 220 CE, and
created a lasting Han cultural identity
among its populace that has endured to
the present day.[40][41] The Han Dynasty
expanded the empire's territory
considerably with military campaigns
reaching Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia and
Central Asia, and also helped establish
the Silk Road in Central Asia. Han China
gradually became the largest economy of
the ancient world.[42] The Han Dynasty
adopted Confucianism, a philosophy
developed in the Spring and Autumn
Page 33 of 125

period, as its official state ideology.

Despite the Han's official abandonment of
Legalism, the official ideology of the Qin,
Legalist institutions and policies remained
and formed the basis of the Han
government.[43]
After the collapse of Han, a period of
disunion known as the period of the Three
Kingdoms followed.[44] In 580 CE, China
was reunited under the Sui.[45] However,
the Sui Dynasty declined following its
defeat in the GoguryeoSui War (598
614).[46][47]
Under the succeeding Tang and Song
dynasties, Chinese technology and
culture entered a golden age.[48] The
Tang Empire was at its height of power
until the middle of the 8th century, when
the An Shi Rebellion destroyed the
prosperity of the empire.[49] The Song
Dynasty was the first government in
Page 34 of 125

world history to issue paper money and

the first Chinese polity to establish a
permanent standing navy.[50] Between
the 10th and 11th centuries, the
population of China doubled in size to
around 100 million people, mostly due to
the expansion of rice cultivation in central
and southern China, and the production of
abundant food surpluses. The Song
Dynasty also saw a flourishing of
philosophy and the arts, as landscape art
and portrait painting were brought to new
levels of maturity and complexity, and
social elites gathered to view art, share
their own and trade precious artworks.
Philosophers such as Cheng Yi and Chu
Hsi reinvigorated Confucianism with new
commentary, infused Buddhist ideals, and
emphasized a new organization of classic
texts that brought about the core doctrine
of Neo-Confucianism.
Page 35 of 125

Detail from Along the River During the

Qingming Festival, a 12th-century
painting showing everyday life in the
Song Dynasty's capital city, Bianjing
(today's Kaifeng)
In the 13th century, China was gradually
conquered by the Mongol empire. In
1271, the Mongol leader Kublai Khan
established the Yuan Dynasty; the Yuan
conquered the last remnant of the Song
Dynasty in 1279. A peasant named Zhu
Yuanzhang overthrew the Yuan Dynasty in
1368 and founded the Ming Dynasty.
Under the Ming Dynasty, China enjoyed
another golden age, developing one of
the strongest navies in the world and a
Page 36 of 125

rich and prosperous economy amid a

flourishing of art and culture. It was
during this period that Zheng He led
explorations throughout the world,
reaching as far as Africa.[51] In the early
years of the Ming Dynasty, China's capital
was moved from Nanjing to Beijing.
During the Ming Dynasty, thinkers such as
Wang Yangming further critiqued and
expanded Neo-Confucianism with
concepts of individualism and innate
morality.
In 1644, Beijing was sacked by a coalition
of rebel forces led by Li Zicheng, a minor
Ming official who led the peasant revolt.
The last Ming Chongzhen Emperor
committed suicide when the city fell. The
Manchu Qing Dynasty then allied with
Ming Dynasty general Wu Sangui and
overthrew Li's short-lived Shun Dynasty,
and subsequently seized control of
Page 37 of 125

Beijing, which became the new capital of

the Qing Dynasty.
End of dynastic rule
The Qing Dynasty, which lasted from
1644 until 1912, was the last imperial
dynasty of China. In the 19th century, the
Qing Dynasty experienced Western
imperialism following two Opium Wars
(183942 and 185660) with Britain.
China was forced to sign unequal treaties,
pay compensation, allow
extraterritoriality for foreign nationals,
and cede Hong Kong to the British.[52]
The First Sino-Japanese War (189495)
resulted in Qing China's loss of influence
in the Korean Peninsula, as well as the
cession of Taiwan to Japan.[53]
The weakening of the Qing regime led to
increasing domestic disorder. In 1850s
and 1860s, the failed Taiping Rebellion
ravaged southern China. Other costly
Page 38 of 125

rebellions included the PuntiHakka Clan

Wars (185567), the Nien Rebellion
(185168), the Miao Rebellion (185473),
the Panthay Rebellion (185673) and the
Dungan revolt (186277).[54][55] These
rebellions each resulted in an estimated
loss of millions of lives, and had a
devastating impact on the fragile
economy.[56][57][58]
In the 19th century, the great Chinese
Diaspora began. Emigration rates were
strengthened by conflicts and
catastrophes such as the Northern
Chinese Famine of 18761879, which
claimed between 9 and 13 million lives in
northern China.[59] In 1898, the Guangxu
Emperor drafted a reform plan to
establish a modern constitutional
monarchy, but he was overthrown by the
Empress Dowager Cixi in a coup d'tat.
The ill-fated anti-Western Boxer Rebellion
Page 39 of 125

of 18991901 further weakened the Qing

Dynasty. The Xinhai Revolution of 1911
12 brought an end to the Qing Dynasty
and established the Republic of China.
Republic of China (19121949)
Main articles: Republic of China (1912
1949) and History of the Republic of
China

Sun Yat-sen, the father of modern China

(seated on right), and Chiang Kai-shek,
later President of the Republic of China
On 1 January 1912, the Republic of China
was established, and Sun Yat-sen of the
Kuomintang (the KMT or Nationalist Party)
Page 40 of 125

was proclaimed provisional president.[60]

However, the presidency was later given
to Yuan Shikai, a former Qing general,
who in 1915 proclaimed himself Emperor
of China. In the face of popular
condemnation and opposition from his
own Beiyang Army, he was forced to
abdicate and reestablish the republic.[61]
After Yuan Shikai's death in 1916, China
was politically fragmented. Its Beijingbased government was internationally
recognized but virtually powerless;
regional warlords controlled most of its
territory.[62][63] In the late 1920s, the
Kuomintang, under Chiang Kai-shek, was
able to reunify the country under its own
control with a series of deft military and
political maneuverings, known collectively
as the Northern Expedition.[64][65] The
Kuomintang moved the nation's capital to
Nanjing and implemented "political
Page 41 of 125

tutelage", an intermediate stage of

political development outlined in Sun Yatsen's San-min program for transforming
China into a modern democratic state.
[66][67] The political division in China
made it difficult for Chiang to battle the
Communists, against whom the
Kuomintang had been warring since 1927
in the Chinese Civil War. This war
continued successfully for the
Kuomintang, especially after the
Communists retreated in the Long March,
until Japanese aggression and the 1936
Xi'an Incident forced Chiang to confront
Imperial Japan.[68][69]
The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937
1945), a theater of World War II, forced an
uneasy alliance between the Kuomintang
and the Communists. Japanese forces
committed numerous war atrocities
against the civilian population; in all, as
Page 42 of 125

many as 20 million Chinese civilians died.

[70][71] An estimated 200,000 Chinese
were massacred in the city of Nanjing
alone during the Japanese occupation.
[72] Japan unconditionally surrendered to
China in 1945. Taiwan, including the
Pescadores, was put under the
administrative control of the Republic of
China, which immediately claimed
sovereignty. China emerged victorious but
war-ravaged and financially drained. The
continued distrust between the
Kuomintang and the Communists led to
the resumption of civil war. In 1947,
constitutional rule was established, but
because of the ongoing unrest many
provisions of the ROC constitution were
never implemented in mainland China.
[73][74][75]

Page 43 of 125

People's Republic of China (1949

present)
Main article: History of the People's
Republic of China
Major combat in the Chinese Civil War
ended in 1949 with the Communist Party
in control of mainland China, and the
Kuomintang retreating offshore, reducing
the ROC's territory to only Taiwan,
Hainan, and their surrounding islands. On
1 October 1949, Communist Party
Chairman Mao Zedong proclaimed the
establishment of the People's Republic of
China.[76] In 1950, the People's
Liberation Army succeeded in capturing
Hainan from the ROC,[77] occupying
Tibet,[78] and defeating the majority of
the remaining Kuomintang forces in
mainland China.[79][80]
Page 44 of 125

Mao encouraged population growth, and

under his leadership the Chinese
population almost doubled from around
550 million to over 900 million.[81]
However, Mao's Great Leap Forward, a
large-scale economic and social reform
project, resulted in an estimated
45 million deaths between 1958 and
1961, mostly from starvation.[82]
Between 1 and 2 million landlords were
executed as "counterrevolutionaries."[83]
In 1966, Mao and his allies launched the
Cultural Revolution, sparking a period of
political recrimination and social upheaval
which lasted until Mao's death in 1976. In
October 1971, the PRC replaced the
Republic of China in the United Nations,
and took its seat as a permanent member
of the Security Council.[84]
After Mao's death in 1976 and the arrest
of the faction known as the Gang of Four,
Page 45 of 125

who were blamed for the excesses of the

Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping took
power and led the country to significant
economic reforms. The Communist Party
subsequently loosened governmental
control over citizens' personal lives and
the communes were disbanded in favor of
private land leases. This turn of events
marked China's transition from a planned
economy to a mixed economy with an
increasingly open market environment.
[85] China adopted its current
constitution on 4 December 1982. In
1989, the violent suppression of student
protests in Tiananmen Square brought
worldwide condemnation and sanctions
against the Chinese government.[86][87]
[88]

Page 46 of 125

The city of Shanghai has become a

symbol of China's rapid economic
expansion since the 1990s.
President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu
Rongji led the nation in the 1990s. Under
their administration, China's economic
performance pulled an estimated
150 million peasants out of poverty and
sustained an average annual gross
domestic product growth rate of 11.2%.
[89][90] The country formally joined the
World Trade Organization in 2001, and
maintained its high rate of economic
growth under Hu Jintao's presidency in
the 2000s. However, rapid growth also
severely impacted the country's
Page 47 of 125

resources and environment,[91][92] and

caused major social displacement.[93]
[94] Living standards continued to
improve rapidly despite the late-2000s
recession, but centralized political control
remained tight.[95]
Preparations for a decadal Communist
Party leadership change in 2012 were
marked by factional disputes and political
scandals.[96] During China's 18th
National Communist Party Congress in
November 2012, Hu Jintao and Wen
Jiabao were replaced as President and
Premier by Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang, who
formally took office in 2013.[97][98]
Under Xi, the Chinese government began
large-scale efforts to reform its economy,
[99][100] which has suffered from
structural instabilities and slowing growth.
[101][102][103][104] Xi's administration

Page 48 of 125

also announced major reforms to the onechild policy and prison system.[105]
Geography
Political geography
The People's Republic of China is the
second-largest country in the world by
land area[106] after Russia, and is either
the third- or fourth-largest by total area,
after Russia, Canada and, depending on
the definition of total area, the United
States.[107][i] China's total area is
generally stated as being approximately
9,600,000 km2 (3,700,000 sq mi).[108]
Specific area figures range from
9,572,900 km2 (3,696,100 sq mi)
according to the Encyclopdia Britannica,
[109] 9,596,961 km2 (3,705,407 sq mi)
according to the UN Demographic
Yearbook,[4] to 9,596,961 km2
Page 49 of 125

(3,705,407 sq mi) according to the CIA

World Factbook.[6] None of these figures
include the 1,000 square kilometres
(386.1 sq mi) of territory ceded to China
by Tajikistan following the ratification of a
Sino-Tajik border agreement in January
2011.[110]
China has the longest combined land
border in the world, measuring 22,117 km
(13,743 mi) from the mouth of the Yalu
River to the Gulf of Tonkin.[6] China
borders 14 nations, more than any other
country except Russia, which also borders
14. China extends across much of East
Asia, bordering Vietnam, Laos, and Burma
in Southeast Asia; India, Bhutan, Nepal
and Pakistan[j] in South Asia; Afghanistan,
Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in
Central Asia; a small section of Russian
Altai and Mongolia in Inner Asia; and the

Page 50 of 125

Russian Far East and North Korea in

Northeast Asia.
Additionally, China shares maritime
boundaries with South Korea, Japan,
Vietnam, the Philippines and Taiwan. The
PRC and the Republic of China (Taiwan)
make mutual claims over each other's
territory and the frontier between areas
under their respective control is closest
near the islands of Kinmen and Matsu, off
the Fujian coast, but otherwise run
through the Taiwan Strait. The PRC and
ROC assert identical claims over the
entirety of the Spratly Islands in the South
China Sea, and the southernmost extent
of these claims reaches James Shoal,
which would form a maritime frontier with
Malaysia.
Landscape and climate
The South China Sea coast at Hainan.
Page 51 of 125

The territory of China lies between

latitudes 18 and 54 N, and longitudes
73 and 135 E. China's landscapes vary
significantly across its vast width. In the
east, along the shores of the Yellow Sea
and the East China Sea, there are
extensive and densely populated alluvial
plains, while on the edges of the Inner
Mongolian plateau in the north, broad
grasslands predominate. Southern China
is dominated by hills and low mountain
ranges, while the central-east hosts the
deltas of China's two major rivers, the
Yellow River and the Yangtze River. Other
major rivers include the Xi, Mekong,
Brahmaputra and Amur. To the west,
major mountain ranges, most notably the
Himalayas, and high plateaus feature
among the more arid landscapes of the
north, such as the Taklamakan and the
Gobi Desert. The world's highest point,
Mount Everest (8,848m), lies on the SinoPage 52 of 125

Nepalese border. The country's lowest

point, and the world's fourth-lowest, is the
dried lake bed of Ayding Lake (154m) in
the Turpan Depression.
A major environmental issue in China is
the continued expansion of its deserts,
particularly the Gobi Desert.[111][112]
Although barrier tree lines planted since
the 1970s have reduced the frequency of
sandstorms, prolonged drought and poor
agricultural practices have resulted in
dust storms plaguing northern China each
spring, which then spread to other parts
of East Asia, including Korea and Japan.
According to China's environmental
watchdog, Sepa, China is losing a million
acres (4,000 km) per year to
desertification.[113] Water quality,
erosion, and pollution control have
become important issues in China's
relations with other countries. Melting
Page 53 of 125

glaciers in the Himalayas could

potentially lead to water shortages for
hundreds of millions of people.[114]
China's climate is mainly dominated by
dry seasons and wet monsoons, which
lead to pronounced temperature
differences between winter and summer.
In the winter, northern winds coming from
high-latitude areas are cold and dry; in
summer, southern winds from coastal
areas at lower latitudes are warm and
moist. The climate in China differs from
region to region because of the country's
highly complex topography.
Biodiversity
A giant panda, China's most famous
endangered and endemic species, at the
Wolong National Nature Reserve in
Sichuan.

Page 54 of 125

China is one of 17 mega-diverse

countries,[115] lying in two of the world's
major ecozones: the Palearctic and the
Indomalaya. By one measure, China has
over 34,687 species of animals and
vascular plants, making it the third-most
biodiverse country in the world, after
Brazil and Colombia.[116] The country
signed the Rio de Janeiro Convention on
Biological Diversity on 11 June 1992, and
became a party to the convention on 5
January 1993.[117] It later produced a
National Biodiversity Strategy and Action
Plan, with one revision which was
received by the convention on 21
September 2010.[118]
China is home to at least 551 species of
mammals (the third-highest such number
in the world),[119] 1,221 species of birds
(eighth),[120] 424 species of reptiles
(seventh)[121] and 333 species of
Page 55 of 125

amphibians (seventh).[122] China is the

most bio-diverse country in each category
outside of the tropics. Wildlife in China
share habitat with and bear acute
pressure from the world's largest
population of homo sapiens. At least 840
animal species are threatened, vulnerable
or in danger of local extinction in China,
due mainly to human activity such as
habitat destruction, pollution and
poaching for food, fur and ingredients for
traditional Chinese medicine.[123]
Endangered wildlife is protected by law
and the country has over 360 nature
reserves.
China has over 32,000 species of vascular
plants[124] and is home to a variety of
forest types. Cold coniferous forests
predominate in the north of the country,
supporting animal species such as moose
and the Asian black bear, along with over
Page 56 of 125

120 bird species. Moist conifer forests can

have thickets of bamboo as an
understorey, replaced by rhododendrons
in higher montane stands of juniper and
yew. Subtropical forests, which dominate
central and southern China, support as
many as 146,000 species of flora. Tropical
and seasonal rainforests, though confined
to Yunnan and Hainan Island, contain a
quarter of all the animal and plant species
found in China.[125]
The number of species of fungi recorded
in China, including lichen-forming species,
is not known with precision, but probably
exceeds 10,000. More than 2,400 species
were listed by the mycologist S.C. Teng in
the first modern treatment of Chinese
fungi in the English language, which was
published in 1996.[126] More than 5,000
species of "higher fungi" mainly
basidiomycetes with some ascomycetes
Page 57 of 125

were reported in 2001 for tropical China

alone,[127] and nearly 4,000 species of
fungi were reported in 2005 for
northwestern China.[128] The issue of
fungal conservation, long overlooked in
China, was first addressed in the early
2010s, with pioneer publications
evaluating the conservation status of
individual species.[129]
Environmental issues
Environmental issues in China
See also: Water resources of the People's
Republic of China

Page 58 of 125

Wind turbines in Xinjiang. The

Dabancheng project is Asia's largest wind
farm.
In recent decades, China has suffered
from severe environmental deterioration
and pollution.[130][131] While
regulations such as the 1979
Environmental Protection Law are fairly
stringent, they are poorly enforced, as
they are frequently disregarded by local
communities and government officials in
favour of rapid economic development.
[132] Urban air pollution is a severe
health issue in the country; the World
Bank estimates that 16 of the world's
most-polluted cities are located in China.
[133] China is the world's largest carbon
dioxide emitter.[134]
Environmental campaigners have warned
that water pollution is becoming a severe
threat to Chinese society.[135] Roughly
Page 59 of 125

298 million Chinese in rural areas do not

have access to safe drinking water,[136]
and 40% of China's rivers had been
polluted by industrial and agricultural
waste by late 2011.[137] This crisis is
compounded by increasingly severe water
shortages, particularly in the north-east of
the country.[138][139]
However, China is the world's leading
investor in renewable energy
commercialisation, with US$52 billion
invested in 2011 alone;[140][141][142] it
is a major manufacturer of renewable
energy technologies and invests heavily
in local-scale renewable energy projects.
[143][144] By 2009, over 17% of China's
energy was derived from renewable
sources most notably hydroelectric
power plants, of which China has a total
installed capacity of 197 GW.[145] In
2011, the Chinese government
Page 60 of 125

announced plans to invest four trillion

yuan (US$618.55 billion) in water
infrastructure and desalination projects
over a ten-year period, and to complete
construction of a flood prevention and
anti-drought system by 2020.[138][146]
In 2013, China began a five-year, US$277
billion effort to reduce air pollution,
particularly in the north of the country.
[147]
Politics
Main article: Politics of the People's
Republic of China
The People's Republic of China is one of
the world's few remaining socialist states
espousing communism. The Chinese
government has been variously described
as communist and socialist, but also as
authoritarian and corporatist,[148] with
heavy restrictions remaining in many
areas, most notably on the Internet, the
Page 61 of 125

press, freedom of assembly, reproductive

rights, social organizations[149] and
freedom of religion.[150] Its current
political/economic system has been
termed by its leaders as "socialism with
Chinese characteristics".
The country is ruled by the Communist
Party of China (CPC), whose power is
enshrined in China's constitution.[151]
The Chinese electoral system is
hierarchical, whereby local People's
Congresses are directly elected, and all
higher levels of People's Congresses up to
the National People's Congress (NPC) are
indirectly elected by the People's
Congress of the level immediately below.
[152] The political system is partly
decentralized,[153] with limited
democratic processes internal to the
party and at local village levels, although
these experiments have been marred by
Page 62 of 125

corruption. There are other political

parties in China, referred to in China as
democratic parties, which participate in
the National People's Congress and the
Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference (CPPCC).

The Great Hall of the People in Beijing,

where the National People's Congress
convenes.
Compared to its closed-door policies until
the mid-1970s, the liberalization of China
has resulted in the administrative climate
being less restrictive than before. China
supports the Leninist principle of
"democratic centralism",[154] but the
elected National People's Congress has
been described as a "rubber stamp" body.
Page 63 of 125

[155] The incumbent President is Xi

Jinping, who is also the General Secretary
of the Communist Party of China and the
Chairman of the Central Military
Commission.[97] The current Premier is Li
Keqiang, who is also a senior member of
the CPC Politburo Standing Committee.
There have been some moves toward
political liberalization, in that open
contested elections are now held at the
village and town levels.[156][157]
However, the Party retains effective
control over government appointments: in
the absence of meaningful opposition, the
CPC wins by default most of the time.
Political concerns in China include
lessening the growing gap between rich
and poor and fighting corruption within
the government leadership.[158][159]
Nonetheless, the level of public support
for the government and its management
Page 64 of 125

of the nation is among the highest in the

world, with 86% of Chinese citizens
expressing satisfaction with their nation's
economy according to a 2008 Pew
Research Center survey.[160]
Administrative divisions
Main articles: Administrative divisions of
China, Districts of Hong Kong, and
Municipalities of Macau
The People's Republic of China has
administrative control over 22 provinces,
and considers Taiwan to be its 23rd
province, although Taiwan is currently
governed by the Republic of China, which
disputes the PRC's claim.[161] China also
has five subdivisions officially termed
autonomous regions, each with a
designated minority group; four
municipalities; and two Special
Administrative Regions (SARs), which
enjoy a degree of political autonomy.
Page 65 of 125

These 22 provinces, five autonomous

regions, and four municipalities can be
collectively referred to as "mainland
China", a term which usually excludes the
SARs of Hong Kong and Macau. None of
these divisions are recognized by the ROC
government, which claims the entirety of
the PRC's territory.

Foreign relations
Foreign relations of China

Page 66 of 125

The PRC has diplomatic relations with 171

countries and maintains embassies in
162.[162] Its legitimacy is disputed by the
Republic of China and a few other
countries; it is thus the largest and most
populous state with limited recognition. In
1971, the PRC replaced the Republic of
China as the sole representative of China
in the United Nations and as one of the
five permanent members of the United
Nations Security Council.[163] China was
also a former member and leader of the
Non-Aligned Movement, and still
considers itself an advocate for
developing countries.[164] Along with
Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa,
China is a member of the BRICS group of
emerging major economies, and hosted
the group's third official summit at Sanya,
Hainan in April 2011.[165]

Page 67 of 125

Under its interpretation of the One-China

policy, Beijing has made it a precondition
to establishing diplomatic relations that
the other country acknowledges its claim
to Taiwan and severs official ties with the
government of the Republic of China.
Chinese officials have protested on
numerous occasions when foreign
countries have made diplomatic overtures
to Taiwan,[166] especially in the matter of
armament sales.[167] Political meetings
between foreign government officials and
the 14th Dalai Lama are also opposed by
China, as the latter considers Tibet to be
formally part of China.[168]
Much of current Chinese foreign policy is
reportedly based on Zhou Enlai's Five
Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, and is
also driven by the concept of "harmony
without uniformity", which encourages
diplomatic relations between states
Page 68 of 125

despite ideological differences. This policy

has led China to support states that are
regarded as dangerous or repressive by
Western nations, such as Zimbabwe,
North Korea and Iran.[169] China has a
close economic and military relationship
with Russia,[170] and the two states often
vote in unison in the UN Security Council.
[171][172][173]
Trade relations
In recent decades, China has played an
increasing role in calling for free trade
areas and security pacts amongst its AsiaPacific neighbors. In 2004, it proposed an
entirely new East Asia Summit (EAS)
framework as a forum for regional
security issues.[174] The EAS, which
includes ASEAN Plus Three, India,
Australia and New Zealand, held its
inaugural summit in 2005. China is also a
founding member of the Shanghai
Page 69 of 125

Cooperation Organisation (SCO), along

with Russia and the Central Asian
republics. China became a member of the
World Trade Organization (WTO) on 11
December 2001.
In 2000, the United States Congress
approved "permanent normal trade
relations" (PNTR) with China, allowing
Chinese exports in at the same low tariffs
as goods from most other countries.[175]
China has a significant trade surplus with
the United States, its most important
export market.[176] In the early 2010s,
US politicians argued that the Chinese
yuan was significantly undervalued,
giving China an unfair trade advantage.
[177][178][179] In recent decades, China
has followed a policy of engaging with
African nations for trade and bilateral cooperation;[180][181][182] in 2012, SinoAfrican trade totalled over US$160 billion.
Page 70 of 125

[183] China has furthermore

strengthened its ties with major South
American economies, becoming the
largest trading partner of Brazil and
building strategic links with Argentina.
[184][185]
Territorial disputes
Main article: Foreign relations of
China#International territorial disputes
See also: List of wars involving the
People's Republic of China
In addition to claiming all of Taiwan, China
has been involved in a number of other
international territorial disputes. Since the
1990s, China has been involved in
negotiations to resolve its disputed land
borders, including a disputed border with
India and an undefined border with
Bhutan. China is additionally involved in
multilateral disputes over the ownership
Page 71 of 125

of several small islands in the East and

South China Seas.[186][187][188]
Emerging superpower status
China is regularly hailed as a potential
new superpower, with certain
commentators citing its rapid economic
progress, growing military might, very
large population, and increasing
international influence as signs that it will
play a prominent global role in the 21st
century.[18][189] Others, however, warn
that economic bubbles and demographic
imbalances could slow or even halt
China's growth as the century progresses.
[190][191][192][193][194] Some authors
also question the definition of
"superpower", arguing that China's large
economy alone would not qualify it as a
superpower, and noting that it lacks the
military and cultural influence of the
United States.[195]
Page 72 of 125

Sociopolitical issues and reform

See also: Human rights in China, Hukou
system, Social welfare in China, Elections
in the People's Republic of China,
Censorship in China, and Feminism in
China
The Chinese democracy movement, social
activists, and some members of the
Communist Party of China have all
identified the need for social and political
reform. While economic and social
controls have been significantly relaxed in
China since the 1970s, political freedom
is still tightly restricted. The Constitution
of the People's Republic of China states
that the "fundamental rights" of citizens
include freedom of speech, freedom of
the press, the right to a fair trial, freedom
of religion, universal suffrage, and
property rights. However, in practice,
these provisions do not afford significant
Page 73 of 125

protection against criminal prosecution by

the state.[196][197][198] Censorship of
political speech and information, most
notably on the Internet,[199][200] is
openly and routinely used in China to
silence criticism of the government and
the ruling Communist Party.[201][202] In
2005, Reporters Without Borders ranked
China 159th out of 167 states in its
Annual World Press Freedom Index,
indicating a very low level of perceived
press freedom.[203]
Rural migrants to China's cities often find
themselves treated as second-class
citizens by the hukou household
registration system, which controls access
to state benefits.[204][205] Property
rights are often poorly protected,[204]
and taxation disproportionately affects
poorer citizens.[205] However, a number
of rural taxes have been reduced or
Page 74 of 125

abolished since the early 2000s, and

additional social services provided to rural
dwellers.[206][207]
A number of foreign governments and
NGOs also routinely criticize China's
human rights record, alleging widespread
civil rights violations such as detention
without trial, forced confessions, torture,
restrictions of fundamental rights,[150]
[208][209] and excessive use of the
death penalty.[210][211] The government
has suppressed demonstrations by
organizations that it considers a potential
threat to "social stability", as was the
case with the Tiananmen Square protests
of 1989. The Chinese state is regularly
accused of large-scale repression and
human rights abuses in Tibet and
Xinjiang, including violent police
crackdowns and religious suppression.
[212][213]
Page 75 of 125

The Chinese government has responded

to foreign criticism by arguing that the
notion of human rights should take into
account a country's present level of
economic development and the "people's
rights to subsistence and development".
[214] It emphasizes the rise in the
Chinese standard of living, literacy rate
and average life expectancy since the
1970s, as well as improvements in
workplace safety and efforts to combat
natural disasters such as the perennial
Yangtze River floods.[214][215][216]
Furthermore, some Chinese politicians
have spoken out in support of
democratisation, although others remain
more conservative.[217] Some major
reform efforts have been conducted; for
an instance in November 2013, the
government announced its plans to the
abolish the much-criticized re-education
through labor program.[105] Although the
Page 76 of 125

Chinese government is increasingly

tolerant of NGOs which offer practical,
efficient solutions to social problems,
such "third sector" activity remains
heavily regulated.[218]
Military
With 2.3 million active troops, the
People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the
largest standing military force in the
world, commanded by the Central Military
Commission (CMC).[219] The PLA consists
of the People's Liberation Army Ground
Force (PLAGF), the People's Liberation
Army Navy (PLAN), the People's Liberation
Army Air Force (PLAAF), and a strategic
nuclear force, the Second Artillery Corps.
According to the Chinese government,
China's military expenditure in 2012
totalled US$100 billion, constituting the
world's second-largest military budget.
[220] However, other nations, such as the
Page 77 of 125

United States, have claimed that China

does not report its real level of military
spending, which is allegedly much higher
than the official budget.[221]
As a recognised nuclear weapons state,
China is considered both a major regional
military power and a potential military
superpower.[222] According to a 2013
report by the US Department of Defense,
China fields between 50 and 75 nuclear
ICBMs, along with a number of SRBMs.
[16] However, compared with the other
four UN Security Council Permanent
Members, China has a relatively limited
power projection capabilities.[223] To
offset this, it has developed numerous
power projection assets its first aircraft
carrier entered service in 2012,[224][225]
[226][227] and it maintains a substantial
fleet of submarines, including several
nuclear-powered attack and ballistic
Page 78 of 125

missile submarines.[228] China has

furthermore established a network of
foreign military relationships that has
been compared to a string of pearls.[229]
China has made significant progress in
modernizing its air force since the early
2000s, purchasing Russian fighter jets
such as the Sukhoi Su-30, and also
manufacturing its own modern fighters,
most notably the Chengdu J-10 and the
Shenyang J-11, J-15 and J-16.[224][230]
China is furthermore engaged in
developing an indigenous stealth aircraft
and numerous combat drones.[231][232]
[233] China has also updated its ground
forces, replacing its ageing Soviet-derived
tank inventory with numerous variants of
the modern Type 99 tank, and upgrading
its battlefield C3I and C4I systems to
enhance its network-centric warfare
capabilities.[234] In addition, China has
Page 79 of 125

developed or acquired numerous

advanced missile systems,[235][236]
including anti-satellite missiles,[237]
cruise missiles[238] and submarinelaunched nuclear ICBMs.[239]
Economy
Main articles: Economy of China,
Agriculture in China, and List of Chinese
administrative divisions by GDP

The Shanghai Stock Exchange building in

Shanghai's Lujiazui financial district.
Shanghai has the 25th-largest city GDP in
the world, totalling US$304 billion in
2011.[240]

Page 80 of 125

As of 2013, China has the world's secondlargest economy in terms of nominal GDP,
totalling approximately US$8.227 trillion
according to the International Monetary
Fund (IMF).[9] If PPP is taken into account
(US$12.405 trillion in 2012), China's
economy is again second only to the
United States. In 2012, its PPP GDP per
capita was US$9,161,[9] while nominal
GDP per capita was US$6,075. Both cases
put China behind around ninety countries
(out of 183 countries on the IMF list) in
global GDP per capita rankings.[9]
Economic history and growth
Main article: Economic history of China
(1949present)
From its founding in 1949 until late 1978,
the People's Republic of China was a
Soviet-style centrally planned economy.
Page 81 of 125

Following Mao's death in 1976 and the

consequent end of the Cultural
Revolution, Deng Xiaoping and the new
Chinese leadership began to reform the
economy and move towards a more
market-oriented mixed economy under
one-party rule. Agricultural
collectivization was dismantled and
farmlands privatized, while foreign trade
became a major new focus, leading to the
creation of Special Economic Zones
(SEZs). Inefficient state-owned
enterprises (SOEs) were restructured and
unprofitable ones were closed outright,
resulting in massive job losses. Modernday China is mainly characterized as
having a market economy based on
private property ownership,[241] and is
one of the leading examples of state
capitalism.[242][243] The state still
dominates in strategic "pillar" sectors
such as energy production and heavy
Page 82 of 125

industries, but private enterprise has

expanded enormously, with around
30 million private businesses recorded in
2008.[244][245][246][247]

Since economic liberalization began in

1978, China's investment- and exportled[248] economy has grown more than a
hundredfold[249] and is the fastestgrowing major economy in the world.
[250] According to the IMF, China's
annual average GDP growth between
2001 and 2010 was 10.5%. Between 2007
and 2011, China's economic growth rate
was equivalent to all of the G7 countries'
growth combined.[251] According to the
Global Growth Generators index
announced by Citigroup in February 2011,
China has a very high 3G growth rating.
[252] Its high productivity, low labor costs
Page 83 of 125

and relatively good infrastructure have

made it a global leader in manufacturing.
However, the Chinese economy is highly
energy-intensive and inefficient;[253]
China became the world's largest energy
consumer in 2010,[254] relies on coal to
supply over 70% of its energy needs, and
surpassed the US to become the world's
largest oil importer in September 2013.
[255][256] China's economic growth and
industrialization has caused damage to its
environment. In the early 2010s, China's
economic growth rate began to slow amid
domestic credit troubles, weakening
international demand for Chinese exports,
and global economic turmoil.[257][258]
[259]
China in the global economy
China is a member of the WTO and is the
world's largest trading power, with a total
international trade value of
Page 84 of 125

US$3.87 trillion in 2012.[15] Its foreign

exchange reserves reached
US$2.85 trillion by the end of 2010, an
increase of 18.7% over the previous year,
making its reserves by far the world's
largest.[260][261] China owns an
estimated $1.6 trillion of US securities.
[262] China, holding over US$1.16 trillion
in US Treasury bonds,[263] is the largest
foreign holder of US public debt.[264]
[265] China is the world's third-largest
recipient of inward foreign direct
investment (FDI), attracting $115 billion
in 2011 alone, marking a 9% increase
over 2010.[266][267] China also
increasingly invests abroad, with a total
outward FDI of $68 billion in 2010, and a
number of major takeovers of foreign
firms by Chinese companies.[268][269]
[270] China's undervalued exchange rate
has caused friction with other major
economies,[178][271][272] and it has
Page 85 of 125

also been widely criticised for

manufacturing large quantities of
counterfeit goods.[273][274]

A graph comparing the 2012 nominal

GDPs of major economies
in US$ billions, according to IMF data.
[275]
China now ranks 29th in the Global
Competitiveness Index,[276] although it
is only ranked 136th among the 179
countries measured in the Index of
Economic Freedom.[277] In 2011, 61
Chinese companies were listed in the
Fortune Global 500.[278] Measured by
total revenues, three of the world's top
ten most valuable companies are
Chinese, including fifth-ranked Sinopec
Page 86 of 125

Group, sixth-ranked China National

Petroleum and seventh-ranked State Grid
(the world's largest electric utilities
company).[278]
Class and income equality
See also: Income inequality in China
China's middle-class population (defined
as those with annual income of at least
US$17,000) had reached more than
100 million by 2011,[279] According to
the Hurun Report, the number of US dollar
billionaires in China increased from 130 in
2009 to 251 in 2012, giving China the
world's second-highest number of
billionaires.[280][281] China's domestic
retail market was worth over 20 trillion
yuan (US$3.2 trillion) in 2012[282] and is
now growing at over 12% annually,[283]
while the country's luxury goods market
has expanded immensely, with 27.5% of
the global share.[284] However, in recent
Page 87 of 125

years, China's rapid economic growth has

contributed to severe consumer inflation,
[285][286] leading to increased
government regulation.[287] China has a
high level of economic inequality,[288]
which has increased in the past few
decades.[289] In 2012, China's Gini
coefficient was 0.474.[10]
Internationalization of the renminbi
Main article: Internationalization of the
renminbi
In November 2010, Russia began using
the Chinese renminbi in its bilateral trade
with China.[290] This was soon followed
by Japan,[291] Australia,[292] Singapore,
[293] and the United Kingdom.[294] As a
result of the rapid Internationalization of
the renminbi, it has become the 8th most
traded currency in the world.[295]
According to the Society for Worldwide
Interbank Financial Telecommunication
Page 88 of 125

(SWIFT), the path of RMB

internationalisation can be divided into
three phases:
Usage of the RMB in trade finance
Usage of the RMB in international
investments
Establishment of the RMB as a reserve
currency[296]
Science and technology
Main articles: Science and technology in
China and Chinese space program

Page 89 of 125

History of science and

technology in China
Inventions
Discoveries
By era
Han Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
Song Dynasty
People's Republic of China
Present-day China
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Historical
China was a world leader in science and
technology until the Ming Dynasty.
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Ancient Chinese discoveries and

inventions, such as papermaking,
printing, the compass, and gunpowder
(the Four Great Inventions), later became
widespread in Asia and Europe. Chinese
mathematicians were the first to use
negative numbers.[297][298] However,
by the 17th century, the Western world
had surpassed China in scientific and
technological development.[299] The
causes of this Great Divergence continue
to be debated.
After repeated military defeats by
Western nations in the 19th century,
Chinese reformers began promoting
modern science and technology as part of
the Self-Strengthening Movement. After
the Communists came to power in 1949,
efforts were made to organize science
and technology based on the model of
the Soviet Union, in which scientific
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research was part of central planning.

[300] After Mao's death in 1976, science
and technology was established as one of
the Four Modernizations,[301] and the
Soviet-inspired academic system was
gradually reformed.[302]
Modern era
Since the end of the Cultural Revolution,
China has made significant investments
in scientific research,[303] spending over
US$100 billion on scientific research and
development in 2011 alone.[304] Science
and technology are seen as vital for
achieving economic and political goals,
and are held as a source of national pride
to a degree sometimes described as
"techno-nationalism".[305] Chinese-born
scientists have won the Nobel Prize in
Physics four times and the Nobel Prize in
Chemistry once to date.
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China is rapidly developing its education

system with an emphasis on science,
mathematics and engineering; in 2009, it
produced over 10,000 Ph.D. engineering
graduates, and as many as 500,000 BSc
graduates, more than any other country.
[306] China is also the world's secondlargest publisher of scientific papers,
producing 121,500 in 2010 alone,
including 5,200 in leading international
scientific journals.[307] Chinese
technology companies such as Huawei
and Lenovo have become world leaders in
telecommunications and personal
computing,[308][309][310] and Chinese
supercomputers are consistently ranked
among the world's most powerful.[311]
[312] China is furthermore the world's
largest investor in renewable energy
technology.[142]

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The Chinese space program is one of the

world's most active, and is a major source
of national pride.[313][314] In 1970,
China launched its first satellite, Dong
Fang Hong I. In 2003, China became the
third country to independently send
humans into space, with Yang Liwei's
spaceflight aboard Shenzhou 5; as of June
2013, ten Chinese nationals have
journeyed into space. In 2011, China's
first space station module, Tiangong-1,
was launched, marking the first step in a
project to assemble a large manned
station by the early 2020s.[315]
Infrastructure
Communications
Main article: Telecommunications in China
China currently has the largest number of
active cellphones of any country in the
world, with over 1 billion users by
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February 2012.[316] It also has the

world's largest number of internet and
broadband users,[317] with over 591
million internet users as of 2013,
equivalent to around 44% of its
population.[318] A 2013 report found that
the national average internet connection
speed is 3.14 MB/s.[319] As of July 2013,
China accounts for 24% of the world's
internet-connected devices.[320]
China Telecom and China Unicom, the
country's two largest broadband
providers, accounted for 20% of global
broadband subscribers, whereas the
world's ten largest broadband service
providers combined accounted for 39% of
the world's broadband customers. China
Telecom alone serves more than 50
million broadband subscribers, while
China Unicom serves more than 40
million.[321] Several Chinese
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telecommunications companies, most

notably Huawei and ZTE, have been
accused of spying for the Chinese
military.[322]
Transport
Main article: Transport in China
Since the late 1990s, China's national
road network has been significantly
expanded through the creation of a
network of highways, known as the
National Trunk Highway System (NTHS).
In 2011 China's highways had reached a
total length of 85,000 km (53,000 mi),
making it the longest highway system in
the world.[323] Private car ownership is
growing rapidly in China, which surpassed
the United States as the world's largest
automobile market in 2009, with total car
sales of over 13.6 million.[324] Analysts
predict that annual car sales in China may
rise as high as 40 million by 2020.[325] A
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side-effect of the rapid growth of China's

road network has been a significant rise
in traffic accidents,[326] with poorly
enforced traffic laws cited as a possible
causein 2011 alone, around 62,000
Chinese died in road accidents.[327] In
urban areas, bicycles remain a common
mode of transport, despite the increasing
prevalence of automobiles as of 2012,
there are approximately 470 million
bicycles in China.[328]
China's railways, owned by the state,
[329] are the busiest in the world,
handling a quarter of the world's cargo
and passenger travel.[330] Due to huge
demand, the system is regularly subject
to overcrowding, particularly during
holiday seasons, such as Chunyun during
the Chinese New Year.[330] The Chinese
rail network carried an estimated 1.68

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billion total passengers in 2010 alone.

[331]
China also possesses over 9,676 km
(6,012 mi) of high-speed rail.[332] In
December 2012, China opened the
world's longest high-speed rail line,
running from Beijing to Guangzhou.[333]
China intends to operate approximately
16,000 km (9,900 mi) of high-speed rail
lines by 2020.[331] Rapid transit systems
are also rapidly developing in China's
major cities, in the form of networks of
underground or light rail systems.[334]
China is additionally developing its own
satellite navigation system, dubbed
Beidou, which began offering commercial
navigation services across Asia in 2012,
[335] and is planned to offer global
coverage by 2020.[336]
As of 2013, more than two-thirds of
airports under construction worldwide are
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in China,[337] and Boeing expects that

China's fleet of active commercial aircraft
in China will grow from 1,910 to 2011 to
5,980 in 2031.[337] However, 80% of
China's airspace remains restricted for
military use, and Chinese airlines made
up eight of the 10 worst-performing Asian
airlines in terms of delays.[338]
Demographics
A 2009 population density map of the
People's Republic of China. The eastern
coastal provinces are much more densely
populated than the western interior.
The national census of 2010 recorded the
population of the People's Republic of
China as approximately 1,370,536,875.
About 16.60% of the population were 14
years old or younger, 70.14% were
between 15 and 59 years old, and 13.26%
were over 60 years old.[339] The
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population growth rate for 2013 is

estimated to be 0.46%.[340]
Although a middle-income country by
Western standards, China's rapid growth
has pulled hundreds of millions of its
people out of poverty since 1978. Today,
about 10% of the Chinese population lives
below the poverty line of US$1 per day,
down from 64% in 1978. Urban
unemployment in China reportedly
declined to 4% by the end of 2007,
although true overall unemployment may
be as high as 10%.[341]
With a population of over 1.3 billion and
dwindling natural resources, China is very
concerned about its population growth
rate and has attempted, with mixed
results,[342] to implement a strict family
planning policy, known as the "one-child
policy." This seeks to restrict families to
one child each, with exceptions for ethnic
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minorities and a degree of flexibility in

rural areas. China's family planning
minister indicated in 2008 that the onechild policy would be maintained until at
least 2020,[343] although a major
loosening of the policy was announced in
2013.[105] The one-child policy is
resisted, particularly in rural areas,
primarily because of the need for
agricultural labour and a traditional
preference for boys. Families who breach
the policy often lie during the census.
[344] Data from the 2010 census implies
that the total fertility rate may now be
around 1.4.[345]

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Population of China from 1949 to

2008.
The policy, along with traditional
preference for boys, may be contributing
to an imbalance in the sex ratio at birth.
[346][347] According to the 2010 census,
the sex ration at birth was 118.06 boys
for every 100 girls,[348] which is beyond
the normal range of around 105 boys for
every 100 girls.[349] The 2010 census
found that males accounted for 51.27
percent of the total population.[348]
However, it also found that China's sex
ratio is more balanced than it was first
taken into account in the census in 1953,
when males accounted for 51.82 percent
of the total population.[348]
Ethnic groups
Main articles: List of ethnic groups in
China, Ethnic minorities in China, and
Ethnic groups in Chinese history
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China officially recognizes 56 distinct

ethnic groups, the largest of which are
the Han Chinese, who constitute about
91.51% of the total population.[8] The
Han Chinese the world's largest single
ethnic group[350] outnumber other
ethnic groups in every provincial-level
division except Tibet and Xinjiang.[351]
Ethnic minorities account for about 8.49%
of the population of China, according to
the 2010 census.[8] Compared with the
2000 population census, the Han
population increased by 66,537,177
persons, or 5.74%, while the population of
the 55 national minorities combined
increased by 7,362,627 persons, or
6.92%.[8] The 2010 census recorded a
total of 593,832 foreign citizens living in
China. The largest such groups were from
South Korea (120,750), the United States
(71,493) and Japan (66,159).[352]
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Languages
Main articles: Languages of China and List
of endangered languages in China
1990 map of Chinese ethnolinguistic
groups.
The languages most spoken in China
belong to the Sino-Tibetan language
family. There are also several major
linguistic groups within the Chinese
language itself. The most spoken varieties
are Mandarin (spoken by 70% of the
population[353]), Wu (includes
Shanghainese), Yue (includes Cantonese
and Taishanese), Min (includes Hokkien
and Teochew), Xiang, Gan, and Hakka.
Non-Sinitic languages spoken widely by
ethnic minorities include Zhuang,
Mongolian, Tibetan, Uyghur, Hmong and
Korean.[354] Standard Mandarin, a
variety of Mandarin based on the Beijing
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dialect, is the official national language of

China and is used as a lingua franca
between people of different linguistic
backgrounds.
Classical Chinese was the written
standard in China for thousands of years,
and allowed for written communication
between speakers of various unintelligible
languages and dialects in China. Written
vernacular Chinese, or baihua, is the
written standard, based on the Mandarin
dialect and first popularized in Ming
Dynasty novels. It was adopted, with
significant modifications, during the early
20th century as the national standard.
Classical Chinese is still part of the high
school curriculum, and is thus intelligible
to some degree to many Chinese. Since
their promulgation by the government in
1956, Simplified Chinese characters have
become the official standardized written
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script used to write the Chinese language

within mainland China, supplanting the
use of the earlier Traditional Chinese
characters.
Urbanization
See also: List of cities in China, List of
cities in China by population, and
Metropolitan regions of China
China has urbanized significantly in the
past few decades. The percent of the
country's population living in urban areas
has increased from 20% in 1990 to 46%
in 2007.[355] It is estimated that China's
urban population will reach one billion by
2030.[355] As of 2012, there are more
than 262 million migrant workers in
China.[356] Most of them are from rural
areas and seek work in the cities.
China has over 160 cities with a
population of over one million,[357]
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including the seven megacities (cities

with a population of over 10 million) of
Chongqing, Shanghai, Beijing,
Guangzhou, Tianjin, Shenzhen, and
Wuhan.[358][359][360] By 2025, it is
estimated that the country will be home
to 221 cities with over a million
inhabitants.[355] The figures in the table
below are from the 2010 census,[k] and
are only estimates of the urban
populations within administrative city
limits; a different ranking exists when
considering the total municipal
populations (which includes suburban and
rural populations). The large "floating
populations" of migrant workers make
conducting censuses in urban areas
difficult;[361] the figures below include
only long-term residents.
Largest cities or towns of China
Sixth National Population Census of the
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People's Republic of China (2010)

R
a Nam Provi
Pop.
n e
nce
k

R
a Nam Provi
Pop.
n e
nce
k

22,3
6,85
Shan Shan
1 Nanj Jiang
1
15,4
2,98
ghai ghai
1 ing su
26
4
Sha
ngh
18,8
She
5,74
Beiji Beiji
1
Liaon
ai
2
27,0
nyan
3,71
ng ng
2
ing
00
g
8
Cho Chon 15,2
Han
1
Zheji
3 ngqi gqin 94,2
gzho
Beiji
3
ang
ng g
55
u
ng
4 Tianj Tianj 11,0 1 Harb Heilo
in
in
90,3 4 in
ngjia
14
ng

Page 108 of 125

5,69
5,31
3
4,51
7,54
9

Gua Gua 11,0

4,07
1 Suzh Jiang
5 ngzh ngdo 70,6
4,00
5 ou su
ou ng 54
0
Gua 10,3
3,92
Shen
1
Shan
6
ngdo 57,9
Jinan
2,18
zhen
6
dong
ng 38
0
10,1
3,89
Wuh Hub
1
Shaa
7
20,0
Xi'an
0,09
an ei
7
nxi
00
8
Don Gua 8,22
3,54
1
Jiang
8 ggua ngdo 0,93
Wuxi
2,31
8
su
n
ng 7
9
7,12
3,35
Che Sich
1 Hefe Anhu
9
3,69
2,07
ngdu uan
9 i
i
7
6
Hon Hon 7,05
Cha
1
2
g
g
5,07
ngch Jilin
0
0
Kong Kong 1
un
Education
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3,34
1,70
0

Main articles: Education in the People's

Republic of China and List of universities
in China
In 1986, China set the long-term goal of
providing compulsory basic education to
every child. In February 2006, the
government pledged to provide
completely free nine-year education,
including textbooks and fees.[362] Annual
education investment has gone from less
than US$50 billion in 2003 to more than
US$250 billion in 2011.[363] However,
there remains an inequality in education
spending. In 2010, the annual education
expenditure per secondary school student
in Beijing totaled 20,023 yuan, while in
Guizhou, one of the poorest provinces in
China, only totaled 3,204 yuan.[364] Free
compulsory education in China consists of
elementary school and middle school
between the ages of 6 and 15. In 2011,
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around 81.4% of Chinese have received

secondary education.[365] By 2007, there
were 396,567 primary schools, 94,116
secondary schools, and 2,236 higher
education institutions in China.[366]
As of 2010[update], 94% of the
population over age 15 are literate,[367]
compared to only 20% in 1950.[368] In
2009, Chinese students from Shanghai
achieved the world's best results in
mathematics, science and literacy, as
tested by the Programme for International
Student Assessment (PISA), a worldwide
evaluation of 15-year-old school pupils'
scholastic performance.[369]
Health
Main article: Health in China
See also: Pharmaceutical industry in
China

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Chart showing the rise of China's Human

Development Index from 1970 to 2010.
The Ministry of Health, together with its
counterparts in the provincial health
bureaux, oversees the health needs of the
Chinese population.[370] An emphasis on
public health and preventive medicine
has characterized Chinese health policy
since the early 1950s. At that time, the
Communist Party started the Patriotic
Health Campaign, which was aimed at
improving sanitation and hygiene, as well
as treating and preventing several
diseases. Diseases such as cholera,
typhoid and scarlet fever, which were
previously rife in China, were nearly
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eradicated by the campaign. After Deng

Xiaoping began instituting economic
reforms in 1978, the health of the Chinese
public improved rapidly due to better
nutrition, although many of the free
public health services provided in the
countryside disappeared along with the
People's Communes. Healthcare in China
became mostly privatised, and
experienced a significant rise in quality. In
2009, the government began a 3-year
large-scale healthcare provision initiative
worth US$124 billion.[371] By 2011, the
campaign resulted in 95% of China's
population having basic health insurance
coverage.[372] In 2011, China was
estimated to be the world's third-largest
supplier of pharmaceuticals, but its
population has suffered from the
development and distribution of
counterfeit medications.[373]
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Life expectancy at birth in China is 75

years,[374] and the infant mortality rate
is 12 per thousand.[375] Both have
improved significantly since the 1950s.[l]
Rates of stunting, a condition caused by
malnutrition, have declined from 33.1% in
1990 to 9.9% in 2010.[378] Despite
significant improvements in health and
the construction of advanced medical
facilities, China has several emerging
public health problems, such as
respiratory illnesses caused by
widespread air pollution,[379] hundreds
of millions of cigarette smokers,[380] and
an increase in obesity among urban
youths.[381][382] China's large
population and densely populated cities
have led to serious disease outbreaks in
recent years, such as the 2003 outbreak
of SARS, although this has since been
largely contained.[383] In 2010, air
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pollution caused 1.2 million premature

deaths in China.[384]

Religion
Religion in China
The Guoqing Temple on Mount Tiantai,
built in 598 CE, was the founding site of
the Tiantai branch of Chinese Buddhism.
Freedom of religion is guaranteed by
China's constitution, although religious
organizations which lack official approval
can be subject to state persecution.[208]
[385] Estimates of religious demographics
in China vary. A 2007 survey found that
31.4 percent of Chinese above the age of
16 were religious,[386] while a 2006
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study found that 46% of the Chinese

population were religious.[387]
Over the millennia, the Chinese
civilization has been influenced by various
religious movements. China's San Jiao
("three doctrines" or "three religions")
include Confucianism,[m] Buddhism, and
Taoism, and historically have had a
significant impact in shaping Chinese
culture.[388][389] Syncretism of these
three belief systems, often in the form of
popular or folk religious beliefs, remains a
common phenomenon in China.[390] A
2008 survey of rural villagers in six
provinces found that "more than twothirds of self-proclaimed religious
believers (or 31.09% of all sample
villagers) do not or cannot clearly identify
their faith...These people believe that
there are supernatural powers that
dominate or strongly influence the fate of
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human beings, and they think their fates

can be changed through offering
sacrifices to gods or ancestors. These
beliefs and practices are often deeply
rooted in traditional Chinese cultures and
customs of local communities."[387]
A 2007 survey by the Horizon Research
Consultancy Group found that individuals
who self-identify as Buddhists made up
1116% of China's adult population, while
Christians comprised around 34%, and
Muslims comprised approximately 1%.
[391] Some of the ethnic minorities of
China practice unique ethnic religions
Dongbaism is the traditional religion of
the Nakhi people, Moism that of the
Zhuang people, and Ruism that of the
Qiang people. The traditional indigenous
religion of Tibet is Bn, while most
Tibetans follow Tibetan Buddhism, a form
of Vajrayana.[392]
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Culture
Main articles: Chinese culture and Culture
of the People's Republic of China
Since ancient times, Chinese culture has
been heavily influenced by Confucianism
and conservative philosophies. For much
of the country's dynastic era,
opportunities for social advancement
could be provided by high performance in
the prestigious imperial examinations,
which have their origins in the Han
Dynasty.[393] The literary emphasis of
the exams affected the general
perception of cultural refinement in
China, such as the belief that calligraphy,
poetry and painting were higher forms of
art than dancing or drama. Chinese
culture has long emphasized a sense of
deep history and a largely inward-looking
national perspective.[18] Examinations
and a culture of merit remain greatly
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valued in China today. In recent years, a

number of New Confucians have claimed
that modern democratic ideals and
human rights are compatible with
traditional Confucian values.[394]
The first leaders of the People's Republic
of China were born into the traditional
imperial order, but were influenced by the
May Fourth Movement and reformist
ideals. They sought to change some
traditional aspects of Chinese culture,
such as rural land tenure, sexism, and the
Confucian system of education, while
preserving others, such as the family
structure and culture of obedience to the
state. Some observers see the period
following the establishment of the PRC in
1949 as a continuation of traditional
Chinese dynastic history, while others
claim that the Communist Party's rule has
damaged the foundations of Chinese
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culture, especially through political

movements such as the Cultural
Revolution of the 1960s, where many
aspects of traditional culture were
destroyed, having been denounced as
"regressive and harmful" or "vestiges of
feudalism". Many important aspects of
traditional Chinese morals and culture,
such as Confucianism, art, literature, and
performing arts like Peking opera,[395]
were altered to conform to government
policies and propaganda at the time.
Access to foreign media remains heavily
restricted; only 34 foreign films a year are
allowed to be shown in Chinese cinemas.
[396]
Today, the Chinese government has
accepted numerous elements of
traditional Chinese culture as being
integral to Chinese society. With the rise
of Chinese nationalism and the end of the
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Cultural Revolution, various forms of

traditional Chinese art, literature, music,
film, fashion and architecture have seen a
vigorous revival,[397][398] and folk and
variety art in particular have sparked
interest nationally and even worldwide.
[399] China is now the third-most-visited
country in the world,[400] with
55.7 million inbound international visitors
in 2010.[401] It also experiences an
enormous volume of domestic tourism; an
estimated 740 million Chinese
holidaymakers travelled within the
country in October 2012 alone.[402]

Cuisine
Main article: Chinese cuisine
Chinese cuisine is highly diverse, drawing
on several millennia of culinary history.
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The dynastic emperors of ancient China

were known to host banquets with over
100 dishes served at a time,[403]
employing countless imperial kitchen staff
and concubines to prepare the food. Such
royal dishes gradually became a part of
wider Chinese culture. China's staple food
is rice, but the country is also well known
for its meat dishes. Spices are central to
Chinese cuisine. Numerous foreign
offshoots of Chinese food, such as Hong
Kong cuisine and American Chinese food,
have emerged in the various nations
which play host to the Chinese diaspora.
Sports
Dragon boat racing, a popular traditional
Chinese sport.
China has one of the oldest sporting
cultures in the world. There is evidence
that a form of association football was
played in China around 1000 AD.[404]
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Today, some of the most popular sports in

the country include martial arts,
basketball, football, table tennis,
badminton, swimming and snooker. Board
games such as go (known as weiqi in
China), xiangqi, and more recently chess,
are also played at a professional level.
[405]
Physical fitness is widely emphasized in
Chinese culture, with morning exercises
such as qigong and t'ai chi ch'uan widely
practiced,Thornton, E. W.; Sykes, K. S.;
Tang, W. K. (2004). "Health benefits of Tai
Chi exercise: Improved balance and blood
pressure in middle-aged women". Health
Promotion International 19 (1): 3338.
edit and commercial gyms and fitness
clubs gaining popularity in the country.
[406] Young people in China are also keen
on football and basketball, especially in
urban centers with limited space and
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grass areas. The American National

Basketball Association has a huge
following among Chinese youths, with
ethnic Chinese players such as Yao Ming
being held in high esteem.[407] In
addition, China is home to a huge number
of cyclists, with an estimated 470 million
bicycles as of 2012.[328] Many more
traditional sports, such as dragon boat
racing, Mongolian-style wrestling and
horse racing are also popular.[408]
China has participated in the Olympic
Games since 1932, although it has only
participated as the PRC since 1952. China
hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics in
Beijing, where its athletes received 51
gold medals the highest number of gold
medals of any participating nation that
year.[409] China also won the most
medals of any nation at the 2012 Summer
Paralympics, with 231 overall, including
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95 gold medals.[410][411] China hosted

the 2013 East Asian Games in Tianjin and
will host the 2014 Summer Youth
Olympics in Nanjing.

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