China

communist party-led state

name: Beijing geographic coordinates: 39 55 N, 116 23 E time difference: UTC+8 (13 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) time zone note: China is the largest country (in terms of area) with just one time zone; before 1949 it was divided into five etymology: the name comes from the Chinese words bei (north) and jing (capital)

chief of state: President XI Jinping (since 14 March 2013) head of government: Premier LI Qiang (since 11 March 2023) cabinet: State Council appointed by National People's Congress election/appointment process: president and vice president indirectly elected by National People's Congress; premier nominated by president, confirmed by National People's Congress most recent election date: 10 March 2023 election results: 2023: XI Jinping reelected president; National People's Congress vote - 2,952 (unanimously); HAN Zheng elected vice president with 2,952 votes; LI Qiang elected premier with 2,936 votes 2018 : XI Jinping reelected president; National People's Congress vote - 2,970 (unanimously); WANG Qishan elected vice president with 2,969 votes expected date of next election: March 2028 note: ultimate authority rests with the Communist Party Central Committee s 25-member Political Bureau (Politburo) and its seven-member Standing Committee; XI Jinping holds the three most powerful positions as party general secretary, state president, and chairman of the Central Military Commission

legislature name: National People's Congress (Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui) legislative structure: unicameral number of seats: 3000 (all indirectly elected) scope of elections: full renewal term in office: 5 years most recent election date: 3/5/2023 percentage of women in chamber: 26.5% expected date of next election: March 2028 note: in practice, only members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), its 8 allied independent parties, and CCP-approved independent candidates are elected

highest court(s): Supreme People's Court (consists of over 340 judges, including the chief justice and 13 grand justices organized into a civil committee and tribunals for civil, economic, administrative, complaint and appeal, and communication and transportation cases) judge selection and term of office: chief justice appointed by the People's National Congress (NPC); limited to 2 consecutive 5-year-terms; other justices and judges nominated by the chief justice and appointed by the Standing Committee of the NPC; term of other justices and judges determined by the NPC subordinate courts: Higher People's Courts; Intermediate People's Courts; District and County People's Courts; Autonomous Region People's Courts; International Commercial Courts; Special People's Courts for military, maritime, transportation, and forestry issues

history: several previous; latest promulgated 4 December 1982 amendment process: proposed by the Standing Committee of the National People s Congress or supported by more than one fifth of the National People s Congress membership; passage requires more than two-thirds majority vote of the Congress membership

ADB, AfDB (nonregional member), APEC, Arctic Council (observer), ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, BRICS, CDB, CICA, EAS, FAO, FATF, G-20, G-24 (observer), G-5, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, MONUSCO, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, Pacific Alliance (observer), PCA, PIF (partner), SAARC (observer), SCO, SICA (observer), UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNHRC, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNISFA, UNMIL, UNMISS, UNOCI, UNOOSA, UN Security Council (permanent), UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

1.5% of GDP (2024 est.) 1.5% of GDP (2023 est.) 1.5% of GDP (2022 est.) 1.5% of GDP (2021 est.) 1.7% of GDP (2020 est.)

People's Liberation Army (PLA): Ground Forces or People's Liberation Army Army (PLAA), Navy (PLAN, includes Marine Corps (PLANMC)), Air Force (PLAAF), Rocket Force (PLARF), Aerospace Force (ASF), Cyberspace Force (CSF), Information Support Force (ISF), Joint Logistics Support Force (JLSF); People's Armed Police (PAP, includes Coast Guard, Border Defense Force, Internal Security Forces); PLA Reserve Force (2025) note 1: the PAP is a paramilitary police component of China s armed forces that is under the dual authority of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the Central Military Commission; the China Coast Guard (CCG) is subordinate to the PAP note 2: the PLA (established 1927) is the military arm of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which oversees the PLA through its Central Military Commission (CMC); the CMC is China s top military decision making body

18-26 years of age depending on education level for men and women for both volunteer and selective compulsory military service; 24-month service obligation (2025) note: the PLA s conscription system functions as a levy; the PLA establishes the number of enlistees needed, which produces quotas for the provinces; each province provides a set number of soldiers or sailors; if the number of volunteers fails to meet quotas, the local governments may compel individuals to enter military service

the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the world s largest military; the PLA's primary responsibility is external security but it also has some domestic security duties; China s stated defense policy includes safeguarding sovereignty, security, and development interests while emphasizing a greater global role for the PLA; the PLA conducts air, counterspace, cyber, electronic warfare, joint, land, maritime, missile, nuclear, and space operations; it trains regularly, including multinational and multiservice exercises, deploys overseas, and participates in international peacekeeping missions the PRC's internal security forces consist primarily of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), the Ministry of State Security (MSS), the People s Armed Police (PAP), and the militia; the PLA support the internal security forces as necessary: --the MPS controls the civilian national police, which serves as the first-line force for public order; its primary mission is domestic law enforcement and maintaining order, including anti-rioting and anti-terrorism --the MSS is the PRC s main civilian intelligence and counterintelligence service --the PAP is a paramilitary component (or adjunct) of the PLA; its primary missions include internal security, maintaining public order, maritime security, and assisting the PLA in times of war; the China Coast Guard (CCG) administratively falls under the PAP and has a variety of missions, such as maritime sovereignty enforcement, surveillance, resource protection, anti-smuggling, and general law enforcement; it is the largest maritime law enforcement fleet in the world --the militia is an armed reserve of civilians which serves as an auxiliary and reserve force for the PLA upon mobilization, although it is distinct from the PLA s reserve forces; militia units are organized around towns, villages, urban sub-districts, and enterprises, and vary widely in composition and mission; they have dual civilian-military command structures; a key component of the militia are the local maritime forces, commonly referred to as the People s Armed Forces Maritime Militia (PAFMM); the PAFMM consists of mariners (and their vessels) who receive training, equipment, and other forms of support from the Navy and CCG (although the PAFMM remains separate from both) to perform tasks such as maritime patrolling, surveillance and reconnaissance, emergency/disaster response, transportation, search and rescue, and auxiliary tasks in support of naval operations in wartime; the PAFMM s tasks are often conducted in conjunction or coordination with the Navy and the CCG; it has been used to assert Beijing's maritime claims in the Sea of Japan and South China Sea (2025)

475 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 1,050 South Sudan (UNMISS); 280 Sudan/South Sudan (UNISFA); has also established a base in Djibouti with approximately 400 marines, plus naval and support personnel (2025)

$33.598 trillion (2024 est.) $32.005 trillion (2023 est.) $30.361 trillion (2022 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars

$23,800 (2024 est.) $22,700 (2023 est.) $21,500 (2022 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars

5% (2024 est.) 5.4% (2023 est.) 3.1% (2022 est.) note: annual GDP % growth based on constant local currency

0.2% (2024 est.) 0.2% (2023 est.) 2% (2022 est.) note: annual % change based on consumer prices

47% of GDP (2017 est.) note: official data; data cover both central and local government debt, including debt officially recognized by China's National Audit Office report in 2011; data exclude policy bank bonds, Ministry of Railway debt, and China Asset Management Company debt

$3.793 trillion (2024 est.) $3.508 trillion (2023 est.) $3.719 trillion (2022 est.) note: balance of payments - exports of goods and services in current dollars

$3.254 trillion (2024 est.) $3.122 trillion (2023 est.) $3.142 trillion (2022 est.) note: balance of payments - imports of goods and services in current dollars

4.6% (2024 est.) 4.7% (2023 est.) 5% (2022 est.) note: % of labor force seeking employment

revenues: $2.684 trillion (2022 est.) note: central government revenues (excluding grants) converted to US dollars at average official exchange rate for year indicated expenditures: $4.893 trillion (2019 est.)

world leader in gross value of industrial output; mining and ore processing, iron, steel, aluminum, and other metals, coal; machine building; armaments; textiles and apparel; petroleum; cement; chemicals; fertilizer; consumer products (including footwear, toys, and electronics); food processing; transportation equipment, including automobiles, railcars and locomotives, ships, aircraft; telecommunications equipment, commercial space launch vehicles, satellites

maize, rice, vegetables, wheat, sugarcane, potatoes, cucumbers/gherkins, tomatoes, watermelons, pork (2023) note: top ten agricultural products based on tonnage

total: 1,407,181,209 (2025 est.) male: 716,908,592 female: 690,272,617

-0.08% (2025 est.)

0-14 years: 16.3% (male 122,644,111/female 107,926,176) 15-64 years: 69.3% (male 505,412,555/female 476,599,793) 65 years and over: 14.4% (2024 est.) (male 94,144,838/female 109,315,797)

7.28 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)

7.97 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)

-0.11 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)

total population: 78.7 years (2024 est.) male: 76 years female: 81.7 years

urban population: 64.6% of total population (2023) rate of urbanization: 1.78% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) note: data do not include Hong Kong and Macau

Han Chinese 91.1%, ethnic minorities 8.9% (includes Zhang, Hui, Manchu, Uighur, Miao, Yi, Tujia, Tibetan, Mongol, Dong, Buyei, Yao, Bai, Korean, Hani, Li, Kazakh, Dai, and other nationalities) (2021 est.) note: the PRC officially recognizes 56 ethnic groups

Standard Chinese or Mandarin (official; Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages; note - Zhuang is official in Guangxi Zhuang, Yue is official in Guangdong, Mongolian is official in Nei Mongol, Uyghur is official in Xinjiang Uygur, Kyrgyz is official in Xinjiang Uyghur, and Tibetan is official in Xizang (Tibet) major-language sample(s): 世界概況 不可缺少的基本消息來源 (Standard Chinese) The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.

folk religion 21.9%, Buddhist 18.2%, Christian 5.1%, Muslim 1.8%, Hindu 0.1%, Jewish 0.1%, other 0.7% (includes Daoist (Taoist)), unaffiliated 52.1% (2021 est.) note: officially atheist

total population: 96.7% (2020 est.) male: 98.4% (2020 est.) female: 95.1% (2020 est.)

coal, iron ore, helium, petroleum, natural gas, arsenic, bismuth, cobalt, cadmium, ferrosilicon, gallium, germanium, hafnium, indium, lithium, mercury, tantalum, tellurium, tin, titanium, tungsten, antimony, manganese, magnesium, molybdenum, selenium, strontium, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, rare earth elements, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest), arable land

USG identification: major illicit drug-producing and/or drug-transit country major precursor-chemical producer (2025)

tier rating: Tier 3 China does not fully meet the minimum standards for elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so, therefore, China remained on Tier 3; for more details, go to: https://www.state.gov/reports/2025-trafficking-in-persons-report/china/

refugees: 814 (2024 est.) IDPs: 198,400 (2024 est.)

552 (2025)

total: 150,000 km (2021) 1.435-m gauge (100,000 km electrified); 104,0000 traditional, 40,000 high-speed

total: 8,314 (2023) by type: bulk carrier 1,831, container ship 419, general cargo 1,392, oil tanker 1,196, other 3,476

total subscriptions: 1.87 billion (2024 est.) subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 132 (2024 est.)

percent of population: 78% (2023 est.)