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Communications

Airports [time series]

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

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

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

Waterways (Inland waterways) [time series]

138,600 km; about 109,800 km navigable

Merchant marine [time series]

1,478 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 14,029,320 GRT/21,120,522 DWT; includes 25 passenger, 42 short-sea passenger, 18 passenger-cargo, 6 cargo/training, 811 cargo, 11 refrigerated cargo, 81 container, 18 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 1 multifunction/barge carrier, 177 oil tanker, 11 chemical tanker, 263 bulk, 3 liquefied gas, 1 vehicle carrier, 9 combination bulk, 1 barge carrier; note - China beneficially owns an additional 227 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling approximately 6,187,117 DWT that operate under Panamanian, British, Hong Kong, Maltese, Liberian, Vanuatu, Cypriot, Saint Vincent, Bahamian, and Romanian registry

Pipelines [time series]

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

Ports [time series]

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

Railways (Railroads) [time series]

total about 64,000 km; 54,000 km of common carrier lines, of which 53,400 km are 1.435-meter gauge (standard) and 600 km are 1.000-meter gauge (narrow); 11,200 km of standard gauge common carrier route are double tracked and 6,900 km are electrified (1990); an additional 10,000 km of varying gauges (0.762 to 1.067-meter) are dedicated industrial lines

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

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

Defense Forces

Affiliation [time series]

(territory of Australia)

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

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

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

exchange rate conversion - $NA, NA% of GNP

Manpower availability [time series]

males age 15-49 343,361,925; fit for military service 190,665,512; reach military age (18) annually 10,844,047 (1993 est.)

Economy

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

accounts for 26% of GNP; among the world's largest producers of rice, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, and pork; commercial crops include cotton, other fibers, and oilseeds; produces variety of livestock products; basically self-sufficient in food; fish catch of 13.35 million metric tons (including fresh water and pond raised) (1991)

Budget [time series]

deficit $16.3 billion (1992)

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

1 yuan (Y) = 10 jiao

Economic aid [time series]

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

Electricity [time series]

158,690,000 kW capacity; 740,000 million kWh produced, 630 kWh per capita (1992)

Exchange rates [time series]

yuan (Y) per US$1 - 5.7640 (January 1993), 5.5146 (1992), 5.3234 (1991), 4.7832 (1990), 3.7651 (1989), 3.7221 (1988)

Exports [time series]

$85.0 billion (f.o.b., 1992) commodities: textiles, garments, telecommunications and recording equipment, petroleum, minerals partners: Hong Kong and Macau, Japan, US, Germany, South Korea, Russia (1992)

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$69.3 billion (1992)

Fiscal year [time series]

calendar year

Illicit drugs [time series]

illicit producer of opium in at least 18 provinces and administrative regions; bulk of production is in Yunnan Province; transshipment point for heroin produced in the Golden Triangle

Imports [time series]

$80.6 billion (c.i.f., 1992) commodities: specialized industrial machinery, chemicals, manufactured goods, steel, textile yarn, fertilizer partners: Hong Kong and Macau, Japan, US, Taiwan, Germany, Russia (1992)

Industrial production growth rate (Industrial production) [time series]

growth rate 20.8% (1992)

Industries [time series]

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

5.4% (1992)

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (National product) [time series]

GNP $NA

Real GDP per capita (National product per capita) [time series]

$NA

Real GDP growth rate (National product real growth rate) [time series]

12.8% (1992 est.)

Economic overview (Overview) [time series]

Beginning in late 1978 the Chinese leadership has been trying to move the economy from the sluggish Soviet-style centrally planned economy to a more productive and flexible economy with market elements, but still within the framework of monolithic Communist control. To this end the authorities have switched to a system of household responsibility in agriculture in place of the old collectivization, increased the authority of local officials and plant managers in industry, permitted a wide variety of small-scale enterprise in services and light manufacturing, and opened the foreign economic sector to increased trade and joint ventures. The most gratifying result has been a strong spurt in production, particularly in agriculture in the early 1980s. Industry also has posted major gains, especially in coastal areas near Hong Kong and opposite Taiwan, where foreign investment and modern production methods have helped spur production of both domestic and export goods. Aggregate output has more than doubled since 1978. On the darker side, the leadership has often experienced in its hybrid system the worst results of socialism (bureaucracy, lassitude, corruption) and of capitalism (windfall gains and stepped-up inflation). Beijing thus has periodically backtracked, retightening central controls at intervals and thereby lessening the credibility of the reform process. In 1991, and again in 1992, output rose substantially, particularly in the favored coastal areas. Popular resistance, changes in central policy, and loss of authority by rural cadres have weakened China's population control program, which is essential to the nation's long-term economic viability.

Unemployment rate [time series]

2.3% in urban areas (1992)

Geography

Area [time series]

total area: 9,596,960 km2 land area: 9,326,410 km2 comparative area: slightly larger than the US

Climate [time series]

extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north

Coastline [time series]

14,500 km

Environment - current issues (Environment) [time series]

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

Disputes - international (International disputes) [time series]

boundary with India; bilateral negotiations are under way to resolve disputed sections of the boundary with Russia; boundary with Tajikistan under dispute; a short section of the boundary with North Korea is indefinite; involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; maritime boundary dispute with Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin; Paracel Islands occupied by China, but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; claims Japanese-administered Senkaku-shoto, as does Taiwan, (Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu Tai)

Irrigated land [time series]

478,220 km2 (1991 - Chinese statistic)

Land boundaries [time series]

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

Land use [time series]

arable land: 10% permanent crops: 0% meadows and pastures: 31% forest and woodland: 14% other: 45%

Location [time series]

East Asia, between India and Mongolia

Map references [time series]

Asia, Southeast Asia, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims [time series]

continental shelf: claim to shallow areas of East China Sea and Yellow Sea territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural resources [time series]

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

Note [time series]

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

Terrain [time series]

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

Government

Abbreviation [time series]

PRC

Administrative divisions [time series]

23 provinces (sheng, singular and plural), 5 autonomous regions* (zizhiqu,, singular and Nei Mongol*, Ningxia*, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanghai Shi**, Shanxi,, Sichuan, Tianjin

Capital [time series]

Beijing

Constitution [time series]

most recent promulgated 4 December 1982

Digraph [time series]

Diplomatic representation in the US (Diplomatic representation in US) [time series]

chief of mission: Ambassador LI Daoyu chancery: 2300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: (202) 328-2500 through 2502 consulates general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco

Executive branch (Elections) [time series]

National People's Congress: last held March 1993 (next to be held March 1998); results - CCP is the only party but there are also independents; seats - (2,977 total) (elected at county or xian level) President: last held 27 March 1993 (next to be held NA 1998); results - JIANG Zemin was nominally elected by the Eighth National People's Congress

Executive branch [time series]

president, vice president, premier, four vice premiers, State Council

Flag [time series]

red with a large yellow five-pointed star and four smaller yellow five-pointed stars (arranged in a vertical arc toward the middle of the flag) in the upper hoist-side corner

Independence [time series]

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

Judicial branch [time series]

Supreme People's Court

Executive branch (Leaders) [time series]

Chief of State: President JIANG Zemin (since 27 March 1993); Vice President RONG Yiren (since 27 March 1993) Chief of State and Head of Government (de facto): DENG Xiaoping (since NA 1977) Head of Government: Premier LI Peng (Acting Premier since 24 November 1987, Premier since 9 April 1988) Vice Premier ZHU Rongji (since 8 April 1991); Vice Premier ZOU Jiahua (since 8 April 1991); Vice Premier QIAN Qichen (since 29 March 1993); Vice Premier LI Lanqing (29 March 1993)

Legal system [time series]

a complex amalgam of custom and statute, largely criminal law; rudimentary civil code in effect since 1 January 1987; new legal codes in effect since 1 January 1980; continuing efforts are being made to improve civil, administrative, criminal, and commercial law

Legislative branch [time series]

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

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

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

Country name (Names) [time series]

conventional long form: People's Republic of China conventional short form: China local long form: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo local short form: Zhong Guo

National holiday [time series]

National Day, 1 October (1949)

Political parties (Other political or pressure groups) [time series]

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

Political parties (Political parties and leaders) [time series]

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

Shi**, Xinjiang*, Xizang* (Tibet), Yunnan, Zhejiang, note [time series]

China considers Taiwan its 23rd province

Suffrage [time series]

18 years of age; universal

Government type (Type) [time series]

Communist state

Diplomatic representation from the US (US diplomatic representation) [time series]

chief of mission: Ambassador J. Stapleton ROY embassy: Xiu Shui Bei Jie 3, Beijing mailing address: 100600, PSC 461, Box 50, Beijing or FPO AP 96521-0002 telephone: [86] (1) 532-3831 FAX: [86] (1) 532-3178 consulates general: Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang

People

Birth rate [time series]

18.29 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Death rate [time series]

7.34 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1%

Infant mortality rate [time series]

52.1 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)

Labor force [time series]

567.4 million by occupation: agriculture and forestry 60%, industry and commerce 25%, construction and mining 5%, social services 5%, other 5% (1990 est.)

Languages [time series]

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

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

total population: 67.74 years male: 66.78 years female: 68.8 years (1993 est.)

Literacy [time series]

age 15 and over can read and write (1990) total population: 73% male: 84% female: 62%

Nationality [time series]

noun: Chinese (singular and plural) adjective: Chinese

Net migration rate [time series]

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Population [time series]

1,177,584,537 (July 1993 est.)

Population growth rate [time series]

1.1% (1993 est.)

Religions [time series]

Daoism (Taoism), Buddhism, Muslim 2-3%, Christian 1% (est.) note: officially atheist, but traditionally pragmatic and eclectic

Total fertility rate [time series]

1.85 children born/woman (1993 est.)