People’s Republic of China

Location :Eastern Asia, bordering the

East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam

Land Boundaries

On the east: RussiaNorth Korea

On the north: Mongolia

On the west: TajikistanKyrgyzstanKazakhstanPakistanAfghanistan

On the south: IndiaNepalBhutanMyanmarLaosVietnam

regional borders: Hong Kong 30 km, Macau 0.34 km

total: 22,117 km

14,500 km

Coastline

Maritime Claims

Territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin

1 nautical mile = 1.85200 kilometers

Agricultural Products

rice, wheat, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton, oilseed, pork, fish.

Export Commodities

 machinery and equipment, textiles and clothing, footwear,

toys and sporting goods, mineral fuels.

Import Commodities

 machinery and equipment, mineral fuels, plastics, iron and steal, chemicals. 

air pollution water shortages, water pollution from untreated wastes; deforestation; estimated loss of one-fifth of agricultural land since 1949 to soil erosion and economic development; desertification; trade in endangered species

Environmental-current issues

Geography Note

world's fourth largest country (after Russia, Canada, and US)

 9.6 million sq km

country comparison to the world: 1

Population

Birth rate

12.29 births/1,000 population country comparison to the world: 159

Death rate

7.03 deaths/1,000 population (July 2011 est.)

country comparison to the world: 131

Beijing 12.214m

Shanghai 16.575m

Chongqing 9.401m

Guang zhou 8.884 m

Shenzhen 9.005m

Major Cities- Population

Nationality

noun: Chinese (singular and plural)

adjective: Chinese

Ethnic Groups

Han Chinese 91.5% Zhuang Manchu Hui Miao Uighur Tujia Yi Mongol Tibetan Buyi Dong Yao Korean other nationalities 8.5% (2000 census)

Major Chinese Ethnic Minorities Map

Religion

A B C D E

D. Animist

C. Christian

A. Secular

E. Muslim

B. Chinese

2.5%2.5%4%31%60%

Minnan (Hokkien-

Taiwanese)

Minnan (Hokkien-

Taiwanese)

Minbei (Fuzhou)Minbei

(Fuzhou)

MandarinMandarin

Yue / Cantonese

Yue / Cantonese

Xiang Xiang

Hakka dialectsHakka dialects

minority languagesminority

languages

Wu (Shanghainese)

Wu (Shanghainese)

Government :: China

Country Name

conventional long form: People's Republic of China

conventional short form: China

local long form: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo

local short form: Zhongguo

abbreviation: PRCGovernment Type:Communist state

Capital

name: Beijing

geographic coordinates: 39 55 N, 116 23 E

time difference: UTC+8 (13 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

note:  despite its size, all of China falls within one time zone; many people in Xinjiang Province observe an unofficial "Xinjiang timezone" of UTC+6, two hours behind Beijing

Administrative Division

23 provinces (sheng, singular and plural), 5 autonomous regions (zizhiqu, singular and plural), and 4 municipalities (shi, singular and plural)

provinces: Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang and Taiwan.

autonomous regions: Guangxi, Nei Mongol (Inner Mongolia), Ningxia, Xinjiang Uygur, Xizang (Tibet)

municipalities: Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Tianjin

Independence

1 January 1912 (Qing Dynasty replaced by the Republic of China)

1 October 1949 (People's Republic of China established)

Constitution

most recent promulgation

4 December 1982 amended several times

International Law Organization Participation

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration non-party state to the ICC

Executive Branch

Chief of State

 President HU Jin tao

(since 15 March 2003)

 Vice President XI Jin ping (since 15 March 2008)

Premier WEN Jia bao

(since 16 March 2003)

Executive Vice Premier LI Keqiang (17 March 2008)

Head of Government

Vice Premier ZHANG De Jiang

(since 17 March 2008)Vice Premier HUI Liang Yu

(since 17 March 2003

Vice Premier WANG Qi shan (since 17 March 2008)

cabinet: State Council appointed by National People's Congress

elections: president and vice president elected by National People's Congress for a five-year term

• elections last held on 15-17 March 2008 (next to be held in mid-March 2013);

• premier nominated by president, confirmed by National People's Congress

election results: HU Jintao elected president by National People's Congress with a total of 2,963 votes;

• XI Jinping elected vice president with a total of 2,919 votes

Legislative Branchunicameral National People's Congress or Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui (2,987 seats)

elections: last held in December 2007-February 2008 (date of next election to be held in late 2012 to early 2013)

election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - 2,987

note: only members of the CCP, its eight allied parties, and sympathetic independent candidates are elected

Supreme People's Court (judges appointed by the National People's

Congress);

Local People's Courts (comprise higher, intermediate, and basic

courts);

Special People's Courts (primarily military, maritime, railway transportation, and forestry courts)

Judicial Branch

Chinese Communist Party or CCP Eight registered small parties controlled by CCP

Political Parties and Leaders

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

the working class the peasantry the urban petty bourgeoisie the national bourgeoisie

Red- represents revolutionStars- four social classes  "Yi yong jun Jin xing qu"

(The March of the Volunteers)National Anthem

Transnational Issues :: China

International Disputes

Claims Taiwan, but the Republic of China exercises sovereignty and also claims the mainland

Boundary with India in dispute; see Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh

Portions of the boundary with Tajikistan are indefinite

33-km section of boundary with North Korea in the Baitou Mountain (Paektu-san) area 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 the PRC, but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan

Claims Japanese-administered Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu Tai), as does Taiwan

•Agreement on land border with Vietnam was signed in December 1999, but details of alignment have not yet been made public

major transshipment point for heroin produced in the Golden Triangle; growing domestic drug abuse problem

Illicit Drugs

• EU relations with China were established in 1975 and are governed by the 1985 EU-China Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

• The EU is China’s biggest trading partner, while China is the EU’s largest source of imports and second largest two-way trading partner. 

• To reflect the depth and breadth of their Strategic Partnership, the EU and China decided in 2010 to upgrade their bilateral relations on foreign affairs, security matters and global challenges such as climate change, the recovery of the global economy, etc.

• Annual summits and regular political, trade and economic dialogues are held.