People's Republic of China (1949present)

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 People's Republic of China, [87] which was commonly known in the West as "Communist China" or "Red China" during the Cold War. [88] In 1950, the People's Liberation Army succeeded in capturing Hainan from the ROC, [89] occupying Tibet, [90] and defeating the majority of the remaining Kuomintang forces in Yunnan and Xinjiang provinces, though some Kuomintang holdouts survived in China and Burma until the early 1960s. [91][92] Mao encouraged population growth, and under his leadership the Chinese population almost doubled from around 550 million to over 900 million. [93]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. [94] Between 1 and 2 million landlords were executed as "counterrevolutionaries." [95] 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 PRCreplaced the Republic of China in the United Nations, and took its seat as a permanent member of the Security Council. [96] On 1 January 1979, the USofficially recognised the PRC as China's sole legitimate government. [97]

Mao Zedong proclaiming the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

After Mao's death in 1976 and the arrest of the faction known as the Gang of Four, 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, a system termed by some "market socialism"; [98] it is officially described as "socialism with Chinese characteristics". 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. [99][100][101] President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji, both former mayors of Shanghai, led the nation in the 1990s. Under Jiang and Zhu's ten years of 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%. [102][103] 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 resources and environment, [104][105] and caused major social displacement. [106][107] Living standards continued to improve rapidly, but centralized political control remained tight. [108]

The city of Shanghai has become a symbol of China's rapid economic expansion since the 1990s.

Preparations for a decadal Communist Party leadership change in 2012 were marked by factional disputes and political scandals. [109] During China's18th 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. [110][111] Under Xi, the Chinese government began large-scale efforts to reform its fast-growing economy, [112][113] which has suffered from structural instabilites in the wake of the late-2000s recession. [114][115][116][117]

Geography
Main article: Geography of China

Political geography
The People's Republic of China is the second-largest country in the world by land area after Russia[17] 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. [118][119] China's total area is generally stated as being approximately 9,600,000 km2 (3,700,000 sq mi). [120] Specific area figures range from 9,572,900 km2 (3,696,100 sq mi) according to the Encyclopdia Britannica, [121]9,596,961 km2 (3,705,407 sq mi) according to the UN Demographic Yearbook, [6] to 9,596,961 km2 (3,705,407 sq mi) according to the CIA World Factbook, [122] and 9,640,011 km2 (3,722,029 sq mi) including Aksai Chin and the Trans-Karakoram Tract, which are controlled by China and claimed by India. [123] 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. [124] 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. Chinaborders 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[125] in South Asia; Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in Central Asia; a small section of Russian Altai and Mongolia in Inner Asia; and the Russian Far East and North Korea in Northeast Asia. China's border with India is disputed, and was a key cause of the 1962 Sino-Indian War.

A composite satellite image showing the topography of China.

Longsheng Rice Terrace in Guangxi.

Additionally, China shares maritime boundaries with South Korea, Japan, The Li River in Guangxi. 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 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, broadgrasslands predominate. Southern China is dominated by hills and low mountain ranges, while the centraleast hosts thedeltas of China's two major rivers, the Yellow River and The South China Sea coast the Yangtze River. Other major rivers include atHainan. 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, Mt. Everest (8848m), lies on the Sino-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, which is currently the world's fifth-largest desert. [126][127] 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. [128] Water quality, erosion, and pollution control have become important issues in China's relations with other countries. Melting glaciers in the Himalayas could potentially lead to water shortages for hundreds of millions of people. [129] 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
Main article: Wildlife of China China is one of 17 megadiverse countries, [130] 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. [131] 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. [132] It later produced a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, with one revision which was received by the convention on 21 September 2010. [133]

Fauna

China is home to at least 551 species of mammals (the third-highest such number in the world), [134] 1,221 species of birds (eighth), [135] 424 species of reptiles (seventh)[136] and 333 species of amphibians (seventh). [137] China is the most biodiverse 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. [138] Endangered wildlife is protect by law and the country has over 360 nature reserves. The giant panda, the country's most famous endangered and endemic species, lives in protected nature reserves in Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi province. A number of other species, such as the South China tiger, Chinese alligator and Pere David's deer, are virtually extinct in the wild and survive only in captive breeding programs. As the country has grown wealthier in recent years, domestic appetite has grown for wildlife products, leading to a sharp rise in Illegal trading in endangered species such as ivory, rhino horns, shark fins, and threatening wildlife in other countries. Laws prohibiting illegal animal trade are unevenly enforced. [139]

A giant panda, China's most famousendangered and endemic species, at theWolong National Nature Reserve in Sichuan.

Flora
China has over 32,000 species of vascular plants [140] and is home to a variety of forest types. Cold coniferous forests predominate in the north of the country, supporting animal species such asmoose and the Asian black bear, along with over 120 bird species. Moist conifer forests can have thickets of bamboo as an understorey, replaced by rhododendrons in higher montane stands ofjuniper 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 andHainan Island, contain a quarter of all the animal and plant species found in China. [141]

Fungi
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. [142] More than 5,000 species of "higher fungi" mainly basidiomyceteswith some ascomycetes were reported in 2001 for tropical China alone, [143] and nearly 4,000 species of fungi were reported in 2005 for northwestern China. [144] The exploration and classification of the fungi of China is currently being pursued under the auspices of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, with the production of many volumes in the Flora Fungorum Sinicorum series of publications. 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. [145]

Environmental issues
Main article: Environment of China See also: Water resources of the People's Republic of China In recent decades, China has suffered from severe environmental deterioration and pollution. [146][147] 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. As a result, public protests and riots over environmental issues have become increasingly common. [148] Environmental campaigners have warned that water pollution is becoming a

severe threat to Chinese society. [149][150] According to the Wind turbines in Xinjiang. TheDabancheng project is Asia's Chinese Ministry of Water Resources, roughly 300 million Chinese do not largest wind farm. have access to safe drinking water, and 40% of China's rivers had been polluted by industrial and agricultural waste by late 2011. [151] This crisis is compounded by increasingly severe water shortages, particularly in the north-east of the country. [152][153][154] Additionally, numerous major Chinese coastal cities, including Shanghai, are deemed to be highly vulnerable to large-scale flooding. [155] However, China is the world's leading investor in renewable energy commercialisation, with $52 billion invested in 2011 alone. [156][157][158] China produces more wind turbines and solar panels than any other country, [159] and renewable energy projects, such as solar water heating, are widely pursued at the local level. [160] 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. [161] In 2011, the Chinese government 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. [152][162]

Politics
Main article: Politics of the People's Republic of China The People's Republic of China, along with Cuba, Laos, and Vietnam, is one of the world's four remaining socialist states espousing communism. [163][164] The Chinese government has been variously described as communist and socialist, but also as authoritarian, with heavy restrictions remaining in many areas, most notably on the Internet, the press, freedom of assembly,reproductive rights, and freedom of religion. [165] 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. [166] 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. [167] The political system is partly decentralized, [168] with limited democratic processes internal to the party and at local village levels, although these experiments have been marred by 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). 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", [169] but the elected National People's Congress has been described as a "rubber stamp" body. [170] The incumbent President is Xi Jinping, who is also the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and theChairman of the Central Military Commission. [110] The current Premier is Li Keqiang, who is also a senior member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee.

The Great Hall of the People in Beijing, where the National People's Congress convenes.

There have been some moves toward political liberalization, in that open contested elections are now held at the village and town levels. [171][172]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. [173] Nonetheless, the level of public support for the government and its management 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. [174]

Administrative divisions
Main articles: Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China, Districts of Hong Kong, and Municipalities of Macau See also: Administrative divisions of the Republic of China 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. [175] 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. 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.
Provinces ( ) Anhui () Fujian () Gansu () Guangdong () Guizhou ()
Taiwan

Hainan () Hebei () Heilongjiang () Henan () Hubei ()

Hunan () Jiangsu ( ) Jiangxi () Jilin () Liaoning ( )

Qinghai () Shaanxi () Shandong () Shanxi () Sichuan ( )

Taiwan () Yunnan () Zhejiang ()

is claimed by the PRC but governed by the Republic of China Autonomous regions ( ) Municipalities ( ) Beijing () Chongqing () Shanghai () Tianjin () Special administrative regions ( ) Hong Kong / Xianggang () Macau / Aomen ()

Guangxi () Inner Mongolia / Nei Mongol () Ningxia () Xinjiang () Tibet / Xizang ()

Foreign relations
Main article: Foreign relations of China The PRC has diplomatic relations with 171 countries and maintains embassies in 162. [176] 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. Sweden was the first western country to establish diplomatic relations with the PRC on 9 May 1950. [177] 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. [178] China was also a former member and leader of the Non-Aligned Movement, and still considers itself an advocate for developing countries. [179] 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. [180]

Hu Jintao with US President George W. Bush in 2006.

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, [181] especially in the matter of armament sales. [182] 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. [183] 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 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. [184] Conflicts with foreign countries have occurred at times in China's recent history, particularly with the United States; for instance, the U.S. bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during the Kosovo conflict in May 1999 and the Hainan Island incidentinvolving a U.S. spy plane in April 2001. Relations with many Western nations suffered for a time following the military crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, although in recent years China has improved its diplomatic links with the West. [185][186] China furthermore has an increasingly close economic and military relationship with Russia, [187] and the two states often vote in unison in the UN Security Council. [188][189][190] In recent decades, China has followed a policy of engaging with African nations for trade and bilateral co-operation; [191][192][193] in 2012, Sino-African trade totalled over US$160 billion. [194] China has furthermore strengthened its ties with major South American economies, becoming the largest trading partner of Brazil and building strategic links with Argentina. [195][196]

Trade relations
In recent decades, China has played an increasing role in calling for free trade areas and security pacts amongst its Asia-Pacific neighbors. In 2004, it proposed an entirely new East Asia Summit (EAS) framework as a forum for regional security issues, pointedly excluding the United States. [197] 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 Cooperation Organisation (SCO), along with Russia and the Central Asian republics. In 2000, the United States Congress approved "permanent normal trade relations" (PNTR) with China, allowing Chinese exports in at the same low

A meeting of G5 leaders in 2007, with China's Hu Jintao second from right.

tariffs as goods from most other countries. [198] Both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush asserted that free trade would gradually open China to democratic reform. [199] Bush was furthermore an advocate of Chinese entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). [200] China has a significant trade surplus with the United States, its most important export market. [201] In the early 2010s, US politicians argued that the Chinese yuan was significantly undervalued, giving China an unfair trade advantage. [202][203][204]

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 of several small islands in the East and South China Seas. [205][206][207] These issues have led to friction between China and western nations, particularly the United States, which is seen in some quarters as attempting to contain China's regional power. [208][209][210]

Emerging superpower status

Map depicting territorial disputes between the PRC and neighboring states. For a larger map, see here.

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. [24][211] Others, however, warn thateconomic bubbles and demographic imbalances could slow or even halt China's growth as the century progresses. [212][213][214][215][216] 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. [217]

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 the People's Republic of 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 greatly 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 protection against criminal prosecution by the state. [218][219][220] 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. [221][222] Property rights are often poorly protected, [221] and taxation disproportionately affects poorer citizens. [222] However, a number of rural taxes have been reduced or abolished since the early 2000s, and additional social services provided to rural dwellers. [223][224] Censorship of political speech and information, most notably on the Internet, [225][226][227][228] is openly and routinely used in China to silence criticism of the government and the ruling Communist Party. [229][230] 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. [231] 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 Communist Party has had mixed success in controlling information: a powerful and pervasive media control system faces equally strong market forces, an increasingly educated citizenry, and technological and cultural changes that are making China more open to the wider world. [232][233] 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, [165][234][235] and excessive use of the death penalty. [236][237] In particular, 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. [238][239] 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 focus more on the people's rights to subsistence and development in poorer countries. [240] It emphasizes the rise in the standard of living, literacy, and life expectancy for the average Chinese since the 1970s, as well as improvements in workplace safety and efforts to combat natural disasters such as the perennial Yangtze River floods. [240][241][242] It has also responded to allegations of state repression by accusing Western media of supporting and justifying terrorist acts in Xinjiang. [243] Furthermore, some Chinese politicians have spoken out in support of democratisation, althoughothers remain more conservative. [244] Although the Chinese government is increasingly tolerant of NGOs which offer practical, efficient solutions to social problems, such "third sector" activity remains heavily regulated. [245]

Military
Main article: People's Liberation Army With 2.3 million active troops, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the largest standing military force in the world, commanded by theCentral Military Commission (CMC). [246] 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, A PLAAF Chengdu J-10 fighter aircraft. constituting the world's second-largest military [247] budget. However, other nations, such as the United States, have claimed that China does not report its real level of military spending, which is allegedly much higher than the official budget. [248] China claims it maintains an army purely for defensive purposes, [249] although a 2007 report by the US Secretary of Defense noted that "China's actions in certain areas increasingly appear inconsistent with its declaratory policies". [250] As a recognised nuclear weapons state, China is considered both a major regional military power and a potential military superpower. [251]According to a 2013 report by the US Department of Defense, China fields between 50 and 75

nuclear ICBMs, along with a number ofSRBMs. [19] Nonetheless, China is the only one of the UN Security Council Permanent Members to have relatively limited power projectioncapabilities. [252] To offset this, it has developed numerous power projection assets its first aircraft carrier entered service in 2012, [253][254][255][256] and it maintains a substantial fleet ofsubmarines, including several nuclear-powered attack and ballistic missile submarines. [257] China has furthermore established a network of foreign military relationships that has been compared to a string of pearls. [258] 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. [253][259]China is furthermore engaged in developing an indigenous stealth aircraft and numerous combat drones. [260][261][262][263] China has also updated its ground forces, replacing its Members of a Chinese military honor guard. China possesses the largest standing army in the world, with ageing Soviet-derived tank inventory with numerous variants around 2.3 million active personnel. Its ground forces alone of the modern Type 99 tank, and upgrading its total 1.7 million soldiers. battlefield C3I and C4I systems to enhance its networkcentric warfare capabilities. [264] In addition, China has developed or acquired numerous advanced missile systems, [265][266] including anti-satellite missiles, [267] cruise missiles [268] and submarine-launched nuclear ICBMs. [269] As a result of these advances, China has been perceived as attempting to rival the United States in military technology, [270] although some analysts note that the American military remains far more capable than the PLA. [271]

Economy
Main articles: Economy of China, Agriculture in China, and List of Chinese administrative divisions by GDP As of 2013, China has the world's second-largest economy in terms of nominal GDP, totalling approximately US$8.227 trillion according to theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF). [10] If PPP is taken into account, China's economy is again second only to the United States in 2012, its PPP GDP reached $12.405 trillion, corresponding to $9,161 per capita. [10] However, China's 2012 nominal GDP per capita of US$6,075 puts it behind around ninety countries (out of 183 countries on the IMF list) in global GDP per capita rankings. [10] From its founding in 1949 until late 1978, the People's Republic of China was a Soviet-style centrally planned economy, without private The Shanghai Stock Exchange building inShanghai's Lujiazui financial district. businesses or capitalism. To propel the country towards a modern, Shanghai has the 25th-largest city GDP in industrialized communist society, Mao Zedong instituted the Great Leap the world, totalling US$304 billion in Forward in the early 1960s, although this had decidedly mixed economic 2011.[272] results. [273] 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 ofSpecial Economic Zones (SEZs). Inefficient state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were restructured and unprofitable ones were closed outright, resulting in massive job losses. Modern-day China is mainly characterized as having a market economy based on private property ownership, [274] and is one of the leading examples of state capitalism. [275][276] The state still dominates in strategic "pillar" sectors such as energy production and heavy industries, but private enterprise has expanded enormously, with around 30 million private businesses recorded in 2008. [277][278][279][280] Since economic liberalization began in 1978, China's investment- and exportled[281] economy has grown more than a hundredfold[282] and is the fastest-growing major economy in the world. [283] 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. [284] According to the Global Growth Generators index announced by Citigroup in February 2011, China has a very high 3G growth rating. [285] Its high productivity, low labor costs and relatively good infrastructure have made it a global leader in manufacturing, but its undervalued exchange rate has caused friction with other major economies, [203][286][287] and it has also been widely criticised for manufacturing large quantities of counterfeit goods. [288][289] In the early 2010s, China's economic growth rate began to slow amid domestic credit troubles, changing government priorities [112] and global economic turmoil. [290][291][292][293]

In 1978, Deng Xiaopinginitiated China's market-oriented reforms.

China is a member of the WTO and is the world's largest trading power, with a total international trade value of US$3.87 trillion in 2012. [18] 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. [294][295] China owns an estimated $1.6 trillion of US securities. [296] China, holding over US$1.16 trillion in US Treasury bonds, [297] is the largest foreign holder of US public debt. [298][299] 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. [300][301] China also increasingly invests abroad, with a total outward FDI of $68 billion in 2010, and a number of major takeovers of foreign firms by Chinese companies. [302][303][304] China now ranks 29th in the Global Competitiveness Index, [306] although it is only ranked 135th among the 179 countries measured in the Index of Economic Freedom. [307] In 2011, 61 Chinese companies were listed in the Fortune Global 500. [308] Measured by total revenues, three of the world's top ten most valuable companies are Chinese, including fifthranked Sinopec Group, sixth-ranked China National Petroleum and seventh-ranked State Grid (the world's largest A graph comparing the 2012 nominal GDPs of major economies electric utilities company). [308] in US$ billions, according to IMF data.[305] 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, [309] while the number of individuals worth more than 10 million yuan (US$1.5 million) was estimated to be 1.02 million in 2012, according to the Hurun Report. [310] Based on the Hurun rich list, 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. [311][312] China's domestic retail market

was worth over 20 trillion yuan (US$3.2 trillion) in 2012[313] and is now growing at over 12% annually, [314] while the country's luxury goods market has expanded immensely, with 27.5% of the global share. [315] However, in recent years, China's rapid economic growth has contributed to severe consumer inflation, [316][317] leading to increased government regulation. [318] The Chinese economy is highly energy-intensive and inefficient; [319] China became the world's largest energy consumer in 2010, [320] and still relies on coal to supply over 70% of its energy needs. [321] Coupled with lax environmental regulations, this has led to massive water and air pollution, leaving China with 20 of the world's 30 most polluted cities. [319] Consequently, the government has promised to use more renewable energy, planning to make renewables constitute 30% of China's total energy production by 2050. [158][322] Efforts have also been made to streamline bureaucracy and reduce wastefulness by government enterprises. [323]

Science and technology

Historical

Nanjing Road, a major shopping street in Shanghai.

Main articles: Science and technology in the People's Republic of China and Chinese space program

China was a world leader in science and technology until the Ming Dynasty. Ancient Chinese discoveries and inventions, such Ming Dynasty matchlock firearms. China was as papermaking, printing, the first nation to employ gunpowder weapons. the compass, and gunpowder (the Four Great Inventions), later became widespread in Asia and Europe. Chinese mathematicians were the first to use negative numbers. [324][325] However, Chinese scientific activity entered a prolonged decline in the fourteenth century. Unlike the European scientists of the Scientific Revolution, medieval Chinese thinkers did not attempt to reduce observations of nature to mathematical laws, and they did not form a scholarly community offering peer review and progressive research. There was an increasing concentration on literature, the arts, and public administration, while science and technology were seen as trivial or restricted to limited practical applications. [326] The causes of this Great Divergence continue to be debated.

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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talk After repeated military defeats by Western nations in the 19th century, Chinese reformers began promoting modern science and technology as part of the Selfedit Strengthening Movement. After the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War in 1949, efforts were made to organize science and technology based on the model of the Soviet Union. However, Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution of 196676 had a catastrophic effect on Chinese research, as academics were persecuted and the training of scientists and engineers was severely curtailed for nearly a decade. [327] After Mao's death in 1976, science and technology was established as one of the Four Modernizations, and the Soviet-inspired academic system was gradually reformed. [326]

Modern era
Since the end of the Cultural Revolution, China has become one of the world's leading technological powers, [328] spending over US$100 billion on scientific research and development in 2011 alone. [329] 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". [330] Prominent Chinese scientists have included the oncologist Min Chiu Li, who became the first doctor to cure a solid cancer with chemotherapy in 1956. [331][332] Chinese-born scientists have won the Nobel Prize in Physics four times and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry once to date. 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. [333] China is also the world's second-largest publisher of scientific papers, producing 121,500 in 2010 alone, including 5,200 in leading international scientific journals. [334] Chinese technology companies such as Huawei and Lenovo have become world leaders in telecommunications and personal computing, [335][336][337] and Chinesesupercomputers are consistently ranked among the world's most powerful. [338][339] China is furthermore the world's largest investor in renewable energy technology. [158] The Chinese space program is one of the world's most active, and is a major source of national pride. [340][341] 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 2008, China conducted its first spacewalk with theShenzhou 7 mission. In 2011, China's first The launch of a Chinese Long March space station module, Tiangong-1, was launched, marking the first 3Brocket. step in a project to assemble a large manned station by 2020. [342] The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program includes a planned lunar rover launch in 2013, and possibly a manned lunar landing in 2025. [343][344] Experience gained from the lunar program may be used for future programs such as the exploration of Mars andVenus. [345] However, some foreign analysts have accused China of covertly using its civilian space missions for military purposes, such as the launch of surveillance satellites. [346]

Infrastructure
Communications
Main article: Telecommunications in the People's Republic of China China currently has the largest number of active cellphones of any country in the world, with over 1 billion users as of

May 2012. [347][348] It also has the world's largest number of internet and broadband users, [349] with over 591 million internet users as of 2013, equivalent to around 44% of its population. [350] According to the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), China's average internet connection speed in 2011 was 100.9 kbit/s, less than half of the global average of 212.5 kbit/s. [351] As of July 2013, China accounts for 24% of the world's internet-connected devices. [352] 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 55 million broadband subscribers, while China Unicom serves more than 40 million. The massive rise in internet use in China continues to fuel rapid broadband growth, whereas the world's other major broadband ISPs operate in the mature markets of the developed world, with high levels of broadband penetration and rapidly slowing subscriber growth. [353] Several Chinese telecommunications companies, most notably Huawei and ZTE, have become highly profitable in overseas markets, but have also been accused of spying for the Chinese military. [354]

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 expressways, known as the National Trunk Highway System (NTHS). By the end of 2011, China's expressways had reached a A high-speed maglev total length of 85,000 km (53,000 mi), train leavingPudong International Airport, Shanghai, in 2006. second only to the highway network of There are over 85,000 km [355] the United States. Private car (52,800 mi) of divided expressways in ownership is growing rapidly in China, China. which surpassed the United States as the world's largest automobile market in 2009, with total car sales of over 13.6 million. [356] Analysts predict that annual car sales in China may rise as high as 40 million by 2020. [357] A side-effect of the rapid growth of China's road network has been a significant rise in traffic accidents, mostly caused by poorly enforced traffic laws in 2011 alone, around 62,000 Chinese died in road accidents, and efforts to improve traffic safety have had limited success. [358][359] China also possesses the world's longest high-speed rail network, with over 9,676 km (6,012 mi) of service routes. [360] Of these, 3,515 km (2,184 mi) serve trains with top speeds of 300 km/h (190 mph). [361] In 2011, China produced its first high-speed trains built entirely without foreign assistance. [362] China intends to operate approximately 16,000 km (9,900 mi) of high-speed rail lines by 2020. [363] Rapid transitsystems are also rapidly developing in China's major cities, in the form of networks of underground or light rail systems. China is additionally developing its own satellite navigation system, dubbedBeidou, which began offering commercial navigation services across Asia in 2012, [364] and is planned to offer global coverage by 2020. [365] As of 2012, China is the world's largest constructor of new airports, and the Chinese government has begun a US$250 billion five-year project to expand and modernize domestic air travel. [366]However, 80% of China's airspace remains restricted for military use; [367] long-distance transportation remains dominated by railways and charter bus systems. Railways are the vital carrier in China; they are monopolized by the state, and divided into various railway bureaux in different regions. Due to huge demand, the system is regularly subject to overcrowding, particularly during holiday seasons, such as Chunyun during the Chinese New Year. The Chinese rail network carried an estimated 1.68 billion total passengers in 2010 alone. [363] In urban areas, bicycles remain an extremely common mode of transport, despite the increasing prevalence of automobiles as of 2012, there are approximately 470 million bicycles in China. [368]

Demographics
Main article: Demographics of China The national census of 2010 recorded the population of the People's Republic of China as approximately 1,338,612,968. About 21% of the population (145,461,833 males; 128,445,739 females) were 14 years old or younger, 71% (482,439,115 males; 455,960,489 females) were between 15 and 64 years old, and 8% (48,562,635 males; 53,103,902 females) were over 65 years old. The population growth rate for 2006 was 0.6%. [369] By end of 2010, the proportion of mainland Chinese people aged 14 or younger was 16.60%, while the number aged 60 or older grew to 13.26%, giving a total proportion of 29.86% dependents. The proportion of the population of workable age was thus around 70%. [370] Although a middle-income country by Western standards, China's rapid People's Republic of China. The eastern growth has pulled hundreds of millions of its people out of poverty since coastal provinces are much more densely populated than the western interior. 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%. [371] With a population of over 1.3 billion and dwindling natural resources, China is very concerned about its population growth and has attempted, with mixed results, [372] to implement a strict family planning policy, known as the "onechild policy." This seeks to restrict families to one child each, with exceptions for ethnic minorities and a degree of flexibility in rural areas. It is hoped that population growth in China will stabilize in the early decades of the 21st century, though some projections estimate a population of anywhere between 1.4 billion and 1.6 billion by 2025. China's family planning minister has indicated that the one-child policy will be maintained until at least 2020. [373] The one-child policy is resisted, particularly in rural areas, because of the need for agricultural labour and a traditional preference for boys. Families who breach the policy often lie during the census. [374] The decreasing reliability of Chinese population statistics since family planning began in the late 1970s has made evaluating the effectiveness of the policy difficult. [374] Data from the 2010 census implies that the total fertility rate may now be around 1.4. [375] The government is particularly concerned with the large imbalance in the sex ratio at birth, apparently the result of a combination of traditional preference for boys and family planning pressure, which led to a ban on using ultrasound devices for non-emergency applications, in an attempt to prevent sex-selective abortion. [376]
A 2009 population density map of the

According to the 2010 census, there were 118.06 boys born for every 100 girls, which is 0.53 points lower than the ratio obtained from a population sample survey carried out in 2005. [377] However, the gender ratio of 118.06 is still beyond the normal range of around 105 percent, and experts warn of increased social instability should this trend continue. [378] For the population born between the years 1900 and 2000, it is estimated that there could be 35.59 million fewer females than males. [379] Other demographers argue that perceived gender imbalances may arise from the underreporting of female births. [380][381][382][383] A recent study suggests that as many as three million Chinese babies are hidden by their parents every year. [383]According to the 2010 census, males accounted for 51.27 percent of the total population, while females made up 48.73 percent of the total. [377]
Population of China from 1949 to 2008.

Ethnic groups
Main articles: List of ethnic groups in China, Ethnic minorities in China, and Ethnic groups in Chinese history China officially recognizes 56 distinct ethnic groups, the largest of which are the Han Chinese, who constitute about 91.51% of the total population. [9] The Han Chinese the world's largest single ethnic group outnumber other ethnic groups in every province, municipality and autonomous region except Tibet and Xinjiang, and are descended from ancient Huaxia tribes living along theYellow River. Ethnic minorities account for about 8.49% of the population of China, according to the 2010 census. [9] 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%. [9] 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). [384]

Languages
Main articles: Languages of China and List of endangered languages in China 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 (the first language of over 70% of the

1990 map of Chinese ethnolinguistic groups.

population), Wu (includes Shanghainese), Yue (includesCantonese 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. [385] Standard Mandarin, a variety of Mandarin based on the Beijing 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 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 Since 2000, China's cities have expanded at an average rate of 10% annually. It is estimated that China's urban population will increase by 400 million people by 2025, [386] when its cities will house a combined population of over one billion. [387] The country's urbanization rate increased from 17.4% to 46.6% between 1978 and 2009, a scale unprecedented in human history. [388] Between 150 and 200 million migrant workers work part-time in the major cities, returning home to the countryside periodically with their earnings. [389][390] Today, China has dozens of cities with one million or more long-term residents, including the three global cities of Beijing, Hong Kong, and Shanghai; by 2025, the country will be home to 221 cities with over a million inhabitants. [387] The figures in the table below are from the 2008 census, 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; [391] the figures below include only long-term residents.
v t e Rank 1 2 3 4 Shanghai 5 6 7 8 9 City name Shanghai Beijing Tianjin Guangzhou Shenzhen Dongguan Chengdu Hong Kong Nanjing Province Shanghai Beijing Tianjin Guangdong Guangdong Guangdong Sichuan Hong Kong Jiangsu Pop. 22,315,426 18,827,000 11,090,314 11,070,654 10,357,938 8,220,937 7,123,697 7,055,071 6,852,984 Rank 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 City name Shenyang Hangzhou Chongqing Harbin Suzhou Jinan Xi'an Wuxi Hefei Province Liaoning Zhejiang Chongqing Heilongjiang Jiangsu Shandong Shaanxi Jiangsu Anhui Pop. 5,743,718 5,695,313 5,402,721 4,517,549 4,074,000 3,922,180 3,890,098 3,542,319 3,352,076 Guangzhou Tianjin

Largest cities or towns of the People's Republic of China

Sixth National Population Census of the People's Republic of China (2010)

Beijing

10

Wuhan

Hubei

6,434,373

20

Changchun

Jilin

3,341,700

Education
Main article: Education in the People's Republic of China In 1986, China set the long-term goal of providing compulsory nine-year basic education to every child. By 2007, there were 396,567 primary schools, 94,116 secondary schools, and 2,236 higher education institutions in China. [392] In February 2006, the government advanced its basic education goal by pledging to provide completely free nine-year education, including textbooks and fees. [393] In March 2007, the Chinese government declared education a national "strategic priority"; the central budget for national scholarships was tripled between 2007 and 2009, and 223.5 billion yuan (US$28.65 billion) of extra state funding was allocated between 2007 Tsinghua University in Beijing. and 2012 to improve compulsory education in rural areas. [394] Free compulsory education in China consists of elementary school and middle school between the ages of 6 and 15; around 77% of children enter secondary education thereafter. [395] As of 2010, 94% of the population over age 15 are literate, [369][396] compared to only 20% in 1950. [397] In 2000, China's literacy rate among 15-to-24-year-olds was 98.9% (99.2% for males and 98.5% for females). [398] 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. [399] The quality of Chinese colleges and universities varies considerably across the country. The consistently top-ranked universities in mainland China are: [400][401][402] East China: Zhejiang University, University of Science and Technology of China, Nanjing University, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Tongji University Northeast China: Jilin University, Harbin Institute of Technology North China: Peking University, Tsinghua University, Renmin University of China, Nankai University, Tianjin University Western China: Sichuan University, Xi'an Jiaotong University South Central China: Wuhan University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Sun Yat-sen University

Health
Main article: Health in China See also: Pharmaceutical industry in China The Ministry of Health, together with its counterparts in the provincial health bureaux, oversees the health needs of the Chinese population. [403] 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 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. The national life expectancy at birth rose from about 35 years in 1949 to 73.18 years in 2008, [404][405] and infant mortality decreased from 300 per thousand in the 1950s to around 23 per thousand in 2006. [36][406] Malnutrition as of 2002 stood at 12% of the population, according to United Nations FAO sources. [407] In 2009, the government began a large-scale healthcare provision initiative worth US$124 billion, which is expected to eventually cover 90% of China's population. [408] As of 2012, China's national average life expectancy at birth is 74.8 years, [409] and its infant mortality rate is 15.6 per thousand births. [410] 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[411] and hundreds of millions ofcigarette smokers, [412][413] a possible future HIV/AIDS epidemic, and an increase in obesity among urban youths. [414][415] 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. [416] Pollution is proving to be a particularly severe threat in 2007, estimates of annual excess deaths in China from air and water pollution were placed at 760,000 people, [417][418] and as many as 500 million Chinese lacked access to clean drinking water in 2005. [419][420] In 2011, China was estimated to be the third-largest supplier of pharmaceuticals in the world. However, the Chinese population has suffered from the development and distribution of counterfeit medications. [421]