China
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China,Template:Efn officially the People's Republic of China (PRC),Template:Efn is a country in East Asia. With a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the second-most populous country after India, representing 17.4% of the world population. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and borders fourteen countries by landTemplate:Efn across an area of nearly Template:Convert, making it the third-largest country by land area.Template:Efn The country is divided into 33 province-level divisions: 22 provinces,Template:Efn 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities, and 2 semi-autonomous special administrative regions. Beijing is the country's capital, while Shanghai is its most populous city by urban area and largest financial center.
China is considered one of the six cradles of civilization, with the first human inhabitants in the region arriving during the Paleolithic. By the late 2nd millennium BCE, the earliest dynastic states had emerged in the Yellow River basin. The 8th–3rd centuries BCE saw a breakdown in the authority of the Zhou dynasty, accompanied by the emergence of administrative and military techniques, literature, philosophy, and historiography. In 221 BCE, China was unified under an emperor, ushering in more than two millennia of imperial dynasties including the Qin, Han, Tang, Yuan, Ming, and Qing. With the invention of gunpowder and paper, the establishment of the Silk Road, and the building of the Great Wall, Chinese culture flourished and has heavily influenced both its neighbors and lands further afield. However, China began to cede parts of the country in the late 19th century to various European powers by a series of unequal treaties.
After decades of Qing China on the decline, the 1911 Revolution overthrew the Qing dynasty and the monarchy and the Republic of China (ROC) was established the following year. The country under the nascent Beiyang government was unstable and ultimately fragmented during the Warlord Era, which was ended upon the Northern Expedition conducted by the Kuomintang (KMT) to reunify the country. The Chinese Civil War began in 1927, when KMT forces purged members of the rival Chinese Communist Party (CCP), who proceeded to engage in sporadic fighting against the KMT-led Nationalist government. Following the country's invasion by the Empire of Japan in 1937, the CCP and KMT formed the Second United Front to fight the Japanese. The Second Sino-Japanese War eventually ended in a Chinese victory; however, the CCP and the KMT resumed their civil war as soon as the war ended. In 1949, the resurgent Communists established control over most of the country, proclaiming the People's Republic of China and forcing the Nationalist government to retreat to the island of Taiwan. The country was split, with both sides claiming to be the sole legitimate government of China. Following the implementation of land reforms, further attempts by the PRC to realize communism failed: the Great Leap Forward was largely responsible for the Great Chinese Famine that ended with millions of Chinese people having died, and the subsequent Cultural Revolution was a period of social turmoil and persecution characterized by Maoist populism. Following the Sino-Soviet split, the Shanghai Communiqué in 1972 would precipitate the normalization of relations with the United States. Economic reforms that began in 1978 moved the country away from a socialist planned economy towards an increasingly capitalist market economy, spurring significant economic growth. A movement for increased democracy and liberalization stalled after the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre in 1989.
China is a unitary one-party socialist republic led by the CCP. It is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council; the UN representative for China was changed from the ROC to the PRC in 1971. It is a founding member of several multilateral and regional organizations such as the AIIB, the Silk Road Fund, the New Development Bank, and the RCEP. It is a member of BRICS, the G20, APEC, the SCO, and the East Asia Summit. Making up around one-fifth of the world economy, the Chinese economy is the world's largest by PPP-adjusted GDP and the second-largest by nominal GDP. China is the second-wealthiest country, albeit ranking poorly in measures of democracy, human rights and religious freedom. The country has been one of the fastest-growing major economies and is the world's largest manufacturer and exporter, as well as the second-largest importer. China is a nuclear-weapon state with the world's largest standing army by military personnel and the second-largest defense budget. It is a great power, and has been described as an emerging superpower. China is known for its cuisine and culture and, as a megadiverse country, has 59 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the second-highest number of any country.
Etymology
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The word "China" has been used in English since the 16th century; however, it was not used by the Chinese themselves during this period. Its origin has been traced through Portuguese, Malay, and Persian back to the Sanskrit word Template:Transliteration, used in ancient India.<ref name="OED">Template:Cite webTemplate:ISBN</ref> "China" appears in Richard Eden's 1555 translationTemplate:Efn of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa.Template:Efn<ref name="OED" /> Barbosa's usage was derived from Persian Template:Transliteration (Template:Lang), which in turn derived from Sanskrit Template:Transliteration (Template:Lang).<ref name="AmHer">"China Template:Webarchive". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000). Boston and New York: Houghton-Mifflin.</ref> The origin of the Sanskrit word is a matter of debate.<ref name="OED" /> Template:Transliteration was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahabharata (5th century BCE) and the Laws of Manu (2nd century BCE).<ref name="wade">Wade, Geoff. "The Polity of Yelang and the Origin of the Name 'China' Template:Webarchive". Sino-Platonic Papers, No. 188, May 2009, p. 20.</ref> In 1655, Martino Martini suggested that the word China is derived ultimately from the name of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE).<ref name="Martini">Martino, Martin, Novus Atlas Sinensis, Vienna 1655, Preface, p. 2.</ref><ref name="wade" /> Although use in Indian sources precedes this dynasty, this derivation is still given in various sources.<ref name="Bodde-1978">Template:Cite book</ref> Alternative suggestions include the names for Yelang and the Jing or Chu state.<ref name="wade" /><ref name="Yule-1866">Template:Cite book</ref>
The official name of the modern state is the "People's Republic of China" (Template:Lang-zh). The shorter form is "China" (Template:Lang-zh), from Template:Transliteration ('central') and Template:Transliteration ('state'), a term which developed under the Western Zhou dynasty in reference to its royal demesne.Template:EfnTemplate:Efn It was used in official documents as an synonym for the state under the Qing.<ref name="wilx">Template:Cite book</ref> The name Zhongguo is also translated as Template:Nowrap in English.<ref name="Tang-2010">Template:Cite book</ref> China is sometimes referred to as mainland China or "the Mainland" when distinguishing it from the Republic of China or the PRC's Special Administrative Regions.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="asia-34729538"/>
History
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Prehistory
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Archaeological evidence suggests that early hominids inhabited China 2.25 million years ago.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The hominid fossils of Peking Man, a Homo erectus who used fire,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> have been dated to between 680,000 and 780,000 years ago.<ref name="autogenerated198">Template:Cite journal</ref> The fossilized teeth of Homo sapiens (dated to 125,000–80,000 years ago) have been discovered in Fuyan Cave.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Chinese proto-writing existed in Jiahu around 6600 BCE,<ref name="earliest writing">Template:Cite news</ref> at Damaidi around 6000 BCE,<ref>Qiu Xigui (2000) Chinese Writing English translation of Template:Lang by Gilbert L. Mattos and Jerry Norman Early China Special Monograph Series No. 4. Berkeley: The Society for the Study of Early China and the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley. Template:ISBN</ref> Dadiwan from 5800 to 5400 BCE, and Banpo dating from the 5th millennium BCE. Some scholars have suggested that the Jiahu symbols (7th millennium BCE) constituted the earliest Chinese writing system.<ref name="earliest writing" />
Early dynastic rule
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According to traditional Chinese historiography, the Xia dynasty was established during the late 3rd millennium BCE, marking the beginning of the dynastic cycle that was understood to underpin China's entire political history. In the modern era, the Xia's historicity came under increasing scrutiny, in part due to the earliest known attestation of the Xia being written millennia after the date given for their collapse. In 1958, archaeologists discovered sites belonging to the Erlitou culture that existed during the early Bronze Age; they have since been characterized as the remains of the historical Xia, but this conception is often rejected.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Shang dynasty that traditionally succeeded the Xia is the earliest for which there are both contemporary written records and undisputed archaeological evidence.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Shang ruled much of the Yellow River valley until the 11th century BCE, with the earliest hard evidence dated Template:Circa.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The oracle bone script, attested from Template:Circa but generally assumed to be considerably older,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> represents the oldest known form of written Chinese,<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> and is the direct ancestor of modern Chinese characters.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The Shang were overthrown by the Zhou, who ruled between the 11th and 5th centuries BCE, though the centralized authority of Son of Heaven was slowly eroded by fengjian lords. Some principalities eventually emerged from the weakened Zhou and continually waged war with each other during the 300-year Spring and Autumn period. By the time of the Warring States period of the 5th–3rd centuries BCE, there were seven major powerful states left.<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>
Imperial China
[edit]Qin and Han
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The Warring States period ended in 221 BCE after the state of Qin conquered the other six states, reunited China and established the dominant order of autocracy. King Zheng of Qin proclaimed himself the Emperor of the Qin dynasty, becoming the first emperor of a unified China. He enacted Qin's legalist reforms, notably the standardization of Chinese characters, measurements, road widths, and currency. His dynasty also conquered the Yue tribes in Guangxi, Guangdong, and Northern Vietnam.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Qin dynasty lasted only fifteen years, falling soon after the First Emperor's death.<ref name="Bodde1986">Template:Cite book </ref><ref name="Lewis2007">Template:Cite book</ref>
Following widespread revolts during which the imperial library was burned,Template:Efn the Han dynasty emerged to rule China between 206 BCE and 220 CE, creating a cultural identity among its populace still remembered in the ethnonym of the modern Han Chinese.<ref name="Bodde1986" /><ref name="Lewis2007" /> The Han expanded the empire's territory considerably, with military campaigns reaching Central Asia, Mongolia, Korea, and Yunnan, and the recovery of Guangdong and northern Vietnam from Nanyue. Han involvement in Central Asia and Sogdia helped establish the land route of the Silk Road, replacing the earlier path over the Himalayas to India. Han China gradually became the largest economy of the ancient world.<ref name="Dahlman Aubert 2001">Template:Cite report</ref> Despite the Han's initial decentralization and the official abandonment of the Qin philosophy of Legalism in favor of Confucianism, Qin's legalist institutions and policies continued to be employed by the Han government and its successors.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Three Kingdoms, Jin, Northern and Southern dynasties
[edit]After the end of the Han dynasty, a period of strife known as Three Kingdoms followed, at the end of which Wei was swiftly overthrown by the Jin dynasty. The Jin fell to civil war upon the ascension of a developmentally disabled emperor; the Five Barbarians then rebelled and ruled northern China as the Sixteen States. The Xianbei unified them as the Northern Wei, whose Emperor Xiaowen reversed his predecessors' apartheid policies and enforced a drastic sinification on his subjects. In the south, the general Liu Yu secured the abdication of the Jin in favor of the Liu Song. The various successors of these states became known as the Northern and Southern dynasties, with the two areas finally reunited by the Sui in 581.Template:Citation needed
Sui, Tang and Song
[edit]The Sui restored the Han to power through China, reformed its agriculture, economy and imperial examination system, constructed the Grand Canal, and patronized Buddhism. However, they fell quickly when their conscription for public works and a failed war in northern Korea provoked widespread unrest.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Under the succeeding Tang and Song dynasties, Chinese economy, technology, and culture entered a golden age.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Tang dynasty retained control of the Western Regions and the Silk Road,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> which brought traders to as far as Mesopotamia and the Horn of Africa,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and made the capital Chang'an a cosmopolitan urban center. However, it was devastated and weakened by the An Lushan rebellion in the 8th century.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 907, the Tang disintegrated completely when the local military governors became ungovernable. The Song dynasty ended the separatist situation in 960, leading to a balance of power between the Song and the Liao dynasty. The Song was the first government in world history to issue paper money and the first Chinese polity to establish a permanent navy which was supported by the developed shipbuilding industry along with the sea trade.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Between the 10th and 11th century CE, the population of China doubled to around 100 million people, mostly because of the expansion of rice cultivation in central and southern China, and the production of abundant food surpluses. The Song dynasty also saw a revival of Confucianism, in response to the growth of Buddhism during the Tang,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and a flourishing of philosophy and the arts, as landscape art and porcelain were brought to new levels of complexity.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, the military weakness of the Song army was observed by the Jin dynasty. In 1127, Emperor Emeritus Huizong, Emperor Qinzong of Song and the capital Bianjing were captured during the Jin–Song wars. The remnants of the Song retreated to southern China and reestablished the Song at Jiankang.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Yuan
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The Mongol conquest of China began in 1205 with the campaigns against Western Xia by Genghis Khan,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> who also invaded Jin territories.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1271, the Mongol leader Kublai Khan established the Yuan dynasty, which conquered the last remnant of the Song dynasty in 1279. Before the Mongol invasion, the population of Song China was 120 million citizens; this was reduced to 60 million by the time of the census in 1300.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> A peasant named Zhu Yuanzhang overthrew the Yuan in 1368 and founded the Ming dynasty as the Hongwu Emperor. Under the Ming dynasty, China enjoyed another golden age, developing one of the strongest navies in the world and a rich and prosperous economy amid a flourishing of art and culture. It was during this period that admiral Zheng He led the Ming treasure voyages throughout the Indian Ocean, reaching as far as East Africa.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Ming
[edit]In the early Ming dynasty, China's capital was moved from Nanjing to Beijing. With the budding of capitalism, philosophers such as Wang Yangming critiqued and expanded Neo-Confucianism with concepts of individualism and equality of four occupations.<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> The scholar-official stratum became a supporting force of industry and commerce in the tax boycott movements, which, together with the famines and defense against Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) and Later Jin incursions led to an exhausted treasury.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1644, Beijing was captured by a coalition of peasant rebel forces led by Li Zicheng. The Chongzhen Emperor committed suicide when the city fell. The Manchu Qing dynasty, then allied with Ming dynasty general Wu Sangui, overthrew Li's short-lived Shun dynasty and subsequently seized control of Beijing, which became the new capital of the Qing dynasty.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Qing
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The Qing dynasty, which lasted from 1644 until 1912, was the last imperial dynasty of China. The Ming-Qing transition (1618–1683) cost 25 million lives, but the Qing appeared to have restored China's imperial power and inaugurated another flowering of the arts.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> After the Southern Ming ended, the further conquest of the Dzungar Khanate added Mongolia, Tibet and Xinjiang to the empire.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Meanwhile, China's population growth resumed and shortly began to accelerate. It is commonly agreed that pre-modern China's population experienced two growth spurts, one during the Northern Song period (960–1127), and other during the Qing period (around 1700–1830).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> By the High Qing era China was possibly the most commercialized country in the world, and imperial China experienced a second commercial revolution by the end of the 18th century.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> On the other hand, the centralized autocracy was strengthened in part to suppress anti-Qing sentiment with the policy of valuing agriculture and restraining commerce, like the Haijin during the early Qing period and ideological control as represented by the literary inquisition, causing some social and technological stagnation.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Fall of the Qing dynasty
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In the mid-19th century, the Opium Wars with Britain and France forced China to pay compensation, open treaty ports, allow extraterritoriality for foreign nationals, and cede Hong Kong to the British<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> under the 1842 Treaty of Nanking, the first of what have been termed the unequal treaties. The First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) resulted in Qing China's loss of influence in the Korean Peninsula, as well as the cession of Taiwan to Japan.<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> The Qing dynasty also began experiencing internal unrest in which tens of millions of people died, especially in the White Lotus Rebellion, the failed Taiping Rebellion that ravaged southern China in the 1850s and 1860s and the Dungan Revolt (1862–1877) in the northwest. The initial success of the Self-Strengthening Movement of the 1860s was frustrated by a series of military defeats in the 1880s and 1890s.<ref name="Lee2004">Template:Cite book</ref>
In the 19th century, the great Chinese diaspora began. Losses due to emigration were added to by conflicts and catastrophes such as the Northern Chinese Famine of 1876–1879, in which between 9 and 13 million people died.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Guangxu Emperor drafted a reform plan in 1898 to establish a modern constitutional monarchy, but these plans were thwarted by the Empress Dowager Cixi. The ill-fated anti-foreign Boxer Rebellion of 1899–1901 further weakened the dynasty. Although Cixi sponsored a program of reforms known as the late Qing reforms, the Xinhai Revolution of 1911–1912 ended the Qing dynasty and established the Republic of China.<ref name="xb1">Template:Cite book</ref> Puyi, the last Emperor, abdicated in 1912.<ref name="abdicate">Template:Cite web</ref>
Establishment of the Republic and World War II
[edit]Template:MainTemplate:Further On 1 January 1912, the Republic of China was established, and Sun Yat-sen of the Kuomintang (KMT) was proclaimed provisional president.<ref>Tamura, Eileen (1997) China: Understanding Its Past. Volume 1. University of Hawaii Press Template:ISBN p.146</ref> In March 1912, the presidency was given to Yuan Shikai, a former Qing general who in 1915 proclaimed himself Emperor of China. In the face of popular condemnation and opposition from his own Beiyang Army, he was forced to abdicate and re-establish the republic in 1916.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> After Yuan Shikai's death in 1916, China was politically fragmented. Its Beijing-based government was internationally recognized but virtually powerless; regional warlords controlled most of its territory.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> During this period, China participated in World War I and saw a far-reaching popular uprising (the May Fourth Movement).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In the late 1920s, the Kuomintang under Chiang Kai-shek was able to reunify the country under its own control with a series of deft military and political maneuverings known collectively as the Northern Expedition.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Kuomintang moved the nation's capital to Nanjing and implemented "political tutelage", an intermediate stage of political development outlined in Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People program for transforming China into a modern democratic state.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Kuomintang briefly allied with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during the Northern Expedition, though the alliance broke down in 1927 after Chiang violently suppressed the CCP and other leftists in Shanghai, marking the beginning of the Chinese Civil War.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The CCP declared areas of the country as the Chinese Soviet Republic (Jiangxi Soviet) in November 1931 in Ruijin, Jiangxi. The Jiangxi Soviet was wiped out by the KMT armies in 1934, leading the CCP to initiate the Long March and relocate to Yan'an in Shaanxi. It would be the base of the communists before major combat in the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949.
In 1931, Japan invaded and occupied Manchuria. Japan invaded other parts of China in 1937, precipitating the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), a theater of World War II. The war forced an uneasy alliance between the Kuomintang and the CCP. Japanese forces committed numerous war atrocities against the civilian population; as many as 20 million Chinese civilians died.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> An estimated 40,000 to 300,000 Chinese were massacred in Nanjing alone during the Japanese occupation.<ref>"Judgement: International Military Tribunal for the Far East" Template:Webarchive. Chapter VIII: Conventional War Crimes (Atrocities). November 1948. Retrieved 4 February 2013.</ref> China, along with the UK, the United States, and the Soviet Union, were recognized as the Allied "Big Four" in the Declaration by United Nations.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Along with the other three great powers, China was one of the four major Allies of World War II, and was later considered one of the primary victors in the war.<ref>Hoopes, Townsend, and Douglas Brinkley FDR and the Creation of the U.N. (Yale University Press, 1997)</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> After the surrender of Japan in 1945, Taiwan, along with the Penghu, were handed over to Chinese control; however, the validity of this handover is controversial.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref>
People's Republic
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China emerged victorious but war-ravaged and financially drained. The continued distrust between the Kuomintang and the Communists led to the resumption of civil war. Constitutional rule was established in 1947, but because of the ongoing unrest, many provisions of the ROC constitution were never implemented in mainland China.<ref name=":1" /> Afterwards, the CCP took control of most of mainland China, and the ROC government retreated offshore to Taiwan.
On 1 October 1949, CCP Chairman Mao Zedong formally proclaimed the People's Republic of China in Tiananmen Square, Beijing.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1950, the PRC captured Hainan from the ROC<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and annexed Tibet.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, remaining Kuomintang forces continued to wage an insurgency in western China throughout the 1950s.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The CCP consolidated its popularity among the peasants through the Land Reform Movement, which included the state-tolerated executions of between 1 and 2 million landlords by peasants and former tenants.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Though the PRC initially allied closely with the Soviet Union, the relations between the two communist nations gradually deteriorated, leading China to develop an independent industrial system and its own nuclear weapons.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Chinese population increased from 550 million in 1950 to 900 million in 1974.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> However, the Great Leap Forward, an idealistic massive industrialization project, resulted in an estimated 15 to 55 million deaths between 1959 and 1961, mostly from starvation.<ref name="nyt">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1964, China detonated its first atomic bomb.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1966, Mao and his allies launched the Cultural Revolution, sparking a decade of political recrimination and social upheaval that lasted until Mao's death in 1976. In October 1971, the PRC replaced the ROC in the United Nations, and took its seat as a permanent member of the Security Council.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Reforms and contemporary history
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After Mao's death, the Gang of Four were arrested by Hua Guofeng and held responsible for the Cultural Revolution. The Cultural Revolution was rebuked, with millions rehabilitated. Deng Xiaoping took power in 1978, and instituted large-scale political and economic reforms, together with the "Eight Elders", most senior and influential members of the party. The government loosened its control and the communes were gradually disbanded.<ref name="Hamrin-1995">Template:Cite book</ref> Agricultural collectivization was dismantled and farmlands privatized. While foreign trade became a major focus, special economic zones (SEZs) were created. Inefficient state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were restructured and some closed. This marked China's transition away from planned economy.<ref name="Ref_e">Template:Cite book (Template:Cite journal)</ref> China adopted its current constitution on 4 December 1982.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1989, there were protests such those in Tiananmen Square, and then throughout the entire nation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Jiang Zemin was elevated to become the CCP general secretary, becoming the paramount leader. Jiang continued economic reforms, closing many SOEs and trimming down "iron rice bowl" (life-tenure positions).<ref name="APs-2022">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> China's economy grew sevenfold during this time.<ref name="APs-2022" /> British Hong Kong and Portuguese Macau returned to China in 1997 and 1999, respectively, as special administrative regions under the principle of one country, two systems. The country joined the World Trade Organization in 2001.<ref name="APs-2022" />
At the 16th CCP National Congress in 2002, Hu Jintao succeeded Jiang as the general secretary.<ref name="APs-2022" /> Under Hu, China maintained its high rate of economic growth, overtaking the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan to become the world's second-largest economy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, the growth also severely impacted the country's resources and environment,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and caused major social displacement.<ref name="Ref_k">China: Migrants, Students, Taiwan Template:Webarchive UC Davis Migration News January 2006</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Xi Jinping succeeded Hu as paramount leader at the 18th CCP National Congress in 2012. Shortly after his ascension to power, Xi launched a vast anti-corruption crackdown,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> that prosecuted more than 2 million officials by 2022.<ref name="Marquis-2022b">Template:Cite book</ref> During his tenure, Xi has consolidated power unseen since the initiation of economic and political reforms.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Geography
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China's landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from the Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts in the arid north to the subtropical forests in the wetter south. The Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third- and sixth-longest in the world, respectively, run from the Tibetan Plateau to the densely populated eastern seaboard. China's coastline along the Pacific Ocean is Template:Cvt long and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas. China connects through the Kazakh border to the Eurasian Steppe.
The territory of China lies between latitudes 18° and 54° N, and longitudes 73° and 135° E. The geographical center of China is marked by the Center of the Country Monument at Template:Coord. China's landscapes vary significantly across its vast territory. In the east, along the shores of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea, there are extensive and densely populated alluvial plains, while on the edges of the Inner Mongolian plateau in the north, broad grasslands predominate. Southern China is dominated by hills and low mountain ranges, while the central-east hosts the deltas of China's two major rivers, the Yellow River and the Yangtze River. Other major rivers include the Xi, Mekong, Brahmaputra and Amur. To the west sit major mountain ranges, most notably the Himalayas. High plateaus feature among the more arid landscapes of the north, such as the Taklamakan and the Gobi Desert. The world's highest point, Mount Everest (8,848 m), lies on the Sino-Nepalese border.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The country's lowest point, and the world's third-lowest, is the dried lake bed of Ayding Lake (−154 m) in the Turpan Depression.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Climate
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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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
A major environmental issue in China is the continued expansion of its deserts, particularly the Gobi Desert.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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 Japan and Korea. 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.<ref name="msnbc">Template:Cite news</ref> According to academics, in order to limit climate change in China to Template:Cvt electricity generation from coal in China without carbon capture must be phased out by 2045.<ref>Template:Cite report</ref> With current policies, the GHG emissions of China will probably peak in 2025, and by 2030 they will return to 2022 levels. However, such pathway still leads to three-degree temperature rise.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Official government statistics about Chinese agricultural productivity are considered unreliable, due to exaggeration of production at subsidiary government levels.<ref>Chow, Gregory (2006) Are Chinese Official Statistics Reliable? CESifo Economic Studies 52. 396–414. 10.1093/cesifo/ifl003.</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Much of China has a climate very suitable for agriculture and the country has been the world's largest producer of rice, wheat, tomatoes, eggplant, grapes, watermelon, spinach, and many other crops.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2021, 12 percent of global permanent meadows and pastures belonged to China, as well as 8% of global cropland.<ref name=":14">Template:Cite book</ref>
Biodiversity
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China is one of 17 megadiverse countries,<ref name="Ref_2009a">Template:Cite web</ref> lying in two of the world's major biogeographic realms: the Palearctic and the Indomalayan. 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.<ref>Countries with the Highest Biological Diversity Template:Webarchive. Mongabay.com. 2004 data. Retrieved 24 April 2013.</ref> The country is a party to the Convention on Biological Diversity;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan was received by the convention in 2010.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
China is home to at least 551 species of mammals (the third-highest in the world),<ref>IUCN Initiatives – Mammals – Analysis of Data – Geographic Patterns 2012 Template:Webarchive. IUCN. Retrieved 24 April 2013. Data does not include species in Taiwan.</ref> 1,221 species of birds (eighth),<ref>Countries with the most bird species Template:Webarchive. Mongabay.com. 2004 data. Retrieved 24 April 2013.</ref> 424 species of reptiles (seventh)<ref>Countries with the most reptile species Template:Webarchive. Mongabay.com. 2004 data. Retrieved 24 April 2013.</ref> and 333 species of amphibians (seventh).<ref>IUCN Initiatives – Amphibians – Analysis of Data – Geographic Patterns 2012 Template:Webarchive. IUCN. Retrieved 24 April 2013. Data does not include species in Taiwan.</ref> Wildlife in China shares habitat with, and bears acute pressure from, one of the world's largest population of humans. At least 840 animal species are threatened, vulnerable or in danger of local extinction, due mainly to human activity such as habitat destruction, pollution and poaching for food, fur and traditional Chinese medicine.<ref>Top 20 countries with most endangered species IUCN Red List Template:Webarchive. 5 March 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2013.</ref> Endangered wildlife is protected by law, and Template:As of, the country has over 2,349 nature reserves, covering a total area of 149.95 million hectares, 15 percent of China's total land area.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Most wild animals have been eliminated from the core agricultural regions of east and central China, but they have fared better in the mountainous south and west.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The Baiji was confirmed extinct on 12 December 2006.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
China has over 32,000 species of vascular plants,<ref>Countries with the most vascular plant species Template:Webarchive. Mongabay.com. 2004 data. Retrieved 24 April 2013.</ref> and is home to a variety of forest types. Cold coniferous forests predominate in the north of the country, supporting animal species such as moose and Asian black bear, along with over 120 bird species.<ref name="rough guide"/> The understory of moist conifer forests may contain thickets of bamboo. In higher montane stands of juniper and yew, the bamboo is replaced by rhododendrons. Subtropical forests, which are predominate in central and southern China, support a high density of plant species including numerous rare endemics. Tropical and seasonal rainforests, though confined to Yunnan and Hainan, contain a quarter of all the animal and plant species found in China.<ref name="rough guide">Template:Cite book</ref> China has over 10,000 recorded species of fungi.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Environment
[edit]Template:Main Template:See also
In the early 2000s, China has suffered from environmental deterioration and pollution due to its rapid pace of industrialization.<ref name="Ma2002">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Regulations such as the 1979 Environmental Protection Law are fairly stringent, though they are poorly enforced, frequently disregarded in favor of rapid economic development.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> China has the second-highest death toll because of air pollution, after India, with approximately 1 million deaths.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Although China ranks as the highest [[List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions|COTemplate:Sub emitting]] country,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> it only emits 8 tons of [[List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita|COTemplate:Sub per capita]], significantly lower than developed countries such as the United States (16.1), Australia (16.8) and South Korea (13.6).<ref name="UCS-2020">Template:Cite web</ref> Greenhouse gas emissions by China are the world's largest.<ref name="UCS-2020"/> The country has significant water pollution problems; only 89.4% of China's national surface water was graded suitable for human consumption by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment in 2023.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
China has prioritized clamping down on pollution, bringing a significant decrease in air pollution in the 2010s.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2020, the Chinese government announced its aims for the country to reach its peak emissions levels before 2030, and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 in line with the Paris Agreement,<ref name="CAT-2020">Template:Cite web</ref> which, according to Climate Action Tracker, would lower the expected rise in global temperature by 0.2–0.3 degrees – "the biggest single reduction ever estimated by the Climate Action Tracker".<ref name="CAT-2020"/> According to China's government, the forest coverage of the country grew from 10% of the overall territory in 1949 to 25% in 2024.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
China is the world's leading investor in renewable energy and its commercialization, with $546 billion invested in 2022;<ref name="Schonhardt-2023">Template:Cite news</ref> it is a major manufacturer of renewable energy technologies and invests heavily in local-scale renewable energy projects.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Schonhardt-2023"/> Long heavily relying on non-renewable energy sources such as coal, China's adaptation of renewable energy has increased significantly in recent years.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2024, 58.2% of China's electricity came from coal (largest producer in the world), 13.5% from hydroelectric power (largest), 9.8% from wind (largest), 8.3% from solar energy (largest), 4.4% from nuclear energy (second-largest), 3% from natural gas (fifth-largest), and 2.1% from bioenergy (largest); in total, 38% of China's energy came from clean energy sources.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Despite its emphasis on renewables, China remains deeply connected to global oil markets and next to India, has been the largest importer of Russian crude oil in 2022.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Political geography
[edit]Template:MainChina is the third-largest country in the world by land area after Russia, and the third- or fourth-largest country in the world by total area.Template:Efn China's total area is generally stated as being approximately Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Specific area figures range from Template:Convert according to the Encyclopædia Britannica,<ref name="United States"/> to Template:Convert according to the UN Demographic Yearbook,<ref name="UN Stat"/> and The World Factbook.<ref name="CIA">Template:Cite CIA World Factbook</ref>
China has the longest combined land border in the world, measuring Template:Convert and its coastline covers approximately Template:Convert from the mouth of the Yalu River (Amnok River) to the Gulf of Tonkin.<ref name="CIA"/> China borders 14 nations and covers the bulk of East Asia, bordering Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar in Southeast Asia; India, Bhutan, Nepal, PakistanTemplate:Efn and Afghanistan in South Asia; Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in Central Asia; and Russia, Mongolia, and North Korea in Inner Asia and Northeast Asia. It is narrowly separated from Bangladesh and Thailand to the southwest and south, and has several maritime neighbors such as Japan, Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
China has resolved its land borders with 12 out of 14 neighboring countries, having pursued substantial compromises in most of them.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> China currently has a disputed land border with India<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Bhutan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> China is additionally involved in maritime disputes with multiple countries over territory in the East and South China Seas, such as the Senkaku Islands and the entirety of South China Sea Islands.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Government and politics
[edit]Template:Main Template:See also Template:Multiple image
The People's Republic of China is a one-party state governed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The CCP describes itself as guided by socialism with Chinese characteristics, which is Marxism adapted to Chinese circumstances.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Chinese constitution states that the PRC "is a socialist state governed by a people's democratic dictatorship that is led by the working class and based on an alliance of workers and peasants", that the state institutions "shall practice the principle of democratic centralism",<ref name="Constitution">Template:Cite web</ref> and that "the defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party."<ref name="2018-amendments-translated">Template:Cite web</ref>
The PRC officially terms itself as a democracy, using terms such as whole-process people's democracy.<ref name="Decoding China-2021" /> However, the country is commonly described as an authoritarian one-party state and a dictatorship,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Isabelle">Template:Cite news</ref> with among the heaviest restrictions worldwide in many areas, most notably against freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, free formation of social organizations, freedom of religion and free access to the Internet.<ref name="freedomhouse">Template:Cite news</ref> China has consistently been ranked amongst the lowest as an "authoritarian regime" by the Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index, ranking at 145th out of 167 countries in 2024.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Other sources suggest that terming China as "authoritarian" does not sufficiently account for the multiple consultation mechanisms that exist in Chinese government.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Chinese Communist Party
[edit]
According to the CCP constitution, its highest body is the National Congress held every five years.<ref name="Ruwitch-2022">Template:Cite news</ref> The National Congress elects the Central Committee, who then elects the party's Politburo, Politburo Standing Committee and the general secretary (party leader), the top leadership of the country.<ref name="Ruwitch-2022" /> The general secretary holds ultimate power and authority over party and state and serves as the informal paramount leader.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The current general secretary is Xi Jinping, who took office on 15 November 2012.<ref name="PhillipsGuardian2">Template:Cite news</ref> At the local level, the secretary of the CCP committee of a subdivision outranks the local government level; CCP committee secretary of a provincial division outranks the governor while the CCP committee secretary of a city outranks the mayor.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Government
[edit]Template:See also Template:Multiple image
The government in China is under the sole control of the CCP.<ref name=":12">Template:Cite news</ref> The CCP controls appointments in government bodies, with most senior government officials being CCP members.<ref name=":12" />
The National People's Congress (NPC), with nearly 3,000-members, is constitutionally the "highest organ of state power",<ref name="Constitution" /> though it has been also described as a "rubber stamp" body.<ref name="BBC News-2009">Template:Cite news</ref> The NPC meets annually, while the NPC Standing Committee, around 150 members elected from NPC delegates, meets every couple of months.<ref name="BBC News-2009" /> Elections are indirect and not pluralistic, with nominations at all levels being controlled by the CCP.<ref name="Decoding China-2021">Template:Cite web</ref> The NPC is dominated by the CCP, with another eight minor parties having nominal representation under the condition of upholding CCP leadership.<ref name="HRW-2021">Template:Cite web</ref>
The president is elected by the NPC. The presidency is the ceremonial state representative, but not the constitutional head of state. The incumbent president is Xi Jinping, who is also the general secretary of the CCP and the chairman of the Central Military Commission, making him China's paramount leader and supreme commander of the Armed Forces. The premier is the head of government, with Li Qiang being the incumbent. The premier is officially nominated by the president and then elected by the NPC, and has generally been either the second- or third-ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC). The premier presides over the State Council, China's cabinet, composed of four vice premiers, state councilors, and the heads of ministries and commissions.<ref name="Constitution" /> The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is a political advisory body that is critical in China's "united front" system, which aims to gather non-CCP voices to support the CCP. Similar to the people's congresses, CPPCC's exist at various division, with the National Committee of the CPPCC being chaired by Wang Huning, fourth-ranking member of the PSC.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The governance of China is characterized by a high degree of political centralization but significant economic decentralization.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp Policy instruments or processes are often tested locally before being applied more widely, resulting in a policy that involves experimentation and feedback.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp Generally, central government leadership refrains from drafting specific policies, instead using the informal networks and site visits to affirm or suggest changes to the direction of local policy experiments or pilot programs.<ref name=":44">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp The typical approach is that central government leadership begins drafting formal policies, law, or regulations after policy has been developed at local levels.<ref name=":44" />Template:Rp
Administrative divisions
[edit]The PRC is constitutionally a unitary state divided into 23 provinces,Template:Efn five autonomous regions (each with a designated minority group), and four direct-administered municipalities—collectively referred to as "mainland China"—as well as the special administrative regions (SARs) of Hong Kong and Macau.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The PRC regards the island of Taiwan as its Taiwan Province, Kinmen and Matsu as a part of Fujian Province and islands the ROC controls in the South China Sea as a part of Hainan Province and Guangdong Province, although all these territories are governed by the Republic of China (ROC).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="asia-34729538">Template:Cite news</ref> Geographically, all 31 provincial divisions of mainland China can be grouped into six regions: North China, East China, Southwestern China, Northwestern China, South Central China, and Northeast China.<ref name="Brown2013">Template:Cite book</ref>
Template:PRC provinces big imagemap alt Template:PRC provinces small imagemap/province list
Foreign relations
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The PRC has diplomatic relations with 179 United Nation members states and maintains embassies in 174. Template:As of, China has one of the largest diplomatic networks of any country in the world.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1971, the PRC replaced the Republic of China (ROC) as the sole representative of China in the United Nations and as one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.<ref name="Ref_r">Template:Cite news</ref> It is a member of intergovernmental organizations including the G20,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the SCO,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the BRICS,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the East Asia Summit,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the APEC.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> China was also a former member and leader of the Non-Aligned Movement, and still considers itself an advocate for developing countries.<ref name="Ref_2009">Template:Cite news</ref>
The PRC officially maintains the one-China principle, which holds the view that there is only one sovereign state in the name of China, represented by the PRC, and that Taiwan is part of that China.<ref name="Drun-2017">Template:Cite web</ref> The unique status of Taiwan has led to countries recognizing the PRC to maintain unique "one-China policies" that differ from each other; some countries explicitly recognize the PRC's claim over Taiwan, while others, including the U.S. and Japan, only acknowledge the claim.<ref name="Drun-2017" /> Chinese officials have protested on numerous occasions when foreign countries have made diplomatic overtures to Taiwan,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> especially in the matter of armament sales.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Most countries have switched recognition from the ROC to the PRC since the latter replaced the former in the UN in 1971.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Much of current Chinese foreign policy is reportedly based on Premier 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.<ref name="Keith">Template:Cite book</ref> This policy may have led China to support or maintain close ties with states that are regarded as dangerous and repressive by Western nations, such as Sudan,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> North Korea and Iran.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> China's close relationship with Myanmar has involved support for its ruling governments as well as for its ethnic rebel groups,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> including the Arakan Army.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> China has a close political, economic and military relationship with Russia,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the two states often vote in unison in the UN Security Council.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> China's relationship with the United States is complex, and includes deep trade ties but significant political differences.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Since the early 2000s, China has followed a policy of engaging with African nations for trade and bilateral co-operation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It maintains extensive and highly diversified trade links with the European Union, and became its largest trading partner for goods.<ref name="qz_EU_trade">Template:Cite news</ref> China is increasing its influence in Central Asia<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and South Pacific.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The country has strong trade ties with ASEAN countries<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and major South American economies,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and is the largest trading partner of Brazil, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Argentina, and several others.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2013, China initiated the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a large global infrastructure building initiative with funding on the order of $50–100 billion per year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> BRI could be one of the largest development plans in modern history.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It expanded significantly over the next six years and, Template:As of, included 138 countries and 30 international organizations. In addition to intensifying foreign policy relations, the focus is particularly on building efficient transport routes, especially the maritime Silk Road with its connections to East Africa and Europe. However many loans made under the program are unsustainable and China has faced a number of calls for debt relief from debtor nations.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book
Military
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The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is considered one of the world's most powerful militaries and has rapidly modernized in the recent decades.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Since 2024, it consists of four services: the Ground Force (PLAGF), the Navy (PLAN), the Air Force (PLAAF) and the Rocket Force (PLARF). It also has four independent arms: the Aerospace Force, the Cyberspace Force, the Information Support Force, and the Joint Logistics Support Force, the first three of which were split from the disbanded Strategic Support Force (PLASSF).<ref name="ChinaMilitary">Template:Cite web</ref> Its nearly 2.2 million active duty personnel is the largest in the world. The PLA holds the world's third-largest stockpile of nuclear weapons,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the world's second-largest navy by tonnage.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> China's official military budget for 2024 totalled US$229 billion (1.67 trillion Yuan), the second-largest in the world, though SIPRI estimates that its real expenditure that year was US$314 billion, making up 12% of global military spending and accounting for 1.7% of the country's GDP.<ref name="SIPRI-2020">Template:Cite web</ref> According to SIPRI, its military spending from 2012 to 2021 averaged US$215 billion per year or 1.7 per cent of GDP, behind only the United States at US$734 billion per year or 3.6 per cent of GDP.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The PLA is commanded by the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the party and the state; though officially two separate organizations, the two CMCs have identical membership except during leadership transition periods and effectively function as one organization. The chairman of the CMC is the commander-in-chief of the PLA.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Sociopolitical issues and human rights
[edit]Template:See alsoThe situation of human rights in China has attracted significant criticism from foreign governments, foreign press agencies, and non-governmental organizations, alleging widespread civil rights violations such as detention without trial, forced confessions, torture, restrictions of fundamental rights, and excessive use of the death penalty.<ref name="freedomhouse" /><ref name="Amnesty-2023">Template:Cite web</ref> Since its inception, Freedom House has ranked China as "not free" in its Freedom in the World survey,<ref name="freedomhouse" /> while Amnesty International has documented significant human rights abuses.<ref name="Amnesty-2023" /> The Chinese constitution 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.<ref name="books.google">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> China has limited protections regarding LGBT rights.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Although some criticisms of government policies and the ruling CCP are tolerated, censorship of political speech and information are amongst the harshest in the world and routinely used to prevent collective action.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> China also has the most comprehensive and sophisticated Internet censorship regime in the world, with numerous websites being blocked.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The government suppresses popular protests and demonstrations that it considers a potential threat to "social stability".<ref>Christian Göbel and Lynette H. Ong, "Social unrest in China." Long Briefing, Europe China Research and Academic Network (ECRAN) (2012) p 18 Template:Webarchive. Chatham House</ref> China additionally uses a massive surveillance network of cameras, facial recognition software, sensors, and surveillance of personal technology as a means of social control of persons living in the country.<ref name="Isabelle"/>
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China is regularly accused of large-scale repression and human rights abuses in Tibet and Xinjiang,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> where significant numbers of ethnic minorities reside, including violent police crackdowns and religious suppression.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Since 2017, the Chinese government has been engaged in a harsh crackdown in Xinjiang, with around one million Uyghurs and other ethnic and religion minorities being detained in internment camps aimed at changing the political thinking of detainees, their identities, and their religious beliefs.<ref name="Graham-Harrison-2019">Template:Cite news</ref> According to Western reports, political indoctrination, torture, physical and psychological abuse, forced sterilization, sexual abuse, and forced labor are common in these facilities.<ref name="Khatchadourian-2021">Template:Cite magazine</ref> According to a 2020 Foreign Policy report, China's treatment of Uyghurs meets the UN definition of genocide,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> while a separate UN Human Rights Office report said they could potentially meet the definitions for crimes against humanity.<ref name="Cumming-Bruce-2022">Template:Cite news</ref> The Chinese authorities have also cracked down on dissent in Hong Kong, especially after the passage of a national security law in 2020.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2017 and 2020, the Pew Research Center ranked the severity of Chinese government restrictions on religion as being among the world's highest, despite ranking religious-related social hostilities in China as low in severity.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Global Slavery Index estimated that in 2016 more than 3.8 million people (0.25% of the population) were living in "conditions of modern slavery", including victims of human trafficking, forced labor, forced marriage, child labor, and state-imposed forced labor. The state-imposed re-education through labor (laojiao) system was formally abolished in 2013, but it is not clear to what extent its practices have stopped.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The much larger reform through labor (laogai) system includes labor prison factories, detention centers, and re-education camps; the Laogai Research Foundation has estimated in June 2008 that there were nearly 1,422 of these facilities, though it cautioned that this number was likely an underestimate.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Public views of government
[edit]Political concerns in China include the growing gap between rich and poor and government corruption.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Nonetheless, international surveys show the Chinese public have a high level of satisfaction with their government.<ref name=":0" />Template:Rp These views are generally attributed to the material comforts and security available to large segments of the Chinese populace as well as the government's attentiveness and responsiveness.<ref name=":0" /> Template:Rp According to the World Values Survey (2022), 91% of Chinese respondents have significant confidence in their government.<ref name=":0" />Template:Rp A Harvard University survey published in July 2020 found that citizen satisfaction with the government had increased since 2003, also rating China's government as more effective and capable than ever in the survey's history.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Economy
[edit]China has the world's second-largest economy in terms of nominal GDP,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the world's largest in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:As of, China accounts for around 18% of the global economy by nominal GDP.<ref name="IMF-2023">Template:Cite web</ref> China is one of the world's fastest-growing major economies,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with its economic growth having been almost consistently above 6 percent since the introduction of the reform and opening up policy in 1978.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> According to the World Bank, China's GDP grew from $150 billion in 1978 to $17.96 trillion by 2022.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It ranks 64th by nominal GDP per capita, making it an upper-middle income country.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Of the world's 500 largest companies, 135 are headquartered in China.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As of at least 2024, China has the world's second-largest equity markets and futures markets, as well as the third-largest bond market.<ref name=":Curtis&Klaus">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp
China was one of the world's foremost economic powers throughout the arc of East Asian and global history. The country had one of the largest economies in the world for most of the past two millennia,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline.<ref name="Dahlman Aubert 2001"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Since economic reforms began in 1978, China has developed into a highly diversified economy and one of the most consequential players in international trade. Major sectors of competitive strength include manufacturing, retail, mining, steel, textiles, automobiles, energy generation, green energy, banking, electronics, telecommunications, real estate, e-commerce, and tourism. China has three out of the ten largest stock exchanges in the world<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>—Shanghai, Hong Kong and Shenzhen—that together have a market capitalization of over $15.9 trillion, Template:As of.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> China has three out of the world's ten most competitive financial centers according to the 2024 Global Financial Centres Index—Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Shenzhen.<ref name="GFCI36">Template:Cite web</ref>
Modern-day China is often described as an example of state capitalism or party-state capitalism.<ref name="Pearson-2021">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The state 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.<ref name="Ref_abf">John Lee. "Putting Democracy in China on Hold". The Center for Independent Studies. 26 July 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2013.</ref><ref name="Ref_2005a">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Ref_abg">Template:Cite web</ref> According to official statistics, privately owned companies constitute more than 60% of China's GDP.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
China has been the world's largest manufacturing nation since 2010, after overtaking the U.S., which had been the largest for the previous hundred years.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> China has also been the second-largest in high-tech manufacturing country since 2012, according to US National Science Foundation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> China is the second-largest retail market after the United States.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> China leads the world in e-commerce, accounting for over 37% of the global market share in 2021.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> China is the world's leader in electric vehicle consumption and production, manufacturing and buying half of all the plug-in electric cars (BEV and PHEV) in the world Template:As of.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> China is also the leading producer of batteries for electric vehicles as well as several key raw materials for batteries.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Tourism
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China received 65.7 million international visitors in 2019,<ref name="WTO Tourism Highlights 2019 Edition">Template:Cite journal</ref> and in 2018 was the fourth-most-visited country in the world.<ref name="WTO Tourism Highlights 2019 Edition" /> It also experiences an enormous volume of domestic tourism; Chinese tourists made an estimated 6 billion travels within the country in 2019.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> China hosts the world's second-largest number of World Heritage Sites (56) after Italy, and is one of the most popular tourist destinations (first in the Asia-Pacific).
Wealth
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China accounted for 18.6% of the world's total wealth in 2022, second highest in the world after the U.S.<ref name="databook2023">Template:Cite book</ref> China brought more people out of extreme poverty than any other country in history<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>—between 1978 and 2018, China reduced extreme poverty by 800 million.<ref name=":0"/>Template:Rp From 1990 to 2018, the proportion of the Chinese population living with an income of less than $1.90 per day (2011 PPP) decreased from 66.3% to 0.3%, the share living with an income of less than $3.20 per day from 90.0% to 2.9%, and the share living with an income of less than $5.50 per day decreased from 98.3% to 17.0%.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
From 1978 to 2018, the average standard of living multiplied by a factor of twenty-six.<ref name="Bergsten 2022">Template:Cite book</ref> Wages in China have grown significantly in the last 40 years—real (inflation-adjusted) wages grew seven-fold from 1978 to 2007.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Per capita incomes have also risen significantly – when the PRC was founded in 1949, per capita income in China was one-fifth of the world average; per capita incomes now equal the world average itself.<ref name="Bergsten 2022" /> China's development is highly uneven; its major cities and coastal areas are far more prosperous than its rural and interior regions.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It has a high level of economic inequality,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which has increased quickly since the economic reforms.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Income inequality decreased in the 2010s,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and China's Gini coefficient was 0.357 in 2021.<ref name="GINI"/>
In March 2024, China ranked second in the world, after the U.S., in total number of billionaires and total number of millionaires, with 473 Chinese billionaires<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and 6.2 million millionaires.<ref name="databook2023" /> In 2019, China overtook the U.S. as the home to the highest number of people who have a net personal wealth of at least $110,000, according to the global wealth report by Credit Suisse.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead link</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> China had 85 female billionaires Template:As of, two-thirds of the global total.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> China has had the world's largest middle-class population since 2015;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the middle-class grew to 500 million by 2024.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
China in the global economy
[edit]China has been a member of the WTO since 2001 and is the world's largest trading power.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By 2016, China was the largest trading partner of 124 countries.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> China became the world's largest trading nation in 2013 by the sum of imports and exports, as well as the world's largest commodity importer, accounting for roughly 45% of maritime's dry-bulk market.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
China's foreign exchange reserves reached US$3.246 trillion Template:As of, making its reserves by far the world's largest.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2022, China was amongst the world's largest recipient of inward foreign direct investment (FDI), attracting $180 billion, though most of these were speculated to be from Hong Kong.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2021, China's foreign exchange remittances were $US53 billion making it the second-largest recipient of remittances in the world.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> China also invests abroad, with a total outward FDI of $147.9 billion in 2023,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and a number of major takeovers of foreign firms by Chinese companies.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Economists have argued that the renminbi is undervalued, due to currency intervention from the Chinese government, giving China an unfair trade advantage.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> China has also been widely criticized for manufacturing large quantities of counterfeit goods.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The U.S. government has also alleged that China does not respect intellectual property (IP) rights and steals IP through espionage operations.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2020, Harvard University's Economic Complexity Index ranked complexity of China's exports 17th in the world, up from 24th in 2010.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The Chinese government has promoted the internationalization of the renminbi in order to wean itself off its dependence on the U.S. dollar as a result of perceived weaknesses of the international monetary system.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The renminbi is a component of the IMF's special drawing rights and the world's fourth-most traded currency Template:As of.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, partly due to capital controls that make the renminbi fall short of being a fully convertible currency, it remains far behind the Euro, the U.S. Dollar and the Japanese Yen in international trade volumes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Science and technology
[edit]Historical
[edit]
China was a world leader in science and technology until the Ming dynasty.<ref>Tom (1989), 99; Day & McNeil (1996), 122; Needham (1986e), 1–2, 40–41, 122–123, 228.</ref> Ancient and medieval Chinese discoveries and inventions, such as papermaking, printing, the compass, and gunpowder (the Four Great Inventions), became widespread across East Asia, the Middle East and later Europe. Chinese mathematicians were the first to use negative numbers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Struik, Dirk J. (1987). A Concise History of Mathematics. New York: Dover Publications. pp. 32–33. "In these matrices we find negative numbers, which appear here for the first time in history."</ref> By the 17th century, the Western World surpassed China in scientific and technological advancement.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The causes of this early modern Great Divergence continue to be debated by scholars.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
After repeated military defeats by the European colonial powers and Imperial Japan in the 19th century, Chinese reformers began promoting modern science and technology as part of the Self-Strengthening Movement. After the Communists came to power in 1949, efforts were made to organize science and technology based on the model of the Soviet Union, in which scientific research was part of central planning.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> After Mao's death in 1976, science and technology were promoted as one of the Four Modernizations,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and the Soviet-inspired academic system was gradually reformed.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Modern era
[edit]Since the end of the Cultural Revolution, China has made significant investments in scientific research<ref name="CWRD">Template:Cite web</ref> and is quickly catching up with the U.S. in R&D spending.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> China officially spent around 2.7% of its GDP on R&D in 2024, totaling to around $496 billion.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> According to the World Intellectual Property Indicators, China received more applications than the U.S. did in 2018 and 2019 and ranked first globally in patents, utility models, trademarks, industrial designs, and creative goods exports in 2021.<ref name="Dutta-2021">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was ranked 11th in the Global Innovation Index in 2024, a considerable improvement from its rank of 35th in 2013.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Chinese supercomputers ranked among the fastest in the world.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn Its efforts to develop the most advanced semiconductors and jet engines have seen delays and setbacks.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
China is developing its education system with an emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Its academic publication apparatus became the world's largest publisher of scientific papers in 2016.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2022, China overtook the US in the Nature Index, which measures the share of published articles in leading scientific journals.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Space program
[edit]
The Chinese space program started in 1958 with some technology transfers from the Soviet Union. However, it did not launch the nation's first satellite until 1970 with the Dong Fang Hong I, which made China the fifth country to do so independently.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2003, China became the third country in the world to independently send humans into space with Yang Liwei's spaceflight aboard Shenzhou 5. As of 2023, eighteen Chinese nationals have journeyed into space, including two women. In 2011, China launched its first space station testbed, Tiangong-1.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2013, a Chinese robotic rover Yutu successfully touched down on the lunar surface as part of the Chang'e 3 mission.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2019, China became the first country to land a probe—Chang'e 4—on the far side of the Moon.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2020, Chang'e 5 successfully returned Moon samples to the Earth, making China the third country to do so independently.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2021, China became the third country to land a spacecraft on Mars and the second one to deploy a rover (Zhurong) on Mars.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> China completed its own modular space station, the Tiangong, in low Earth orbit on 3 November 2022.<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 29 November 2022, China performed its first in-orbit crew handover aboard the Tiangong.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In May 2023, China announced a plan to land humans on the Moon by 2030.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> To that end, China has been developing a lunar-capable super-heavy launcher, the Long March 10, a new crewed spacecraft, and a crewed lunar lander.<ref name="AJ-06Mar2022">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="AJ17072023">Template:Cite news</ref>
China sent Chang'e 6 on 3 May 2024, which conducted the first lunar sample return from Apollo Basin on the far side of the Moon.<ref name="AJ_FI-20230425">Template:Cite tweet</ref> This is China's second lunar sample return mission, the first was achieved by Chang'e 5 from the lunar near side 4 years ago.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It also carried a Chinese rover called Jinchan to conduct infrared spectroscopy of lunar surface and imaged Chang'e 6 lander on lunar surface.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The lander-ascender-rover combination was separated with the orbiter and returner before landing on 1 June 2024, at 22:23 UTC. It landed on the Moon's surface on 1 June 2024.<ref name="AJ_FI-20240601">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="segeryu240602">Template:Cite tweet</ref> The ascender was launched back to lunar orbit on 3 June 2024, at 23:38 UTC, carrying samples collected by the lander, which later completed another robotic rendezvous, before docking in lunar orbit. The sample container was then transferred to the returner, which landed on Inner Mongolia in June 2024, completing China's far side extraterrestrial sample return mission.
Infrastructure
[edit]After a decades-long infrastructural boom,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> China has produced numerous world-leading infrastructural projects: it has the largest high-speed rail network,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the most supertall skyscrapers,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the largest power plant (the Three Gorges Dam),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the most extensive ultra-high-voltage transmission network and innovation infrastructure,<ref name="Vara 2022">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="You 2024">Template:Cite web</ref> and a global satellite navigation system with the largest number of satellites.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Telecommunications
[edit]
China is the largest telecom market in the world and currently has the largest number of active cellphones of any country, with over 1.7 billion subscribers, Template:As of. It has the largest number of internet and broadband users, with over 1.1 billion Internet users Template:As of—equivalent to around 78.6% of its population.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> By 2018, China had more than 1 billion 4G users, accounting for 40% of world's total.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> China is making rapid advances in 5G—by late 2018, China had started large-scale and commercial 5G trials.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:As of, China had over 810 million 5G users and 3.38 million base stations installed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, are the three large providers of mobile and internet in China. China Telecom alone served more than 145 million broadband subscribers and 300 million mobile users; China Unicom had about 300 million subscribers; and China Mobile, the largest of them all, had 925 million users, Template:As of.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Combined, the three operators had over 3.4 million 4G base-stations in China.<ref name="TechNode-2018">Template:Cite web</ref> Several Chinese telecommunications companies, most notably Huawei and ZTE, have been accused of spying for the Chinese military.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
China has developed its own satellite navigation system, dubbed BeiDou, which began offering commercial navigation services across Asia in 2012<ref name="CustomersDec2012">Template:Cite news</ref> as well as global services by the end of 2018.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Beidou followed GPS and GLONASS as the third completed global navigation satellite.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Transport
[edit]
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Since the late 1990s, China's national road network has been significantly expanded through the creation of a network of national highways and expressways. In 2022, China's highways had reached a total length of Template:Convert, making it the longest highway system in the world.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> China has the world's largest market for automobiles,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> having surpassed the United States in both auto sales and production. The country is the world's largest exporter of cars by number as of 2023.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A side-effect of the rapid growth of China's road network has been a significant rise in traffic accidents.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In urban areas, bicycles remain a common mode of transport, despite the increasing prevalence of automobiles – Template:As of, there are approximately 200 million bicycles in China.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
China's railways, which are operated by the state-owned China State Railway Group Company, are among the busiest in the world, handling a quarter of the world's rail traffic volume on only 6 percent of the world's tracks in 2006.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:As of, the country had Template:Convert of railways, the second-longest network in the world.<ref name="Chinab2">Template:Cite news</ref> The railways strain to meet enormous demand particularly during the Chinese New Year holiday, when the world's largest annual human migration takes place.<ref name="overcrowding">Template:Cite news</ref> China's high-speed rail (HSR) system started construction in the early 2000s. By the end of 2023, high speed rail in China had reached Template:Convert of dedicated lines alone, making it the longest HSR network in the world.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Services on the Beijing–Shanghai, Beijing–Tianjin, and Chengdu–Chongqing lines reach up to Template:Convert, making them the fastest conventional high speed railway services in the world. With an annual ridership of over 2.3 billion passengers in 2019, it is the world's busiest.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The network includes the Beijing–Guangzhou high-speed railway, the single longest HSR line in the world, and the Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway, which has three of longest railroad bridges in the world.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Shanghai maglev train, which reaches Template:Convert, is the fastest commercial train service in the world.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Since 2000, the growth of rapid transit systems in Chinese cities has accelerated.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:As of, 55 Chinese cities have urban mass transit systems in operation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:As of, China boasts the five longest metro systems in the world with the networks in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Shenzhen being the largest.
The civil aviation industry in China is mostly state-dominated, with the Chinese government retaining a majority stake in the majority of Chinese airlines. The top three airlines in China are Air China, China Southern Airlines, and China Eastern Airlines,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> which collectively made up 71% of the market in 2018, are all state-owned. Air travel has expanded rapidly in the last decades, with the number of passengers increasing from 16.6 million in 1990 to 551.2 million in 2017.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> China had approximately 259 airports in 2024.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
China has over 2,000 river and seaports, about 130 of which are open to foreign shipping.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Of the fifty busiest container ports, 15 are located in China, of which the busiest is the Port of Shanghai, also the busiest port in the world.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The country's inland waterways are the world's sixth-longest, and total Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Water supply and sanitation
[edit]Water supply and sanitation infrastructure in China is facing challenges such as rapid urbanization, as well as water scarcity, contamination, and pollution.<ref name="Water Scarcity in China">Template:Cite news</ref> According to the Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation, 93% of rural households had access to basic sanitation in 2022 (up from 77% in 2015).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The ongoing South–North Water Transfer Project intends to abate water shortage in the north.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Demographics
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The 2020 Chinese census recorded the population as approximately 1,411,778,724. About 17.95% were 14 years old or younger, 63.35% were between 15 and 59 years old, and 18.7% were over 60 years old.<ref name="2020_census2">Template:Cite web</ref> Between 2010 and 2020, the average population growth rate was 0.53%.<ref name="2020_census2" />
Given concerns about population growth, China implemented a two-child limit during the 1970s, and, in 1979, began to advocate for an even stricter limit of one child per family. Beginning in the mid-1980s, however, given the unpopularity of the strict limits, China began to allow some major exemptions, particularly in rural areas, resulting in what was actually a "1.5"-child policy from the mid-1980s to 2015; ethnic minorities were also exempt from one-child limits.<ref name=":13">Template:Cite web</ref> The next major loosening of the policy was enacted in December 2013, allowing families to have two children if one parent is an only child.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2016, the one-child policy was replaced in favor of a two-child policy.<ref name="Birtles-2021">Template:Cite news</ref> A three-child policy was announced on 31 May 2021, due to population aging,<ref name="Birtles-2021" /> and in July 2021, all family size limits as well as penalties for exceeding them were removed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2023, the total fertility rate was reported to be 1.09, ranking among the lowest in the world.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2023, National Bureau of Statistics estimated that the population fell 850,000 from 2021 to 2022, the first decline since 1961.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
According to one group of scholars, one-child limits had little effect on population growth<ref name="Wang Judge">Template:Cite journal</ref> or total population size.<ref name="Whyte">Template:Cite journal</ref> However, these scholars have been challenged.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The policy, along with traditional preference for boys, may have contributed to an imbalance in the sex ratio at birth.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref><ref name="Ref_2007a">Template:Cite news</ref> The 2020 census found that males accounted for 51.2% of the total population.<ref name="NBS China-2021">Template:Cite web</ref> However, China's sex ratio is more balanced than it was in 1953, when males accounted for 51.8% of the population.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Urbanization
[edit]
China has urbanized significantly in recent decades. The percent of the country's population living in urban areas increased from 20% in 1980 to over 67% in 2024.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Economist-2014">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> China has over 160 cities with a population of over one million,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> including the 18 megacities Template:As of<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (cities with a population of over 10 million) of Chongqing, Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Xi'an, Suzhou, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Hangzhou, Linyi, Shijiazhuang, Dongguan, Qingdao, Changsha and Hefei.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The total permanent population of Chongqing, Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu is above 20 million.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Shanghai is China's most populous urban area<ref name="Demographia2013">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="oecd">Template:Cite book</ref> while Chongqing is its largest city proper, the only city in China with a permanent population of over 30 million.<ref name="renamed_from_2015_on_20160214005959">Template:Cite web</ref> The figures in the table below are from the 2020 census, and are only estimates of the urban populations within administrative city limits; a different ranking exists for total municipal populations. The large "floating populations" of migrant workers make conducting censuses in urban areas difficult;<ref name="Ref_abce">Francesco Sisci. "China's floating population a headache for census". The Straits Times. 22 September 2000.</ref> the figures below include only long-term residents.
Template:Most populous cities in the People's Republic of China
Ethnic groups
[edit]
China legally recognizes 56 distinct ethnic groups, who comprise the Zhonghua minzu. The largest of these nationalities are the Han Chinese, who constitute more than 91% of the total population.<ref name="2020_census2" /> The Han Chinese – the world's largest single ethnic group<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> – outnumber other ethnic groups in every place excluding Tibet, Xinjiang,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Linxia,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and autonomous prefectures like Xishuangbanna.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Ethnic minorities account for less than 10% of the population of China, according to the 2020 census.<ref name="2020_census2" /> Compared with the 2010 population census, the Han population increased by 60,378,693 persons, or 4.93%, while the population of the 55 national minorities combined increased by 11,675,179 persons, or 10.26%.<ref name="2020_census2" /> The 2020 census recorded a total of 845,697 foreign nationals living in mainland China.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Languages
[edit]
There are as many as 292 living languages in China.<ref>Languages of China – from Lewis, M. Paul (ed.), 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition. Dallas, TX: SIL International.</ref> The languages most commonly spoken belong to the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family, which contains Mandarin (spoken by 80% of the population),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and other varieties of Chinese language: Jin, Wu, Min, Hakka, Yue, Xiang, Gan, Hui, Ping and unclassified Tuhua (Shaozhou Tuhua and Xiangnan Tuhua).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Languages of the Tibeto-Burman branch, including Tibetan, Qiang, Naxi and Yi, are spoken across the Tibetan and Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau. Other ethnic minority languages in southwestern China include Zhuang, Thai, Dong and Sui of the Tai-Kadai family, Miao and Yao of the Hmong–Mien family, and Wa of the Austroasiatic family. Across northeastern and northwestern China, local ethnic groups speak Altaic languages including Manchu, Mongolian and several Turkic languages: Uyghur, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Salar and Western Yugur.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Korean is spoken natively along the border with North Korea. Sarikoli, the language of Tajiks in western Xinjiang, is an Indo-European language.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Taiwanese indigenous peoples, including a small population on the mainland, speak Austronesian languages.<ref name="language">"Languages". 2005. Government of China. Retrieved 31 May 2015.</ref>
Standard Chinese, a variety based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin, is the national language of China, having de facto official status.<ref name="Adamson & Feng"/> It is used as a lingua franca between people of different linguistic backgrounds.<ref name="langlaw">Template:Cite law</ref> In the autonomous regions of China, other languages may also serve as a lingua franca, such as Uyghur in Xinjiang, where governmental services in Uyghur are constitutionally guaranteed.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Religion
[edit]
<ref name="map1">Template:Cite map</ref><ref name="map2">Template:Cite map Zhongguo Minsu Dili [Folklore Geography of China], 1999; Zhongguo Dili [Geography of China], 2002.</ref><ref name="map3">Template:Cite map</ref><ref name="map4">Template:Cite map</ref>
Template:Colorbull Chinese folk religion (including Confucianism, Taoism, and groups of Chinese Buddhism)
Template:Colorbull Buddhism tout court
Template:Colorbull Islam
Template:Colorbull Ethnic minorities' indigenous religions
Template:Colorbull Mongolian folk religion
Template:Colorbull Northeast China folk religion influenced by Tungus and Manchu shamanism; widespread Shanrendao
Freedom of religion is guaranteed by China's constitution, although religious organizations that lack official approval can be subject to state persecution.<ref name="Constitution"/> The government of the country is officially atheist. Religious affairs and issues in the country are overseen by the National Religious Affairs Administration, under the United Front Work Department.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Over the millennia, the Chinese civilization has been influenced by various religious movements. The "three doctrines" of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism have historically shaped Chinese culture,<ref name="Yao2011">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> enriching a theological and spiritual framework of traditional religion which harks back to the early Shang and Zhou dynasty. Chinese folk religion, which is framed by the three doctrines and by other traditions,<ref>Tam Wai Lun, "Local Religion in Contemporary China", in Template:Cite book</ref> consists in allegiance to the shen, who can be deities of the surrounding nature or ancestral principles of human groups, concepts of civility, culture heroes, many of whom feature in Chinese mythology and history.<ref>Template:Cite book. Extracts in The Chinese Cosmos: Basic Concepts.</ref> Amongst the most popular cults of folk religion are those of the Yellow Emperor, embodiment of the God of Heaven and one of the two divine patriarchs of the Chinese people,<ref name="Laliberte2011">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> of Mazu (goddess of the seas),<ref name="Laliberte2011" /> Guandi (god of war and business), Caishen (god of prosperity and richness), Pangu and many others. In the early decades of the 21st century, the Chinese government has been engaged in a rehabilitation of folk cults—formally recognizing them as "folk beliefs" as distinguished from doctrinal religions,<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> and often reconstructing them into forms of "highly curated" civil religion<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>—as well as in a national and international promotion of Buddhism.<ref>Template:Cite report</ref> China is home to many of the world's tallest religious statues, representing either deities of Chinese folk religion or enlightened beings of Buddhism; the tallest of all is the Spring Temple Buddha in Henan.
Statistics on religious affiliation in China are difficult to gather due to complex and varying definitions of religion and the diffusive nature of Chinese religious traditions. Scholars note that in China there is no clear boundary between the three doctrines and local folk religious practices.<ref name="Yao2011" /> Chinese religions or some of their currents are also definable as non-theistic and humanistic, since they do not hold that divine creativity is completely transcendent, but that it is inherent in the world and in particular in the human being.<ref>Template:Cite conference</ref> According to studies published in 2023, compiling demographic analyses conducted throughout the 2010s and the early 2020s, 70% of the Chinese population believed in or practiced Chinese folk religion—among them, with an approach of non-exclusivity, 33.4% may be identified as Buddhists, 19.6% as Taoists, and 17.7% as adherents of other types of folk religion.<ref name=religion2023/> Of the remaining population, 25.2% are fully non-believers or atheists, 2.5% are adherents of Christianity, and 1.6% are adherents of Islam.<ref name=religion2023/> Chinese folk religion also comprises a variety of salvationist doctrinal organized movements which emerged since the Song dynasty.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> There are also ethnic minorities in China who maintain their own indigenous religions, while major religions characteristic of specific ethnic groups include Tibetan Buddhism among Tibetans, Mongols and Yugurs,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Islam among the Hui, Uyghur, Kazakh,<ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref> and Kyrgyz peoples, and other ethnicities in the northern and northwestern regions of the country.
Education
[edit]
Compulsory education in China comprises primary and junior secondary school, which together last for nine years from the age of 6 and 15.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Gaokao, China's national university entrance exam, is a prerequisite for entrance into most higher education institutions. Vocational education is available to students at the secondary and tertiary level.<ref name="Ministry of Edu China-2022">Template:Cite web</ref> More than 10 million Chinese students graduated from vocational colleges every year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2023, about 91.8 percent of students continued their education at a three-year senior secondary school, while 60.2 percent of secondary school graduates were enrolled in higher education.<ref name="auto">Template:Cite web</ref>
China has the largest education system in the world,<ref name="UNICEF-2021">Template:Cite web</ref> with about 291 million students and 18.92 million full-time teachers in over 498,300 schools in 2023.<ref name="auto"/> Annual education investment went from less than US$50 billion in 2003 to more than US$817 billion in 2020.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, there remains an inequality in education spending. In 2010, the annual education expenditure per secondary school student in Beijing totalled ¥20,023, while in Guizhou, one of the poorest provinces, it only totalled ¥3,204.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> China's literacy rate has grown dramatically, from only 20% in 1949 and 65.5% in 1979,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> to 97% of the population over age 15 in 2020.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:As of, China has over 3,074 universities, with over 47.6 million students enrolled in mainland China, giving China the largest higher education system in the world.<ref name="auto"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:As of, China had the world's highest number of top universities.<ref name=":10">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":112">Template:Cite web</ref> Currently, China trails only the United States and the United Kingdom in terms of representation on lists of the top 200 universities according to the 2023 Aggregate Ranking of Top Universities, a composite ranking system of three world-most followed university rankings (ARWU+QS+THE).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> China is home to two of the highest-ranking universities (Tsinghua University and Peking University) in Asia and emerging economies, according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the Academic Ranking of World Universities.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> These universities are members of the C9 League, an alliance of elite Chinese universities offering comprehensive and leading education.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Health
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The National Health Commission, together with its counterparts in the local commissions, oversees the health needs of the population.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> An emphasis on public health and preventive medicine has characterized Chinese health policy since the early 1950s. 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
After Deng Xiaoping began instituting economic reforms in 1978, the health of the Chinese public improved rapidly because of better nutrition, although many of the free public health services provided in the countryside disappeared. Healthcare in China became mostly privatized, and experienced a significant rise in quality. In 2009, the government began a three-year large-scale healthcare provision initiative worth US$124 billion.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By 2011, the campaign resulted in 95% of China's population having basic health insurance coverage.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By 2022, China had established itself as a key producer and exporter of pharmaceuticals, producing around 40 percent of active pharmaceutical ingredients in 2017.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:As of, the life expectancy at birth exceeds 78 years.<ref name=":02">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp Template:As of, the infant mortality rate is 5 per thousand.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Both have improved significantly since the 1950s.Template:Efn Rates of stunting, a condition caused by malnutrition, have declined from 33.1% in 1990 to 9.9% in 2010.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> 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,<ref name="FT-china-pollution">Template:Cite web</ref> hundreds of millions of cigarette smokers,<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref> and an increase in obesity among urban youths.<ref name="Ref_abcy">"Serving the people?". 1999. Bruce Kennedy. CNN. Retrieved 17 April 2006.</ref><ref name="Ref_abcz">"Obesity Sickening China's Young Hearts". 4 August 2000. People's Daily. Retrieved 17 April 2006.</ref> In 2010, air pollution caused 1.2 million premature deaths in China.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref> Chinese mental health services are inadequate.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> China's large population and densely populated cities have led to serious disease outbreaks, such as SARS in 2003, although this has since been largely contained.<ref name="Ref_abcda">"China's latest SARS outbreak has been contained, but biosafety concerns remain". 18 May 2004. World Health Organization. Retrieved 17 April 2006.</ref> The COVID-19 pandemic was first identified in Wuhan in December 2019;<ref name="auto12">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> pandemic led the government to enforce strict public health measures intended to completely eradicate the virus, a goal that was eventually abandoned in December 2022 after protests against the policy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Culture and society
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Since ancient times, Chinese culture has been heavily influenced by Confucianism. Chinese culture, in turn, has heavily influenced East Asia and Southeast Asia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> For much of the country's dynastic era, opportunities for social advancement could be provided by high performance in the prestigious imperial examinations, which have their origins in the Han dynasty.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The literary emphasis of the exams affected the general perception of cultural refinement in China, such as the belief that calligraphy, poetry and painting were higher forms of art than dancing or drama. Chinese culture has long emphasized a sense of deep history and a largely inward-looking national perspective.<ref name="ChinaFuture">Template:Cite news</ref> Examinations and a culture of merit remain greatly valued in China today.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Today, the Chinese government has accepted numerous elements of traditional Chinese culture as being integral to Chinese society. With the rise of Chinese nationalism and the end of the Cultural Revolution, various forms of traditional Chinese art, literature, music, film, fashion and architecture have seen a vigorous revival,<ref name="Ref_abcdef">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Ref_abcdeg">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> and folk and variety art in particular have sparked interest nationally and even worldwide.<ref name="Ref_abcdeh">Template:Cite web</ref> Access to foreign media remains heavily restricted.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Architecture
[edit]Chinese architecture has developed over millennia in China and has remained a vestigial source of perennial influence on the development of East Asian architecture,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> including in Japan, Korea, and Mongolia.<ref name="Cartwright-2023">Template:Cite web</ref> and minor influences on the architecture of Southeast and South Asia including the countries of Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Chinese architecture is characterized by bilateral symmetry, use of enclosed open spaces, feng shui (e.g. directional hierarchies),<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> a horizontal emphasis, and an allusion to various cosmological, mythological or in general symbolic elements. Chinese architecture traditionally classifies structures according to type, ranging from pagodas to palaces.<ref name="Itō-2017">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Cartwright-2023" />
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Chinese architecture varies widely based on status or affiliation, such as whether the structures were constructed for emperors, commoners, or for religious purposes. Other variations in Chinese architecture are shown in vernacular styles associated with different geographic regions and different ethnic heritages, such as the stilt houses in the south, the Yaodong buildings in the northwest, the yurt buildings of nomadic people, and the Siheyuan buildings in the north.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Literature
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Chinese literature has its roots in the Zhou dynasty's literary tradition.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The classical texts of China encompass a wide range of thoughts and subjects, such as the calendar, military, astrology, herbology, and geography, as well as many others.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Among the most significant early works are the I Ching and the Shujing, which are part of the Four Books and Five Classics. These texts were the cornerstone of the Confucian curriculum sponsored by the state throughout the dynastic periods. Inherited from the Classic of Poetry, classical Chinese poetry developed to its floruit during the Tang dynasty. Li Bai and Du Fu opened the forking ways for the poetic circles through romanticism and realism respectively. Chinese historiography began with the Shiji, the overall scope of the historiographical tradition in China is termed the Twenty-Four Histories, which set a vast stage for Chinese fictions along with Chinese mythology and folklore.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Pushed by a burgeoning citizen class in the Ming dynasty, Chinese classical fiction rose to a boom of the historical, town and gods and demons fictions as represented by the Four Great Classical Novels which include Water Margin, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West and Dream of the Red Chamber.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Along with the wuxia fictions of Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> it remains an enduring source of popular culture in the Chinese sphere of influence.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
In the wake of the New Culture Movement after the end of the Qing dynasty, Chinese literature embarked on a new era with written vernacular Chinese for ordinary citizens. Hu Shih and Lu Xun were pioneers in modern literature.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Various literary genres, such as misty poetry, scar literature, young adult fiction and the xungen literature, which is influenced by magic realism,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> emerged following the Cultural Revolution. Mo Yan, a xungen literature author, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2012.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Music
[edit]Chinese music covers a highly diverse range of music from traditional music to modern music. Chinese music dates back before the pre-imperial times. Traditional Chinese musical instruments were traditionally grouped into eight categories known as bayin (八音). Traditional Chinese opera is a form of musical theatre in China originating thousands of years and has regional style forms such as Beijing and Cantonese opera.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Chinese pop (C-Pop) includes mandopop and cantopop. Chinese hip hop and Hong Kong hip hop have become popular.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Fashion
[edit]Hanfu is the historical clothing of the Han people in China. The qipao or cheongsam is a popular Chinese female dress.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The hanfu movement has been popular in contemporary times and seeks to revitalize Hanfu clothing.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> China Fashion Week is the country's only national-level fashion festival.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Cinema
[edit]Cinema was first introduced to China in 1896 and the first Chinese film, Dingjun Mountain, was released in 1905.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> China has had the largest number of movie screens in the world since 2016;<ref name="hr">Template:Cite web</ref> China became the largest cinema market in 2020.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The top three highest-grossing films in China Template:As of were Ne Zha 2 (2025), The Battle at Lake Changjin (2021), and Wolf Warrior 2 (2017).<ref name="Alltimedomestic">Template:Cite web</ref>
Cuisine
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Chinese cuisine is highly diverse, drawing on several millennia of culinary history and geographical variety, in which the most influential are known as the "Eight Major Cuisines", including Sichuan, Cantonese, Jiangsu, Shandong, Fujian, Hunan, Anhui, and Zhejiang cuisines.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Chinese cuisine is known for its breadth of cooking methods and ingredients.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> China's staple food is rice in the northeast and south, and wheat-based breads and noodles in the north. Bean products such as tofu and soy milk remain a popular source of protein. Pork is now the most popular meat in China, accounting for about three-fourths of the country's total meat consumption.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> There is also the vegetarian Buddhist cuisine and the pork-free Chinese Islamic cuisine. Chinese cuisine, due to the area's proximity to the ocean and milder climate, has a wide variety of seafood and vegetables. Offshoots of Chinese food, such as Hong Kong cuisine and American Chinese cuisine, have emerged in the Chinese diaspora.
Sports
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China has one of the oldest sporting cultures. There is evidence that archery (shèjiàn) was practiced during the Western Zhou dynasty. Swordplay (jiànshù) and cuju, a sport loosely related to association football<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> date back to China's early dynasties as well.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Physical fitness is widely emphasized in Chinese culture, with morning exercises such as qigong and tai chi widely practiced,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and commercial gyms and private fitness clubs are gaining popularity.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Basketball is the most popular spectator sport in China.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Chinese Basketball Association and the American National Basketball Association also have a huge national following amongst the Chinese populace, with native-born and NBA-bound Chinese players and well-known national household names such as Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian being held in high esteem.<ref name="Beech2003">Template:Cite magazine</ref> China's professional football league, known as Chinese Super League, is the largest football market in East Asia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Other popular sports include martial arts, table tennis, badminton, swimming and snooker. China is home to a huge number of cyclists, with an estimated 470 million bicycles Template:As of.<ref name="470MBikes">Template:Cite news</ref> China has the world's largest esports market.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Many more traditional sports, such as dragon boat racing, Mongolian-style wrestling and horse racing are also popular.<ref name="Ref_abcden">Qinfa, Ye. "Sports History of China" Template:Webarchive. About.Com. Retrieved 21 April 2006.</ref>
China has participated in the Olympic Games since 1932, although it has only participated as the PRC since 1952. China hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where its athletes received 48 gold medals – the highest number of any participating nation that year.<ref name="Ref_abcdeo">Template:Cite news</ref> China also won the most medals at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, with 231 overall, including 95 gold.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2011, Shenzhen hosted the 2011 Summer Universiade. China hosted the 2013 East Asian Games in Tianjin and the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, the first country to host both regular and Youth Olympics. Beijing and its nearby city Zhangjiakou collaboratively hosted the 2022 Winter Olympics, making Beijing the first dual Olympic city by holding both the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> China hosted the Asian Games in 1990 (Beijing), 2010 (Guangzhou), and 2023 (Hangzhou).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
See also
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Further reading
[edit]External links
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Government
[edit]General information
[edit]- China at a Glance from People's Daily
- Template:Britannica
- Country profile – China at BBC News
- China. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
- China, People's Republic of (archived 2012) from UCB Libraries GovPubs
Maps
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