President: Jiang Zemin (1993)

Premier: Zhu Rongji (1998)

Area: 3,705,386 sq mi (9,596,960 sq km)¹

Population (2001 est.): 1,273,111,290 (average rate of natural increase: 0.9%); birth rate: 16.0/1000; infant mortality rate: 28.1/1000; density per sq mi: 344.

Capital (2000 est.): Beijing, 8,450,000 (metro. area)

Largest cities (1990 est.): Shanghai (2000 est.), 11,800,000 (metro. area); Hong Kong (Xianggang) (2000 est.), 6,750,000 (metro. area); Tianjin (Tientsin) (2000 est.), 5,350,000 (metro. area); Shenyang (Mukden), 4,669,737; Wuhan, 4,040,113; Guangzhou, 3,935,193; Chungking (Chongquing) 3,127,178; Haerbin, 2,990,921; Chengdu, 2,954,872; Xian, 2,872,539

Monetary unit: Yuan, Hong Kong Dollar

Languages: Chinese, Mandarin, also local dialects

Ethnicity/race: Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1%. China has 56 ethnic groups

Religions: Officially atheist but traditional religion contains elements of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism

Literacy rate: 84% (1995)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (1999 est.): $4.8 trillion; per capita $3,800. Real growth rate: 7%. Inflation: –1.3%. Unemployment: urban unemployment roughly 10%; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas. Arable land: 10%. Agriculture: rice, wheat, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton, oilseed; pork; fish. Labor force: 700 million (1998 est.); agriculture, 50%; industry, 24%; services, 26% (1998). Industries: iron and steel, coal, machine building, armaments, textiles and apparel, petroleum, cement, chemical fertilizers, footwear, toys, food processing, automobiles, consumer electronics, telecommunications. Natural resources: coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest). Exports: $194.9 billion (f.o.b., 1999): machinery and equipment; textiles and clothing, footwear, toys and sporting goods; mineral fuels, chemicals. Imports: $165.8 billion (c.i.f., 1999): machinery and equipment, plastics, chemicals, iron and steel, mineral fuels. Major trading partners: U.S., Hong Kong, Japan, Germany, South Korea, Netherlands, UK, Singapore, Taiwan, Russia.

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 110 million (1999 est.); mobile cellular: 23.4 million (1998). Radio broadcast stations: AM 369, FM 259, shortwave 45 (1998). Radios: 417 million (1997). Television broadcast stations: 3,240 (of which 209 are operated by China Central Television, 31 are provincial TV stations and nearly 3,000 are local city stations) (1997). Televisions: 400 million (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 3 (1999).

Transportation: Railways: total: 65,650 (1998 est.) note: a new total of 68,000 km has been estimated for early 1999. Highways: total: 1.21 million km; paved: 271,300 km (with at least 24,474 km of expressways); unpaved: 938,700 km (1998 est.). Waterways: 110,000 km navigable (1999). Ports and harbors: Dalian, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Haikou, Huangpu, Lianyungang, Nanjing, Nantong, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shantou, Tianjin, Xiamen, Xingang, Yantai, Zhanjiang. Airports: 206 (1996 est.).

International disputes: boundary with India in dispute; dispute over at least two small sections of the boundary with Russia remain to be settled, despite 1997 boundary agreement; portions of the boundary with Tajikistan are indefinite; 33-km section of boundary with North Korea in the Paektu-san (mountain) area is indefinite; involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; maritime boundary dispute with Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin; Paracel Islands occupied by China, but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; claims Japanese-administered Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu Tai), as does Taiwan; agreement on land border with Vietnam was signed in December 1999, but details of alignment have not yet been made public.