Informazioni sulla Cina (Fonte: CIA -- The World Factbook 1999) |
[Top] Background: For most of its 3,500 years of history, China led the world in agriculture, crafts, and science, then fell behind in the 19th century when the Industrial Revolution gave the West clear superiority in military and economic affairs. In the first half of the 20th century, China continued to suffer from major famines, civil unrest, military defeat, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established a dictatorship that, while ensuring China's autonomy, imposed strict controls over all aspects of life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping decentralized economic decision making; output quadrupled in the next 20 years. Political controls remain tight at the same time economic controls have been weakening. Present issues are: incorporating Hong Kong into the Chinese system; closing down inefficient state-owned enterprises; modernizing the military; fighting corruption; and providing support to tens of millions of displaced workers. |
[Top] Location: Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam Geographic coordinates: 35 00 N, 105 00 E Map references: Asia Area: Areacomparative: slightly smaller than the US Land boundaries: Coastline: 14,500 km Maritime claims: Climate: extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north Terrain: mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east Elevation extremes:
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) Land use: Irrigated land: 498,720 sq km (1993 est.) Natural hazards: frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern and eastern coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts Environmentcurrent issues: air pollution (greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide particulates) from reliance on coal, produces acid rain; water shortages, particularly in the north; water pollution from untreated wastes; deforestation; estimated loss of one-fifth of agricultural land since 1949 to soil erosion and economic development; desertification; trade in endangered species Environmentinternational
agreements: Geographynote: world's fourth-largest country (after Russia, Canada, and US) |
[Top] Population: 1,246,871,951 (July 1999 est.) Age structure: Population growth rate: 0.77% (1999 est.) Birth rate: 15.1 births/1,000 population (1999 est.) Death rate: 6.98 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.) Net migration rate: -0.41 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.) Sex ratio: Infant mortality rate: 43.31 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.) Life expectancy at
birth: Total fertility rate: 1.8 children born/woman (1999 est.) Nationality: Ethnic groups: Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1% Religions: Daoism
(Taoism), Buddhism, Muslim 2%-3%, Christian 1% (est.) Languages: Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic divisions entry) Literacy: |
[Top] Country name: Data code: CH Government type: Communist state Capital: Beijing Administrative
divisions: 23 provinces (sheng, singular and plural),
5 autonomous regions* (zizhiqu, singular and plural), and
4 municipalities** (shi, singular and plural); Anhui,
Beijing**, Chongqing**, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi*,
Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan,
Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol*, Ningxia*,
Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanghai**, Shanxi, Sichuan,
Tianjin**, Xinjiang*, Xizang* (Tibet), Yunnan, Zhejiang Independence: 221 BC (unification under the Qin or Ch'in Dynasty 221 BC; Qing or Ch'ing Dynasty replaced by the Republic on 12 February 1912; People's Republic established 1 October 1949) National holiday: National Day, 1 October (1949) Constitution: most recent promulgation 4 December 1982 Legal system: a complex amalgam of custom and statute, largely criminal law; rudimentary civil code in effect since 1 January 1987; new legal codes in effect since 1 January 1980; continuing efforts are being made to improve civil, administrative, criminal, and commercial law Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal Executive branch:
Legislative branch:
unicameral National People's Congress or Quanguo Renmin
Daibiao Dahui (2,979 seats; members elected by municipal,
regional, and provincial people's congresses to serve
five-year terms) Judicial branch: Supreme People's Court, judges appointed by the National People's Congress Political parties and leaders: Chinese Communist Party or CCP [JIANG Zemin, General Secretary of the Central Committee]; eight registered small parties controlled by CCP Political pressure groups and leaders: no meaningful political opposition groups exist International organization participation: AfDB, APEC, AsDB, BIS, CCC, CDB (non-regional), ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MINURSO, NAM (observer), OPCW, PCA, UN, UN Security Council, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNOMSIL, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (applicant) Diplomatic
representation in the US: Diplomatic
representation from the US: Flag description: red with a large yellow five-pointed star and four smaller yellow five-pointed stars (arranged in a vertical arc toward the middle of the flag) in the upper hoist-side corner |
[Top] Economyoverview: Beginning in late 1978 the Chinese leadership has been trying to move the economy from a sluggish Soviet-style centrally planned economy to a more market-oriented economy but still within a rigid political framework of Communist Party control. To this end the authorities switched to a system of household responsibility in agriculture in place of the old collectivization, increased the authority of local officials and plant managers in industry, permitted a wide variety of small-scale enterprise in services and light manufacturing, and opened the economy to increased foreign trade and investment. The result has been a quadrupling of GDP since 1978. Agricultural output doubled in the 1980s, and industry also posted major gains, especially in coastal areas near Hong Kong and opposite Taiwan, where foreign investment helped spur output of both domestic and export goods. On the darker side, the leadership has often experienced in its hybrid system the worst results of socialism (bureaucracy, lassitude, corruption) and of capitalism (windfall gains and stepped-up inflation). Beijing thus has periodically backtracked, retightening central controls at intervals. In late 1993 China's leadership approved additional long-term reforms aimed at giving still more play to market-oriented institutions and at strengthening the center's control over the financial system; state enterprises would continue to dominate many key industries in what was now termed "a socialist market economy". In 1995-97 inflation dropped sharply, reflecting tighter monetary policies and stronger measures to control food prices. At the same time, the government struggled to (a) collect revenues due from provinces, businesses, and individuals; (b) reduce corruption and other economic crimes; and (c) keep afloat the large state-owned enterprises, most of which had not participated in the vigorous expansion of the economy and many of which had been losing the ability to pay full wages and pensions. From 60 to 100 million surplus rural workers are adrift between the villages and the cities, many subsisting through part-time low-paying jobs. Popular resistance, changes in central policy, and loss of authority by rural cadres have weakened China's population control program, which is essential to maintaining growth in living standards. Another long-term threat to continued rapid economic growth is the deterioration in the environment, notably air pollution, soil erosion, and the steady fall of the water table especially in the north. China continues to lose arable land because of erosion and economic development. The next few years may witness increasing tensions between a highly centralized political system and an increasingly decentralized economic system. Economic growth probably will slow to more moderate levels in 1999-2000. GDP: purchasing power parity$4.42 trillion (1998 est.) GDPreal growth rate: 7.8% (1998 est.) (official figures may substantially overstate growth) GDPper capita: purchasing power parity$3,600 (1998 est.) GDPcomposition
by sector: Population below poverty line: NA% Household income or
consumption by percentage share: Inflation rate (consumer prices): -0.8% (1998 est.) Labor force: 696 million (1997 est.) Labor forceby occupation: agriculture 50%, industry 24%, services 26% (1997) Unemployment rate: officially 3% in urban areas; probably 8%-10%; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas (1998 est.) Budget: Industries: iron and steel, coal, machine building, armaments, textiles and apparel, petroleum, cement, chemical fertilizers, footwear, toys, food processing, autos, consumer electronics, telecommunications Industrial production growth rate: 8.8% (1998 est.) Electricityproduction: 1.16 trillion kWh (1998) Electricityproduction
by source: Electricityconsumption: 994.921 billion kWh (1996) Electricityexports: 6.025 billion kWh (1996) Electricityimports: 755 million kWh (1996) Agricultureproducts: rice, wheat, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton, oilseed; pork; fish Exports: $183.8 billion (f.o.b., 1998) Exportscommodities: electrical machinery and equipment, machinery and mechanical appliances, woven apparel, knit apparel, footwear, toys and sporting goods (1998) Exportspartners: Hong Kong 21%, US 21%, Japan 14%, Germany, South Korea, Netherlands, UK, Singapore, Taiwan (1997) Imports: $140.17 billion (c.i.f., 1998) Importscommodities: electrical machinery and equipment, machinery and mechanical appliances, plastics, iron and steel, scientific and photograph equipment, paper and paper board (1998) Importspartners: Japan 20%, US 12%, Taiwan 12%, South Korea 11%, Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore, Russia (1997) Debtexternal: $159 billion (1998 est.) Economic aidrecipient: $6.222 billion (1995) Currency: 1 yuan (¥) = 10 jiao Exchange rates:
yuan (¥) per US$18.28 (February 1999), 8.2779 (December
1998), 8.2790 (1998), 8.2898 (1997), 8.3142 (1996), 8.3514
(1995), 8.6187 (1994) Fiscal year: calendar year |
[Top] Telephones: 105 million (1998 est.) Telephone system:
domestic and international services are increasingly
available for private use; unevenly distributed domestic
system serves principal cities, industrial centers, and
all townships Radio broadcast stations: AM 569, FM NA, shortwave 173 Radios: 216.5 million (1992 est.) Television broadcast stations: 209 (China Central Television, government-owned; in addition there are 31 provincial TV stations and nearly 3,000 city TV stations) (1997) Televisions: 300 million |
[Top] Railways: Highways: Waterways: 109,800 km navigable (1997) Pipelines: crude oil 9,070 km; petroleum products 560 km; natural gas 9,383 km (1998) Ports and harbors: Dalian, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Haikou, Huangpu, Lianyungang, Nanjing, Nantong, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shantou, Tianjin, Xiamen, Xingang, Yantai, Zhanjiang Merchant marine: Airports: 206 (1996 est.) Airportswith
paved runways: Airportswith
unpaved runways: |
[Top] Military branches: People's Liberation Army (PLA), which includes the Ground Forces, Navy (includes Marines and Naval Aviation), Air Force, Second Artillery Corps (the strategic missile force), People's Armed Police (internal security troops, nominally subordinate to Ministry of Public Security, but included by the Chinese as part of the "armed forces" and considered to be an adjunct to the PLA in wartime) Military manpowermilitary age: 18 years of age Military manpoweravailability:
Military manpowerfit
for military service: Military manpowerreaching
military age annually: Military expendituresdollar figure: $12.608 billion (FY99); note-Western analysts believe that China's real defense spending is several times higher than the official figure because several significant items are funded elsewhere Military expenditurespercent of GDP: NA% |
[Top] Disputesinternational: 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; most of the boundary with Tajikistan in dispute; 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; sections of land border with Vietnam are indefinite Illicit drugs:
major transshipment point for heroin produced in the
Golden Triangle; growing domestic drug abuse problem |
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