About China

People's Republic of China lies in Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam. It has area of total: 9,596,960 sq km. Land boundaries are total 22,117km. The border countries are Afghanistan, Bhutan, Burma, India, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Vietnam. Regional borders are Hong Kong and Macau. China has the world largest hydropower potential. It is world's fourth largest country after Russia, Canada, and US. Mount Everest is on the border with Nepal which is the world's tallest peak. China has the population of 1,306,313,812 according to the estimation on July 2005. The Ethnic groups are Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1%. Religions are Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Muslim 1%-2%, Christian 3%-4% but since 2002, officially atheist. Languages spoken in China are Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese).

Beijing is the Capital of China and the government type is communist state. There are:
23 provinces, sheng: Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang
5 autonomous regions, zizhiqu: Guangxi, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Xizang (Tibet)
4 municipalities, shi: Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Tianjin

Economic overview
Around 1978 the economy of China was sluggish and inefficient. But China in 2004 stood as the second-largest economy in the world after the US, although in per capita terms the country is still poor. The government has struggled to (a) sustain adequate jobs growth for tens of millions of workers laid off from state-owned enterprises, migrants, and new entrants to the work force; (b) reduce corruption and other economic crimes; and (c) keep afloat the large state-owned enterprises, many of which had been shielded from competition by subsidies and had been losing the ability to pay full wages and pensions. 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 long-term growth in living standards. At the same time, one demographic consequence of the "one child" policy is that China is now one of the most rapidly aging countries in the world. China has benefited from a huge expansion in computer Internet use, with 94 million users at the end of 2004. Foreign investment remains a strong element in China's remarkable economic growth. Shortages of electric power and raw materials may affect industrial output in 2005. More power generating capacity is scheduled to come on line in 2006. In its rivalry with India as an economic power, China has a lead in the absorption of technology, the rising prominence in world trade, and the alleviation of poverty; India has one important advantage in its relative mastery of the English language, but the number of competent Chinese English-speakers is growing rapidly.

Some other important facts
Currency: yuan (CNY) also referred to a the Renminbi (RMB)
Telephone mobile cellular user : 269 million (2003)
Television broadcast stations: 3240
Internet country code: .cn
Internet hosts: 160,421 (2003)
Internet Users: 94 million (2004)
Airports: 472 (2004)