 Introduction to China
National Capital
Beijing
Geography
Location: China is located in eastern Asia, bordered by the East China, Yellow, and South China seas and by North Korea, Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Vietnam.
Area: 9,600,000 square meters, the world's fourth largest country after Russia, Canada and the United States. Of the total land area, only 10% of the land are arable.
Administrative Regions: 23 provinces (includes Taiwan as 23rd province), 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities.
Natural Resources: coal, iron ore, petroleum, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower (world's largest)
Population
Total Population: 1.268 (billions)
Population Growth Rate: 1%
Nationality/Ethnic Groups
Nationality: Chinese
Ethnic Groups: Han Chinese 91.9%; 55 minority groups - Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean and others 8.1%
Languages
Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages.
Government
Socialist state controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with a unicameral legislature, the National People's Congress, and executive power vested in a Premier (head of government) and President (chief of state).
Economy
GDP: 8.3 trillion Yuan
GDP Growth Rate: 7.1%
Inflation CPI: -1.3%
Trade Volume: 360.7 billion USD
Export Growth: 6.1% (year on year)
Import Growth: 18.2% (year on year)
Foreign Debt: 148.8 billion USD (end of June 1999)
Foreign Reserves: 154.7 billion USD
Foreign Direct Investment: 40.4 billion USD
Sources: MOFTEC, State Statistics Bureau.
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