ABSTRACT

FACTS ABOUT CHINA Area: China is situated in east Asia and has a land size of 9.6 million square kilometers, which makes it the largest country in Asia. Population: According to the latest ocial statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics of China (2012), China has a population of close to 1.35 billion, of whom 0.691 billion (51.26%) are male and 0.657  billion (48.74%) are female. Although China is traditionally classied as an agricultural country, its rural population for the rst time made up less than 50% (48.73%) of the overall population by the end of 2011 due to rapid urbanization processes. China has 56 ethnic groups altogether, of which the Han ethnic group accounts for more than 90% of the overall population. Administrative divisions: China has 23 provinces (including Taiwan, which has been under a separate administration since 1949), 5 ethnic minority autonomous regions (equivalent to provinces), 4 municipalities (i.e., Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjing, and Chongqing) directly under the central government, and 2 special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macao, which were previously colonies of Great Britain and Portugal, respectively). Beijing is the capital city of China. Government: e Chinese government is led by the Communist Party, the ruling party, whose work is assisted by eight non-Communist parties. e People’s Congress has legislative authority. Economy: China’s economy is developing rapidly. e annual growth rate (from 2001 to 2011) of the gross domestic product (GDP) was 10.4%. In 2011, the GDP reached 364.5002 billion yuan, which was the second highest in the world. China’s annual GDP per capita, however, was 35,181 yuan, which ranked China 114th out of 213 economies around the world (1 U.S. dollar = approximately 6.1 Chinese yuan). Education: China implements 9-year compulsory education. e latest ocial statistics show that by the end of 2011, the net enrollment ratio in primary school was 99.8%. e transfer rate from primary schools to junior secondary schools was 98.3%, the transfer rate to senior secondary schools was 88.9%, and the transfer rate to higher education was 88.3% (including transfers to regular classes of TV universities). Culture: Confucian philosophy plays a dominant role in shaping Chinese customs as well as legal tradition. Various religious customs including Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, and Christianity are practiced. e ocial language is Mandarin, and there are numerous local dialects.