ABSTRACT
China has a population of over 1.32 billion people, 48.5 percent of them are women and 55.6 percent are rural residents in 2007 (China Statistical Yearbook, 2008). The Chinese population is a relatively homogenous one in terms of ethnicity. The han ethnic group makes up over 91 percent of the population, whereas the other 55 ethnic minority groups consist of less than 9 percent of the population. Religion is not commonly practised in part due to the continuous suppression, albeit gradually relaxing, of non-communist beliefs by the State.
