Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities
Religion: officially atheist, but traditionally pragmatic and eclectic; most important elements of religion are Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism; about 2–3% Muslim, 1% Christian
Language: Standard Chinese (Putonghua) or Mandarin (based on the Beijing dialect); also Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, and minority languages (see ethnic divisions)
Literacy: over 75%
Labor force: 513,000,000; 61.1% agriculture and forestry, 25.2% industry and commerce, 4.6% construction and mining, 4.5% social services, 4.6% other (1986 est.)
Organized labor: All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) follows the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party; membership over 80 million or about 65% of the urban work force (1985)
- Government
Long-form name: People's Republic of China; abbreviated PRC
Type: Communist Party-led state
Capital: Beijing
Administrative divisions: 23 provinces (sheng, singular and plural), 5 autonomous regions* (zizhiqu, singular and plural), and 3 municipalities** (shi, singular and plural); Anhui, Beijing**, 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*, Yunnan, Zhejiang; note—China considers Taiwan its 23rd province
Independence: unification under the Qin (Ch'in) Dynasty 221 BC,
Qing (Ch'ing or Manchu) Dynasty replaced by the Republic on 12 February 1912,
People's Republic established 1 October 1949
Constitution: 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
National holiday: National Day, 1 October (1949)
Executive branch: president, vice president, premier, three vice premiers,
State Council, Central Military Commission (de facto)
Legislative branch: unicameral National People's Congress (Quanguo
Renmin Daibiao Dahui)
Judicial branch: Supreme People's Court
Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government (de facto)—DENG
Xiaoping (since mid-1977);
Chief of State—President YANG Shangkun (since 8 April 1988);
Vice President WANG Zhen (since 8 April 1988);
Head of Government—Premier LI Peng (Acting Premier since
24 November 1987, Premier since 9 April 1988);
Vice Premier YAO Yilin (since 2 July 1979);
Vice Premier TIAN Jiyun (since 20 June 1983);
Vice Premier WU Xueqian (since 12 April 1988)
Political parties and leaders: only party—Chinese Communist Party
(CCP), Jiang Zemin, general secretary of the Central Committee
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections:
President—last held 8 April 1988 (next to be held March 1993);
Yang Shangkun was elected by the Seventh National People's Congress;
National People's Congress—last held NA March 1988 (next to be held March 1993); results—CCP is the only party; seats—(2,970 total) CCP 2,970 (indirectly elected)
Communists: about 45,000,000 party members (1986)
Other political or pressure groups: such meaningful opposition as exists consists of loose coalitions, usually within the party and government organization, that vary by issue
Member of: ADB, CCC, ESCAP, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IHO,
ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, ITU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador ZHU Qizhen; Chancery at 2300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 328–2500 through 2502; there are Chinese Consulates General in Chicago, Houston, New York, and San Francisco; US—Ambassador James R. LILLEY; Embassy at Xiu Shui Bei Jie 3, Beijing (mailing address is FPO San Francisco 96655); telephone p86o (1) 532–3831; there are US Consulates General in Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenyang
Flag: 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
- Economy Overview: Beginning in late 1978 the Chinese leadership has been trying to move the economy from the sluggish Soviet-style centrally planned economy to a more productive and flexible economy with market elements—but still within the framework of monolithic Communist control. To this end the authorities have 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 foreign economic sector to increased trade and joint ventures. The most gratifying result has been a strong spurt in production, particularly in agriculture in the early 1980s. Otherwise, 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 and thereby undermining the credibility of the reform process. Open inflation and excess demand continue to plague the economy, and political repression, following the crackdown at Tiananmen in mid-1989, has curtailed tourism, foreign aid, and new investment by foreign firms. Popular resistance and changes in central policy have weakened China's population control program, which is essential to the nation's long-term economic viability.
GNP: $NA, per capita $NA; real growth rate 4% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 19.5% (1989)
Unemployment rate: 3.0% in urban areas (1989)
Budget: revenues $NA; expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of
$NA
Exports: $52.5 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities—manufactured goods, agricultural products, oilseeds, grain (rice and corn), oil, minerals; partners—Hong Kong, US, Japan, USSR, Singapore, FRG (1989)
Imports: $59.1 billion (c.i.f., 1989); commodities—grain (mostly wheat), chemical fertilizer, steel, industrial raw materials, machinery,
