311 lines
25 KiB
Plaintext
311 lines
25 KiB
Plaintext
CHINA
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(also see separate Taiwan entry)
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GEOGRAPHY
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Total area: 9,596,960 km2; land area: 9,326,410 km2
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Comparative area: slightly larger than the US
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Land boundaries: 23,213.34 km total; Afghanistan 76 km, Bhutan
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470 km, Burma 2,185 km, Hong Kong 30 km, India 3,380 km, North Korea
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1,416 km, Laos 423 km, Macau 0.34 km, Mongolia 4,673 km, Nepal 1,236 km,
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Pakistan 523 km, USSR 7,520 km, Vietnam 1,281 km
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Coastline: 14,500 km
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Maritime claims:
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Continental shelf: claim to shallow areas of East China Sea
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and Yellow Sea
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Territorial sea: 12 nm
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Disputes: boundary with India; bilateral negotiations are under
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way to resolve disputed sections of the boundary with the USSR; a short
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section of the boundary with North Korea is indefinite; sporadic border
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clashes with Vietnam; involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly
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Islands with Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam; maritime
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boundary dispute with Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin; Paracel Islands
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occupied by China, but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; claims
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Japanese-administered Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands)
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Climate: extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north
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Terrain: mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains,
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deltas, and hills in east
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Natural resources: coal, iron ore, crude oil, mercury, tin,
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tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum,
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lead, zinc, uranium, world's largest hydropower potential
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Land use: arable land 10%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
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pastures 31%; forest and woodland 14%; other 45%; includes irrigated 5%
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Environment: frequent typhoons (about five times per year along
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southern and eastern coasts), damaging floods, tsunamis, earthquakes;
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deforestation; soil erosion; industrial pollution; water pollution;
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air pollution; desertification
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Note: world's third-largest country (after USSR and Canada)
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PEOPLE
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Population: 1,151,486,981 (July 1991), growth rate 1.6% (1991)
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Birth rate: 22 births/1,000 population (1991)
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Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
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Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
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Infant mortality rate: 33 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
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Life expectancy at birth: 68 years male, 72 years female (1991)
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Total fertility rate: 2.3 children born/woman (1991)
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Nationality: noun--Chinese (sing., pl.); adjective--Chinese
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Ethnic divisions: Han Chinese 93.3%; Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi,
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Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities
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6.7%
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Religion: officially atheist, but traditionally pragmatic and
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eclectic; most important elements of religion are Confucianism, Taoism,
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and Buddhism; Muslim 2-3%, Christian 1% (est.)
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Language: Standard Chinese (Putonghua) or Mandarin (based on the
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Beijing dialect); also Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei
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(Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, and
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minority languages (see ethnic divisions)
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Literacy: 73% (male 84%, female 62%) age 15 and over can
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read and write (1990 est.)
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Labor force: 553,000,000; agriculture and forestry 60%, industry
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and commerce 25%, construction and mining 5%, social services 5%,
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other 5% (1989 est.)
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Organized labor: All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU)
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follows the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party; membership over 80
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million or about 65% of the urban work force (1985)
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GOVERNMENT
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Long-form name: People's Republic of China; abbreviated PRC
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Type: Communist Party-led state
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Capital: Beijing
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Administrative divisions: 23 provinces (sheng, singular and
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plural), 5 autonomous regions* (zizhiqu, singular and plural), and 3
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municipalities** (shi, singular and plural); Anhui, Beijing**, Fujian,
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Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi*, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan,
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Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol*, Ningxia*,
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Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanghai**, Shanxi, Sichuan, Tianjin**,
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Xinjiang*, Xizang*, Yunnan, Zhejiang; note--China considers Taiwan its
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23rd province
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Independence: unification under the Qin (Ch'in) Dynasty 221 BC,
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Qing (Ch'ing or Manchu) Dynasty replaced by the Republic on 12 February
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1912, People's Republic established 1 October 1949
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Constitution: 4 December 1982
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Legal system: a complex amalgam of custom and statute, largely
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criminal law; rudimentary civil code in effect since 1 January 1987; new
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legal codes in effect since 1 January 1980; continuing efforts are being
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made to improve civil, administrative, criminal, and commercial law
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National holiday: National Day, 1 October (1949)
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Executive branch: president, vice president, premier, five vice
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premiers, State Council
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Legislative branch: unicameral National People's Congress (Quanguo
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Renmin Daibiao Dahui)
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Judicial branch: Supreme People's Court
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Leaders:
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Chief of State and Head of Government (de facto)--DENG
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Xiaoping (since mid-1977);
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Chief of State--President YANG Shangkun (since 8 April 1988);
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Vice President WANG Zhen (since 8 April 1988);
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Head of Government--Premier LI Peng (Acting Premier since
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24 November 1987, Premier since 9 April 1988);
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Vice Premier YAO Yilin (since 2 July 1979);
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Vice Premier TIAN Jiyun (since 20 June 1983);
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Vice Premier WU Xueqian (since 12 April 1988);
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Vice Premier ZOU Jiahua (since 8 April 1991);
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Vice Premier ZHU Rongji (since 8 April 1991)
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Political parties and leaders: only party--Chinese Communist Party
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(CCP), JIANG Zemin, general secretary of the Central Committee (since
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NA June 1989)
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Suffrage: universal at age 18
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Elections:
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President--last held 8 April 1988 (next to be held March 1993);
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YANG Shangkun was nominally elected by the Seventh National People's
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Congress;
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National People's Congress--last held NA March 1988 (next to
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be held March 1993); results--CCP is the only party but there are
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also independents;
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seats--(2,976 total) CCP and independents 2,976 (indirectly elected
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at county or xian level)
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Communists: 49,000,000 party members (1990 est.)
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Other political or pressure groups: such meaningful opposition as
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exists consists of loose coalitions, usually within the party and
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government organization, that vary by issue
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Member of: AfDB, AsDB, CCC, ESCAP, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO,
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IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO,
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ITU, LORCS, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UN Security
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Council, UN Trusteeship Council, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
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Diplomatic representation: Ambassador ZHU Qizhen; Chancery at
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2300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008;
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telephone (202) 328-2500 through 2502; there are Chinese Consulates
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General in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco;
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US--Ambassador James R. LILLEY; Embassy at Xiu Shui Bei Jie 3,
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Beijing (mailing address is 100600, PRC Box 50, Beijing or FPO San
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Francisco 96655-0001); telephone 86 (1) 532-3831; there are US
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Consulates General in Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenyang
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Flag: red with a large yellow five-pointed star and four smaller
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yellow five-pointed stars (arranged in a vertical arc toward the middle
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of the flag) in the upper hoist-side corner
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ECONOMY
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Overview: Beginning in late 1978 the Chinese leadership has been
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trying to move the economy from the sluggish Soviet-style centrally
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planned economy to a more productive and flexible economy with market
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elements--but still within the framework of monolithic Communist control.
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To this end the authorities have switched to a system of household
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responsibility in agriculture in place of the old collectivization,
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increased the authority of local officials and plant managers in
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industry, permitted a wide variety of small-scale enterprise in services
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and light manufacturing, and opened the foreign economic sector to
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increased trade and joint ventures. The most gratifying result has been a
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strong spurt in production, particularly in agriculture in the early
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1980s. Otherwise, the leadership has often experienced in its hybrid
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system the worst results of socialism (bureaucracy, lassitude,
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corruption) and of capitalism (windfall gains and stepped-up inflation).
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Beijing thus has periodically backtracked, retightening central controls
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at intervals and thereby undermining the credibility of the reform
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process. Popular resistance and changes in central policy have
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weakened China's population control program, which is essential to the
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nation's long-term economic viability.
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GNP: $413 billion (1989 est.), per capita $370 (World Bank est.);
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real growth rate 5% (1990)
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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.1% (1990)
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Unemployment rate: 2.6% in urban areas (1990)
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Budget: revenues $NA; expenditures $NA, including capital
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expenditures of $NA
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Exports: $62.1 billion (f.o.b., 1990);
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commodities--textiles, garments, telecommunications and recording
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equipment, petroleum, minerals;
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partners--Hong Kong, US, Japan, USSR, Singapore, FRG (1989)
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Imports: $53.4 billion (c.i.f., 1990);
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commodities--specialized industrial machinery, chemicals,
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manufactured goods, steel, textile yarn, fertilizer;
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partners--Hong Kong, Japan, US, FRG, USSR (1989)
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External debt: $51 billion (1990 est.)
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Industrial production: growth rate 7.6% (1990); accounts
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for 45% of GNP
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Electricity: 117,580,000 kW capacity; 585,000 million kWh produced,
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520 kWh per capita (1990)
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Industries: iron, steel, coal, machine building, armaments,
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textiles, petroleum, cement, chemical fertilizers, consumer durables,
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food processing
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Agriculture: accounts for 26% of GNP; among the world's largest
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producers of rice, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley,
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and pork; commercial crops include cotton, other fibers, and oilseeds;
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produces variety of livestock products; basically self-sufficient in
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food; fish catch of 8 million metric tons in 1986
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Economic aid: donor--to less developed countries (1970-89) $7.0
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billion; US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-87), $220.7 million;
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Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87),
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$13.5 billion
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Currency: yuan (plural--yuan); 1 yuan (Y) = 10 jiao
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Exchange rates: yuan (Y) per US$1--5.31 (April 1991),
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4.7832 (1990), 3.7651 (1989), 3.7221 (1988), 3.7221 (1987), 3.4528
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(1986), 2.9367 (1985)
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Fiscal year: calendar year
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COMMUNICATIONS
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Railroads: total about 54,000 km common carrier lines; 53,400 km
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1.435-meter standard gauge; 600 km 1.000-meter gauge;
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all single track except 11,200 km double track on standard-gauge lines;
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6,500 km electrified; 10,000 km industrial lines
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(gauges range from 0.762 to 1.067 meters)
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Highways: about 980,000 km all types roads; 162,000 km paved
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roads, 617,200 km gravel/improved earth roads, 200,800 km unimproved
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natural earth roads and tracks
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Inland waterways: 138,600 km; about 109,800 km navigable
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Pipelines: crude, 6,500 km; refined products, 1,100 km; natural
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gas, 6,200 km
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Ports: Dalian, Guangzhou, Huangpu, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai,
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Xingang, Zhanjiang, Ningbo, Xiamen, Tanggu, Shantou
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Merchant marine: 1,421 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling
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14,010,317 GRT/21,223,170 DWT; includes 24 passenger, 42 short-sea
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passenger, 19 passenger-cargo, 7 cargo/training, 776 cargo, 11
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refrigerated cargo, 70 container, 17 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 2
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multifunction barge carrier, 181 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL)
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tanker, 9 chemical tanker, 250 bulk, 2 liquefied gas, 2 vehicle carrier,
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9 combination bulk; note--China beneficially owns an additional 183 ships
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(1,000 GRT or over) totaling approximately 5,921,000 DWT that operate
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under Maltese and Liberian registry
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Airports: 330 total, 330 usable; 260 with permanent-surface
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runways; fewer than 10 with runways over 3,500 m; 90 with runways
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2,440-3,659 m; 200 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
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Telecommunications: domestic and international services are
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increasingly available for private use; unevenly distributed internal
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system serves principal cities, industrial centers, and most townships;
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11,000,000 telephones (December 1989); stations--274 AM, unknown FM,
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202 (2,050 relays) TV; more than 215 million radio receivers; 75 million
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TVs; satellite earth stations--4 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT, 1 Indian Ocean
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INTELSAT, 1 INMARSAT, and 55 domestic
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DEFENSE FORCES
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Branches: Chinese People's Liberation Army (CPLA), CPLA Navy
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(including Marines), CPLA Air Force, Chinese People's Armed Police
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Manpower availability: males 15-49, 335,382,062; 187,046,680 fit
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for military service; 10,967,622 reach military age (18) annually
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Defense expenditures: $NA, NA% of GNP
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