The 2008 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency (ebook reader 8 inch .txt) 📕

Jinping elected vice president with a total of 2,919 votes

Legislative branch:

unicameral National People's Congress or Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui (2,987 seats; members elected by municipal, regional, and provincial people's congresses, and People's Liberation Army to serve five-year terms) elections: last held December 2007-February 2008; date of next election - NA election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - 2,987

Judicial branch:

Supreme People's Court (judges appointed by the National People's Congress); Local People's Courts (comprise higher, intermediate, and basic courts); Special People's Courts (primarily military, maritime, railway transportation, and forestry courts)

Political parties and leaders:

Chinese Communist Party or CCP [HU Jintao]; eight registered small parties controlled by CCP

Political pressure groups and leaders:

the China Democracy Party; the Falungong spiritual movement note: no substantial political opposition groups exist, although the government has identified the organizations listed above as subversive groups

International organization participation:

ADB, AfDB (nonregional members), APEC, APT, Arctic Council (observer), ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, CDB, EAS, FAO, G-24 (observer), G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, PCA, PIF (partner), SAARC (observer), SCO, UN, UN Security Council, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNITAR, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMIT, UNOCI, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador ZHOU Wenzhong chancery: 2300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 328-2500 FAX: [1] (202) 328-2582 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco

Diplomatic representation from the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador Clark T. RANDT, Jr. embassy: 55 An Jia Lou Lu, 100600 Beijing mailing address: PSC 461, Box 50, FPO AP 96521-0002 telephone: [86] (10) 8531-3000 FAX: [86] (10) 8531-3300 consulate(s) general: Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macau, Shanghai, Shenyang

Flag description:

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
China

Economy - overview:

China's economy during the last quarter century has changed from a centrally planned system that was largely closed to international trade to a more market-oriented economy that has a rapidly growing private sector and is a major player in the global economy. Reforms started in the late 1970s with the phasing out of collectivized agriculture, and expanded to include the gradual liberalization of prices, fiscal decentralization, increased autonomy for state enterprises, the foundation of a diversified banking system, the development of stock markets, the rapid growth of the non-state sector, and the opening to foreign trade and investment. China has generally implemented reforms in a gradualist or piecemeal fashion, including the sale of minority shares in four of China's largest state banks to foreign investors and refinements in foreign exchange and bond markets in 2005. After keeping its currency tightly linked to the US dollar for years, China in July 2005 revalued its currency by 2.1% against the US dollar and moved to an exchange rate system that references a basket of currencies. Cumulative appreciation of the renminbi against the US dollar since the end of the dollar peg reached 15% in January 2008. The restructuring of the economy and resulting efficiency gains have contributed to a more than tenfold increase in GDP since 1978. Measured on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis, China in 2007 stood as the second-largest economy in the world after the US, although in per capita terms the country is still lower middle-income. Annual inflows of foreign direct investment in 2007 rose to $75 billion. By the end of 2007, more than 5,000 domestic Chinese enterprises had established direct investments in 172 countries and regions around the world. The Chinese government faces several economic development challenges: (a) to sustain adequate job growth for tens of millions of workers laid off from state-owned enterprises, migrants, and new entrants to the work force; (b) to reduce corruption and other economic crimes; and (c) to contain environmental damage and social strife related to the economy's rapid transformation. Economic development has been more rapid in coastal provinces than in the interior, and approximately 200 million rural laborers have relocated to urban areas to find work. One demographic consequence of the "one child" policy is that China is now one of the most rapidly aging countries in the world. Deterioration in the environment - notably air pollution, soil erosion, and the steady fall of the water table, especially in the north - is another long-term problem. China continues to lose arable land because of erosion and economic development. In 2007 China intensified government efforts to improve environmental conditions, tying the evaluation of local officials to environmental targets, publishing a national climate change policy, and establishing a high level leading group on climate change, headed by Premier WEN Jiabao. The Chinese government seeks to add energy production capacity from sources other than coal and oil as its double-digit economic growth increases demand. Chinese energy officials in 2007 agreed to purchase five third generation nuclear reactors from Western companies. More power generating capacity came on line in 2006 as large scale investments - including the Three Gorges Dam across the Yangtze River - were completed.

GDP (purchasing power parity):

$7.099 trillion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):

$3.251 trillion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

11.9% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$5,400 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 11.3% industry: 48.6% services: 40.1% (2007 est.)

Labor force:

800.7 million (2007 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 43% industry: 25% services: 32% (2006 est.)

Unemployment rate:

4% unemployment in urban areas; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas (2007 est.)

Population below poverty line:

8% note: 21.5 million rural population live below the official "absolute poverty" line (approximately $90 per year); and an additional 35.5 million rural population above that but below the official "low income" line (approximately $125 per year) (2006 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%: 1.6% highest 10%: 34.9% (2004)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:

47 (2007)

Investment (gross fixed):

42.7% of GDP (2007 est.)

Budget:

revenues: $674.3 billion expenditures: $651.6 billion (2007 est.)

Fiscal year:

calendar year

Public debt:

18.4% of GDP (2007 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

4.8% (2007 est.)

Central bank discount rate:

3.33% (31 December 2007)

Commercial bank prime lending rate:

7.47% (31 December 2007)

Stock of money:

$2.09 trillion (31 December 2007)

Stock of quasi money:

$3.437 trillion (31 December 2007)

Stock of domestic credit:

$4.653 trillion (31 December 2007)

Agriculture - products:

rice, wheat, potatoes, corn, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, apples, cotton, oilseed; pork; fish

Industries:

mining and ore processing, iron, steel, aluminum, and other metals, coal; machine building; armaments; textiles and apparel; petroleum; cement; chemicals; fertilizers; consumer products, including footwear, toys, and electronics; food processing; transportation equipment, including automobiles, rail cars and locomotives, ships, and aircraft; telecommunications equipment, commercial space launch vehicles, satellites

Industrial production growth rate:

13.4% (2007 est.)

Electricity - production:

3.256 trillion kWh (2007)

Electricity - consumption:

2.859 trillion kWh (2006)

Electricity - exports:

14.04 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - imports:

4.771 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - production by source:

fossil fuel: 80.2% hydro: 18.5% nuclear: 1.2% other: 0.1% (2001)

Oil - production:

3.725 million bbl/day (2008 est.)

Oil - consumption:

7.578 million bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - exports:

79,060 bbl/day (2007)

Oil - imports:

3.19 million bbl/day (2007)

Oil - proved reserves:

16 billion bbl (1 January 2008 est.)

Natural gas - production:

69.27 billion cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:

70.51 billion cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - exports:

2.69 billion cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - imports:

3.92 billion cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:

2.265 trillion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)

Current account balance:

$371.8 billion (2007 est.)

Exports:

$1.22 trillion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Exports - commodities:

machinery, electrical products, data processing equipment, apparel, textile, steel, mobile phones

Exports - partners:

US 19.1%, Hong Kong 15.1%, Japan 8.4%, South Korea 4.6%, Germany 4% (2007)

Imports:

$904.6 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Imports - commodities:

machinery and equipment, oil and mineral fuels, plastics, LED screens, data processing equipment, optical and medical equipment, organic chemicals, steel, copper

Imports - partners:

Japan 14%, South Korea 10.9%, Taiwan 10.5%, US 7.3%, Germany 4.7% (2007)

Economic aid - recipient:

$1.641 billion (FY07)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

$1.534 trillion (31 December 2007 est.)

Debt - external:

$363 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:

$758.9 billion (2007 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:

$93.75 billion ( 2007 est.)

Market value of publicly traded shares:

$4.477 trillion (31 December 2007 est.)

Currency (code):

Renminbi (RMB); note - also referred to by the unit yuan (CNY)

Currency code:

CNY

Exchange rates:

Renminbi yuan (RMB) per US dollar - 7.61 (2007), 7.97 (2006), 8.1943 (2005), 8.2768 (2004), 8.277 (2003)

Communications
China

Telephones - main lines in use:

365.4 million (2007)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

547.286 million (2007)

Telephone system:

general assessment: domestic and international services are increasingly available for private use; unevenly distributed domestic system serves principal cities, industrial centers, and many towns; nonetheless, by the end of 2006, more than 95% of China's villages had been connected to the telephone network; China continues to develop its telecommunications infrastructure, and is partnering with foreign providers to expand its global reach; 3 of China's 6 major telecommunications operators are part of an international consortium which, in December 2006, signed an agreement with Verizon Business to build the first next-generation fiber optic submarine cable system directly linking the US mainland and China domestic: interprovincial fiber-optic trunk lines and cellular telephone systems have been installed; mobile-cellular subscribership is increasing rapidly; the number of Internet users reached 253 million in 2008; a domestic satellite system with 55 earth stations is in place international: country code - 86; a number of submarine cables provide connectivity to Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and the US; satellite earth stations - 7 (5 Intelsat - 4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean; 1 Intersputnik - Indian Ocean region; and 1 Inmarsat - Pacific and Indian Ocean regions) (2007)

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 369, FM 259, shortwave 45 (1998)

Radios:

417 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations:

3,240 (of which 209 are operated by China Central Television, 31 are provincial TV stations, and nearly 3,000 are local city stations) (1997)

Televisions:

400 million (1997)

Internet country code:

.cn

Internet hosts:

14.306 million (2008)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

3 (2000)

Internet users:

253 million (2008)

Transportation
China

Airports:

467 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 403 over 3,047 m: 58 2,438 to 3,047 m: 128 1,524 to 2,437 m: 130 914 to 1,523 m: 20 under 914 m: 67 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 64 over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 13 914 to 1,523 m: 17 under 914 m: 26 (2007)

Heliports:

35 (2007)

Pipelines:

gas 26,344 km; oil 17,240 km; refined products 6,106 km (2007)

Railways:

total: 75,438 km standard gauge: 75,438 km 1.435-m gauge (20,151 km electrified) (2005)

Roadways:

total: 1,930,544 km paved: 1,575,571 km (includes 41,005 km of expressways) unpaved: 354,973 km (2005)

Waterways:

124,000 km navigable (2006)

Merchant marine:

total: 1,826 by type: barge carrier 4, bulk carrier 451, cargo 689, carrier 2, chemical tanker 69, combination ore/oil 1, container 162, liquefied gas 44, passenger 8, passenger/cargo 83, petroleum tanker 244, refrigerated cargo 33, roll on/roll off 10, specialized tanker 9, vehicle carrier 17 foreign-owned: 20 (Ecuador 1, Greece 2, Hong Kong 12, Indonesia 1, Japan 2, South Korea 1, Norway 1) registered in other countries: 1,441 (Bahamas 10, Bangladesh 1, Belize 71, Bermuda 10, Bolivia 1, Cambodia 193, Cyprus 10, France 5, Georgia 10, Germany 2,