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Country name:

conventional long form: People's Republic of China
conventional short form: China
local long form: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo

Description:

China is bordered to the north by Russia and Mongolia; to the east by Korea (Dem Rep), the Yellow Sea and the South China Sea; to the south by Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, India, Bhutan and Nepal; and to the west by India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. China has a varied terrain ranging from high plateaux in the west to flatlands in the east; mountains take up almost one-third of the land. The most notable high mountain ranges are the Himalayas, the Altai Mountains, the Tian Shan Mountains and the Kunlun Mountains. On the border with Nepal is the 8,848m (29,198ft) Mount Qomolangma (Mount Everest). In the west is the Qinghai/Tibet Plateau, with an average elevation of 4,000m (13,200ft), known as ‘the Roof of the World'. At the base of the Tian Shan Mountains is the Turpan Depression or Basin, China's lowest area, 154m (508ft) below sea level at the lowest point. China has many great river systems, notably the Yellow (Huang He) and Yangtze River (Chang Jiang, also Yangtze Kiang). Only 10% of all China is suitable for agriculture.
 

Capital:

Beijing (Peking). Population: 16.3 million (2007), estimated 17 million in 2008

Location:

Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam

Area:

9,596,960 sq km (3,705,406 sq miles).

Population:

1.3 billion ( 2008). Roughly a fifth of the world's population lives in China

Languages:

The official language is Mandarin Chinese. Among the enormous number of local dialects, large groups speak Cantonese, Shanghaiese (also known as Shanghainese), Fuzhou, Hokkien-Taiwanese, Xiang, Gan and Hakka dialects in the south. Inner Mongolia, Tibet and Xinjiang, which are autonomous regions, have their own languages. Translation and interpreter services are good. English is spoken by many guides and in hotels. Many taxi drivers do not speak English, even in big cities

Climate:

China has a great diversity of climates. The northeast experiences hot and dry summers and bitterly cold winters. The north and central region has almost continual rainfall, hot summers and cold winters. The southeast region has substantial rainfall, with semi-tropical summers and cool winters. Central, southern and western China are also susceptible to flooding, China is also periodically subject to seismic activity
 

Industries:
iron and steel, coal, machine building, armaments, textiles and apparel, petroleum, cement, chemical fertilizers, footwear, toys, food processing, automobiles, consumer electronics, telecommunications
 

Economy - overview:

China's is now the world's fourth-largest economy, and has seen rapid and consistent growth since starting economic reforms in the 1980s. GDP growth has averaged 10% per year for the past decade. In October 2008, China's foreign exchange reserves hit a new high of USD1.9 trillion.
There is a significant industrial base with pockets of advanced manufacturing and high-technology enterprises, concentrated on the eastern coast and the Pearl River Delta, including Special Administrative Regions such as Hong Kong and Macau.
With huge disparities between the prosperous coastal cities and the socially and economically less developed inland areas, there has been a major population shift from the countryside to cities. Massive engineering schemes include the Three Gorges Dam hydro-electric project, due for completion in 2009.
China is the world's largest rice producer and a major producer of cereals and grain. Large mineral deposits, particularly coal and iron ore, underpin an extensive steel industry. China has its own petrochemicals industry, but increasingly imports large quantities of oil and gas.
China joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001. In 2005, its central bank removed the US-Dollar peg for the Yuan, tying it instead to a basket of international currencies. Ever since, the Chinese currency has appreciated at a brisk, albeit strictly managed, pace, though it is still not convertible on foreign markets.

Economy:

China's is now the world's fourth-largest economy, and has seen rapid and consistent growth since starting economic reforms in the 1980s. GDP growth has averaged 10% per year for the past decade. In October 2008, China's foreign exchange reserves hit a new high of USD1.9 trillion.
There is a significant industrial base with pockets of advanced manufacturing and high-technology enterprises, concentrated on the eastern coast and the Pearl River Delta, including Special Administrative Regions such as Hong Kong and Macau.
With huge disparities between the prosperous coastal cities and the socially and economically less developed inland areas, there has been a major population shift from the countryside to cities. Massive engineering schemes include the Three Gorges Dam hydro-electric project, due for completion in 2009.
China is the world's largest rice producer and a major producer of cereals and grain. Large mineral deposits, particularly coal and iron ore, underpin an extensive steel industry. China has its own petrochemicals industry, but increasingly imports large quantities of oil and gas.
China joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001. In 2005, its central bank removed the US-Dollar peg for the Yuan, tying it instead to a basket of international currencies. Ever since, the Chinese currency has appreciated at a brisk, albeit strictly managed, pace, though it is still not convertible on foreign markets.

Exports:

Machinery and equipment, textiles, clothing and plastics, optical and medical equipment, iron and steel.

Imports:

Machinery and equipment, oil and gas, mineral fuels, plastics, organic chemicals, iron and steel.

• Main trade partners: USA, European Union, Hong Kong (SAR), Japan and Korea (Rep).

Exchange rates:

1 Renminbi Yuan (CNY; symbol ¥) = 10 jiao/mao or 100 fen. Notes are in denominations of ¥100, 50, 20, 10, 5 and 1. Coins are in denominations of ¥1, 5 and 1 jiao/mao. Counterfeit ¥50 and ¥100 notes are commonplace
http://www.worldtravelguide.net/country/58/money/Far-East-Asia/China.html

GDP :

US$3.61 trillion (2007).