CHINA's COUNTRY PROFILE

Country Profile
Physical Geography
Official Name of Country-People's Republic of China
Climate-extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north
Political Geography
Type of government, names of the officials, and major political parties- Communist, Hu-Jingtao
Capital-Beijing
International Organization participation-
ADB, AfDB (nonregional member), APEC, APT, ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, CDB, EAS, FAO, G-20, 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, SICA (observer), 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
Size of armed forces-
Fit for military service.
Males age 16-49: 314,459,083
Females age 16-49: 296,763,134 (2009 est.)
Available for military service
males age 16-49: 375,009,345
females age 16-49: 354,314,328 (2008 est.)
Cultural Geography
Official language, and other languages spoken, ethnic composition, and major religions-
Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic groups entry)
Population, population growth rate, and population distribution
Population-1,338,612,968 (July 2009 est.) Population growth rate- 0.655% (2009 est.)
Major cities-Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenyang, Beijing.

Infant mortality rate and average life expectancy
total: 20.25 deaths/1,000 live births
country comparison to the world: 103
male: 18.87 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 21.77 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
Economic Geography
GNP (Gross National Product) and GDP (Gross Domestic Product)
GDP
$8.767 trillion (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 3
$8.088 trillion (2008 est.)
$7.42 trillion (2007 est.)
note: data are in 2009 US dollars
Percent of arable land used for agriculture- arable land: 14.86%
Natural resources
coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest)
Major agricultural and industrial products
rice, wheat, potatoes, corn, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, apples, cotton, oilseed; pork; fish
Major exports and imports
EX: electrical and other machinery, including data processing equipment, apparel, textiles, iron and steel, optical and medical equipment
IM: electrical and other machinery, oil and mineral fuels, optical and medical equipment, metal ores, plastics, organic chemicals
1.00 CNY
=
4.69229 TWD
Currency (include exchange rate vs. TWD)


Balance of trade (include amounts in TWD currency of total exports and imports)
IN: $921.5 billion (2009 est.) =29,506,845,735,456.78 TWD
EX: $1.194 trillion (2009 est.)= 38,254,048,191,573.66 TWD


Historical events (Timeline format from 1980 to present; give your teacher 10 major events)

E
1980: Special Economic Zones in Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shantou (Guangdong), Xiamen (Fujian), and the entire province of Hainan.

M
1980: Stop of the surface test program of nuclear bombs near Lop Nor in Xinjiang province after 23 tests.

P
1980: Early 1980s: Debates between "Reds" who favour ideological correctness and "Technocrats" who promote pragmatic reform.

E
1980-1990: Great improvement of China's food security. Significant reduction of rural poverty.

T
1980, June: Timothy Berners-Lee writes "Enquire" - a program that became the conceptual basis for the World Wide Web (www).

E
1980, Aug.: First Special Economic Zones are established in Shenzhen.

T
1981, Sept.: Successful launch of three satellites (SJ-2, SJ-2A, SJ-2b) on one rocket into orbit.

S
1982: China's population surpasses 1 billion people.

L
1982, Dec.: The Fifth National People's Congress adopts a new constitution for China.

E
1984: 14 coastal cities are completely opened to foreign investment.

P
1984, Jan.: China joins the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

P
1984, April: State Council authorizes Yangtze Valley Planning Office to draft feasibility report for Three Gorges Dam project.

D
1985: Free higher education is abolished and replaced by academic scholarships based on academic ability.

P
1985-1988: "Cultural Fever": Intellectuals identify China's "feudal" traditions as reason for backwardness.

D
1986: Legislation concerning compulsory education (usually 6 years).

P
1986: Thousands of students all over China are demonstrating for greater intellectual freedom.

I
1986: Foudation of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)

E
1986: Deng Xiaoping boosts "Open-door" policy to encourage Foreign Direct Investments.

L
1986: The Sixth National People's Congress adpots new Civil Law of the People's Republic of China.

L
1986-1995: Addministrative regulations of 1986 and 1996 allow forced labor camps for re-education (laodong jiaoyang).

S
1987: Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) comes to China. Introduction of Western-style fast-food to China.

P
1987, Jan.: The too "liberal" General Secretary of China's Communist Party, Hu Yaobang, is forced to resign

P
1988: By mid-1988 the CCP annouces that its membership has increased to the all-time high of 47 million.

E
1988: Excessive economic growth with rampand corruption and out-of-control inflation of 18.5%.

C
1988-1993: Chinese movie directors win important international competitions.

T
1988, March: China successfully launches the DFH-2A fully operational communication satellite into earth's orbit.

C
1988, Nov.: TV series "River Elegy" is criticized as "wholesale Westernization" and banned.

C
1989: France’s Hachette Filipacchi starts to publish a Chinese version of the fashion magazine "Elle".

V
1989: Revision of the environmental legislation from 1979.

P
1989: Jiang Zemin replaces Zhao Ziyang as CCP General Secretary.

P
1989, April: Hu Yaobang dies.

P
1989, June: Crack down of Tiananmen Square demonstrations with military power (official death toll: 200)

P
1989, June: In Madrid (Spain), the European Council of Ministers agrees to an EU-wide arms embargo against China.

E
1989, Dec.: Stock markets are opened in Shanghai and Shenzhen.