China

• frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern and eastern coasts);
• damaging floods;
• tsunamis;
• earthquakes;
• droughts

• air pollution from the overwhelming use of high-sulfur coal as a fuel, produces acid rain which is damaging forests;
• water shortages experienced throughout the country, particularly in urban areas;
• future growth in water usage threatens to outpace supplies;
• water pollution from industrial effluents;
• much of the population does not have access to potable water;
• less than 10% of sewage receives treatment;
• deforestation;
• estimated loss of one-fifth of agricultural land since 1949 to soil erosion and economic development;
• desertification;
• trade in endangered species

party to:

Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified :

Desertification

at birth :

1.11 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.11 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.07 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.87 male(s)/female

total population:

1.06 male(s)/female (1997 est.)

noun :

Chinese (singular and plural)

adjective:

Chinese

conventional long form :

People's Republic of China

conventional short form:

China

local long form:

Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo

local short form:

Zhong Guo

abbreviation:

PRC

• 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* (Tibet), Yunnan, Zhejiang

note: China considers Taiwan its 23rd province

• 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

chief of state:

President JIANG Zemin (since 27 March 1993) and Vice President RONG Yiren (since 27 March 1993)

head of government:

• Premier LI Peng (acting premier since 24 November 1987, premier since 9 April 1988);
• Vice Premiers ZHU Rongji (since 8 April 1991), ZOU Jiahua (since 8 April 1991), QIAN Qichen (since 29 March 1993), LI Lanqing (29 March 1993), WU Bangguo (since 17 March 1995), and JIANG Chunyun (since 17 March 1995)

cabinet:

State Council appointed by the National People's Congress (NPC)

elections:

• president and vice president elected by the National People's Congress for five-year terms;
• election last held 27 March 1993 (next to be held NA March 1998);
• premier and vice premiers nominated by the president, confirmed by the National People's Congress

election results:

JIANG Zemin elected by the Eighth National People's Congress; percent of National People's Congress vote - NA

chief of mission:

Ambassador LI Daoyu

chancery :

2300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 328-2500 through 2502

consulate(s) general:

Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco

chief of mission:

Ambassador James R. SASSER

embassy:

Xiu Shui Bei Jie 3, 100600 Beijing

mailing address:

PSC 461, Box 50, FPO AP 96521-0002

telephone:

[86] (10) 6532-3831

revenues :

$NA

expenditures:

$NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

• rice, wheat, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton, other fibers, oilseed;
• pork and other livestock products;
• fish

total value :

$151.07 billion (f.o.b., 1996)

commodities:

clothing, miscellaneous consumer goods, fabrics, footwear, toys, electrical machinery and switchgear (1995)

partners:

Hong Kong, Japan, US, South Korea, Germany, Singapore (1995)

total value :

$138.83 billion (c.i.f., 1996)

commodities:

plastics, fabrics, telecommunications equipment, electrical machinery and switchgear, transistors, other industrial machinery (1995)

partners:

Japan, US, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Germany, Russia (1995)

• domestic and international services are increasingly available for private use;
• unevenly distributed domestic system serves principal cities, industrial centers, and most townships

domestic:

• telephone lines are being expanded to 100 million by 1996;
• interprovincial fiber-optic trunk lines and cellular telephone systems have been installed;
• a domestic satellite system with 55 earth stations is in place

international:

• satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean Region) and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific and Indian Ocean Regions);
• several international fiber-optic links to Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong

total :

62,500 km (including 5,400 km of provincial "local" rails)

standard gauge:

58,900 km 1.435-m gauge (9,700 km electrified; 18,100 km double track)

narrow gauge:

3,600 km 0.750-m gauge local industrial lines (1996 est.)

total:

1.117 million km

paved:

239,500 km

unpaved:

877,500 km (1996 est.)

• the officially announced but suspect figure is 70.2 billion yuan (1995 est.);
• note - conversion of the defense budget into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading results

• boundary with India in dispute;
• disputed sections of the boundary with Russia remain to be settled;
• boundary with Tajikistan in dispute;
• short section of the boundary with North Korea is indefinite;
• involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei;
• maritime boundary dispute with Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin;
• Paracel Islands occupied by China, but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan;
• claims Japanese-administered Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu Tai), as does Taiwan