China

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

• air pollution (greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide particulates) from reliance on coal, produces acid rain;
• water shortages, particularly in the north;
• water pollution from untreated wastes;
• 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, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified:

Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Nuclear Test Ban

0-14 years:

26% (male 169,206,275; female 149,115,216)

15-64 years:

68% (male 435,047,915; female 408,663,265)

65 years and over:

6% (male 39,824,361; female 45,014,919) (1999 est.)

at birth:

1.15 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.13 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.88 male(s)/female

total population:

1.07 male(s)/female (1999 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 4 municipalities** (shi, singular and plural);
• Anhui, Beijing**, Chongqing**, 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; see separate entry for the special administrative region of Hong Kong

• 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 HU Jintao (since 16 March 1998)

head of government:

• Premier ZHU Rongji (since 18 March 1998);
• Vice Premiers QIAN Qichen (since 29 March 1993), LI Lanqing (29 March 1993), WU Bangguo (since 17 March 1995), and WEN Jiabao (since 18 March 1998)

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;
• elections last held 16-18 March 1998 (next to be held NA March 2003);
• premier nominated by the president, confirmed by the National People's Congress

election results:

• JIANG Zemin reelected president by the Ninth National People's Congress with a total of 2,882 votes (36 delegates voted against him, 29 abstained, and 32 did not vote);
• HU Jintao elected vice president by the Ninth National People's Congress with a total of 2,841 votes (67 delegates voted against him, 39 abstained, and 32 did not vote)

chief of mission:

Ambassador LI Zhaoxing

chancery:

2300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

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

consulate(s) general:

Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang

lowest 10%:

2.2%

highest 10%:

30.9% (1995)

revenues:

$NA

expenditures:

$NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

• rice, wheat, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton, oilseed;
• pork;
• fish

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

domestic:

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, Hong Kong, Russia, and Germany

total:

64,900 km (including 5,400 km of provincial "local" rails)

standard gauge:

61,300 km 1.435-m gauge (12,000 km electrified; 20,000 km double track)

narrow gauge:

3,600 km 0.750-m gauge local industrial lines (1998 est.)

note: a new total of 68,000 km has been estimated for early 1999

total:

1.21 million km

paved:

271,300 km (with at least 24,474 km of motorways)

unpaved:

938,700 km (1998 est.)

People's Liberation Army (PLA), which includes the Ground Forces, Navy (includes Marines and Naval Aviation), Air Force, Second Artillery Corps (the strategic missile force), People's Armed Police (internal security troops, nominally subordinate to Ministry of Public Security, but included by the Chinese as part of the "armed forces" and considered to be an adjunct to the PLA in wartime)

• boundary with India in dispute;
• dispute over at least two small sections of the boundary with Russia remain to be settled, despite 1997 boundary agreement;
• most of the boundary with Tajikistan in dispute;
• 33-km section of boundary with North Korea in the Paektu-san (mountain) area 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;
• sections of land border with Vietnam are indefinite