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China at a glance
- Did you know?
-
China has more speakers of English as a second language than America
has native English speakers.
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- Region
- East Asia
- Population
- 1,313,973,713 (July 2006 est.)
- Land
- Geography: Deltas, hills and plains in the east; mountains, plateaus
and deserts in the west
- Climate: Tropical in the south to subarctic in the north
- People
- Religion: Officially atheist; Daoism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity all
followed
- Language: Mandarin; 6 major languages and many dialects
- Economy
- Economy:
Agriculture, mining, manufacturing
GDP per person (PPP): $5,300 (2007 estimate)
GDP by sector: Agriculture 11.3%; Industry 48.6%; Services 40.1%
- Government
- Communist state
Land
Physical geography
Covering 9,596,961 square kilometres of central and east Asia, China stretches
about 5000 km east-west and 5500 km north-south and is the third largest country
in the world. Its topography divides into three major regions: the south-western
mountains, the north-western uplands and deserts, and the eastern plains.
In the south-west, the Yunnan-Guizhbou Plateau has spectacular scenery with
many steep gorges, waterfalls, underground caverns and limestone pinnacles.
There is an average height of 4060 metres and the highest peak in China, Mt
Everest, 8,850 metres.
The north-west includes the Taklamakan Desert, shifting salt lakes and the
Turpan Depression, the hottest region, known as the Oasis of Fire which is 154
metres below sea-level.
Melting snow from the mountains of western China provides the headwaters for
many of the country's rivers: the Yangtze (Ch'ang Chiang), Huang Ho (Yellow),
Mekong and Salween rivers, which flow east through the plains.
Climate
China's wide latitudinal and altitudinal ranges lead to many extremes of climate.
Temperatures generally decrease from south to north. In the far south, the hot
and humid summer lasts from April to September with average temperatures ranging
26° to 31°C although in the Turpan Depression maximums of around 47°C
occur. Winters, December-March, in the north are as extremely cold with a daily
range in temperature from -6°C to -18°C but sometimes dropping as low
as -40°C.
Rainfall reliability decreases from south to north and east to west with the
heavy average annual rainfall of 2225mm in Hong Kong to the dry 250- 750mm on
the North China plains. Typhoons can hit the southeast coast between July and
September.
Environment
Giant pandas, snow leopards, elephants, argali sheep, wild yaks, reindeer,
moose, musk deer and tigers are endemic to China but population pressure means
that many are becoming rare, endangered or extinct. The last great tracts of
forest are in the subarctic north-eastern region while the tropical south is
home to the country's most diverse plant life, including bamboo, ginseng and
angelica.
Rapid industrialisation has led to major air and water pollution problems and
rapidly falling water tables in the north. The huge South to North Water Diversion
Project, begun in 2002, is building three long canals to channel water from
the Yangtze River northwards to the drier parts of the country.
People
About two-fifths of the total population of nearly 1.3 billion live in urban
areas. The most densely settled and cultivated areas are the coastal regions
while there are fewer people living in the harsh conditions of the north and
west. The major cities are Shanghai (9.1 million), Hong Kong (7.2 million), Beijing,
the capital, (6.6million), Tianjin (4.3million), Wuhan (4 million), Shenyang
(3.6 million), and
Guangzhou (3.5 million). Rapid economic development in the cities attracts many
rural people in search of employment.
People
Culture and identity
The Han Chinese form over 90% of the population but there are many linguistic
differences within this group. They speak seven or eight mutually unintelligible
dialects, each of which has many local sub-dialects. There are 56 ethnic groups,
including the Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol and Koreans.
The Chinese Constitution specifies that all ethic groups are equal and guarantees
the lawful rights and interests of all.
Confucianism with its strong tradition of social and political guidelines for
interaction has influenced Chinese thinking and behaviour for many centuries.
The government and scholars used public rituals, ceremonies, folk songs, popular
drama, literature and the arts to educate people. Many family duties are clearly
defined including sons having a duty to support their aging parents.
Health
The health of the people has dramatically improved as reflected by the increase
in average life expectancy from about 32 years in 1950 to 72.5 years
in 2002. Access to safe water is 77% but only 44% have safe sanitation. Extensive health education programs focused on reduction of pests and
changing behaviours in the use of human wastes as fertilisers and have almost
eradicated diseases such as cholera, plague, typhoid, and scarlet fever. Less than 0.2% are HIV positive.
An effective three tier system of providing increasing levels of care operated
from the 1950's to 1980's. At the rural level there was focus on preventative
and primary care (known as the barefoot doctors), at the township level basic
there were health centres and at the regional level there were major hospitals.
Economic changes led to user pays which has severely reduced provision of health
care, particularly in rural areas. Strong pressure is placed on families to
limit families to one child and boys are generally preferred which is causing
major social problems. Leading causes of death are respiratory diseases and
cancers.
Religion and beliefs
Freedom of religious belief is China's official policy and the overwhelming
majority of the Chinese population are non-religious, but Buddhism, Taoism,
Islam and Christianity are practiced by a considerable number of people.
Food and shelter
Chinese cuisine is extremely diverse but there is always a strong emphasis
on freshness, flavour and texture. The cuisine can be divided into four regional
categories: Beijing (with steamed bread and noodles as staples), Cantonese (lightly
cooked meats and vegetables), Shanghainese ('red cooking') and Sichuan (spicy,
with lots of chilli). Most meals are eaten with rice. They are quickly scooped
into the mouth with wooden or bamboo chopsticks from small bowls held close
to the mouth. Tea, served in small cups, is drunk for relaxation in quiet company.
There are a wide variety of traditional Chinese homes reflecting the environmental
and cultural conditions of the area. They range from the towering green tiled
roof of a Hakka fortress, the graceful 'swallow's tail' ridgeline of a Taiwan
farmer's house, the circular tent of a Mongol yurt, the underground cave homes
in the loessial uplands, to the Beijing hutong with four houses around a quadrangular
courtyard to the single room in a multi-storey apartment block. During the socialist
era houses were provided by the state run company and matched to the status
and needs of workers. Recently more variety is available to those who can afford
them.
Economy
Wealth and poverty
The benefits of the rapid economic growth have not been evenly spread as rural
people, particularly ethnic minority groups living in the north and west are
being left far behind city workers with high paying jobs. As uneducated rural
people migrate to the cities in search of work urban poverty is increasing.
About 10% of the population are below the poverty line. The poorest 10% consume
only about 1.8% while the richest 10% consume nearly one-third of goods and
services.
Education and work
School attendance is compulsory from ages 7 to 15. Urban schools are state
funded. Rural schools rely mostly on their own resources so standards are lower
and few students attend secondary school. Up to half of the boys and three-quarters
of all girls in many of China's poorest villages do not attend school. The majority
(91%) of the adult population can read.
About half the population are farmers with industry and services employing
roughly a quarter each. There is substantial unemployment and underemployment
in rural areas. Roughly 80 to 120 million rural workers wander between villages
and cities, subsisting on part-time low-paying jobs.
Industries and products
Agricultural products include rice, wheat, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea,
millet, barley, cotton, oilseed, pork and fish.
Industrial products include iron and steel, coal, machinery, armaments, textiles,
clothing, petroleum, cement, chemical fertilizers, footwear, toys, food processing,
cars, consumer electronics, and telecommunications.
Trade
China
exports machinery, textiles, clothing, footwear, toys and sporting goods and fuel
to US 22%, Hong Kong 16.3%, Japan 11%, South Korea 4.6% and Germany 4.5% (2005).
China imports machinery and equipment, mineral fuels, plastics, iron and
steel, chemicals from Japan 15.2%, South Korea 11.6%, Taiwan 11.2%, US 7.4% and
Germany 4.6% (2005).
Achievements and challenges
Frequent typhoons, massive floods, tsunamis, earthquakes and droughts can affect
many people throughout China.
Rapid economic growth during the past twenty years has greatly improved the
quality of life for many people but there are still over 100 million people
living in poverty. There are growing inequalities between rural and urban people,
coastal and inland provinces, and men and women.
Environmental damage (air pollution, deforestation, erosion, falling water
tables) is a result of the enormous population's demands for food and services.
The improved economy means that in some cities air pollution is now from cars
rather than wood and coal stoves as people can afford them and gas stoves.
Political controls remain tight. There are ongoing tensions over the control
of Taiwan and government of Hong Kong. Human rights violations include arbitrary
and lengthy detention and restrictions on freedom of speech, the press, assembly,
association, religion, privacy, and worker rights. Women's rights are still
limited.
Links with Australia
Chinese people began arriving in Australia from the early nineteenth
century fleeing civil disorder, famine and floods in southern China. They were
also attracted to the discovery of gold in Australia. In 1861 the China-born
population was 38,258 or 3.4% of the total population. Public hostility towards
the Chinese influenced governments to restrict their immigration so that by
1947 the China-born population was about 6,400. Changes in government policy
in 1972 led to an increase in Asian immigration and by the 2001Census the China-born
population numbered 142,720 living mainly in New South Wales (85,450) and Victoria
(36,760).
Chinese exports to Australia include clothing, computers, toys, games, sporting
goods, footwear and telecommunications equipment. Australian exports to China
include iron ore, wool, petrol, coal and aluminium. In August 2003 China signed
a $US25 billion contract to purchase liquefied natural gas from Australia's
Northwest Shelf Project.
Australian aid projects in China aim to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable
development. Programs focus on promotion of good governance, particularly by
supporting China's transition to a market economy, and support efforts to improve
rural development, especially environmental management and access to water,
and improving the basic health and education.
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