China

At a glance Land People Economy Achievements and challenges Links with Australia   China at a glance Did you know? China has more speakers of English as a second language than America has native English speakers. Region East Asia Population 1,330,141,295 (July 2010 estimate) 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: Secular state; Daoism (Taoism), Buddhism are the main religions with small Muslim and Christian populations. Language: Mandarin; 6 major languages and many dialects Economy GDP per person (PPP): $6,600 (2009 estimate) GDP by sector: Agriculture 10.6%; Industry 46.8%; Services 42.6% 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-Guizhou 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, golden monkeys, snow leopards, Asian elephants, crested ibis, Chinese alligators, argali sheep, wild yaks, reindeer, moose, musk deer and South China tigers. Siberian tigers are endemic to China but population pressure means that many are rare, endangered or extinct. The last great tracts of forest are in the subarctic north-eastern region while the sub-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. Recent water management plans aim to improve water use efficiency and reduce usage. Over the past 20 years, China’s reforestation programs and a ban on logging have increased forest cover from round 12% to more than 18%. People About two-fifths of the total population of over 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 Beijing, the capital, (16 million), Shanghai (17.5 million), Chongqing (15.9 million), Guangzhou (10.2 million), Wuhan (9.6 million), Tianjin (9.6 million), and Hong Kong (7 million) and Shenzhen (12 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 ethnic 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, such as sons having a duty to support their aging parents, are clearly defined. 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 73 years in 2010. Access to safe water is 88% but only 65% 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 0.1% of the population are HIV positive. An effective three tier system of providing increasing levels of care operated from the 1950's to 1980's. At the village 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 county 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 and also resulting in a rapidly ageing population. 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 reflecting climate differences but there is always a strong emphasis on freshness, flavour and texture. The cuisine can be divided into four regional categories: Northern or Beijing (with steamed bread and noodles as staples), Southern or Cantonese (lightly cooked meats and vegetables), Eastern or Shanghainese ('red cooking') and Western or Sichuan (spicy, with lots of chilli). 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 the houses of people in the south-eastern area, 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 In 2009 China was the second largest economy behind the United States. However, 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 3% of the population are below the poverty line. The poorest 10% share only about 2.8% of the wealth while the richest 10% own 15%. 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 40% the population work in the agricultural sector with industry employing 27% and services employing just over a third. There is substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas meaning 140 million rural workers have left their villages to seek work in the cities. Industries and products Agricultural products include rice, wheat, potatoes, corn, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, apples, cotton, oilseed, pork and fish. China has a broad industry with  products including  mining and ore processing,  iron, steel, coal, machinery, armaments, textiles, clothing, petroleum, cement, chemicals, fertilizers, footwear, toys and other, food processing, cars, consumer electronics, and telecommunications equipment, commercial space launch vehicles, and satellites. Trade China exports machinery, textiles, clothing, footwear, iron and steel, optical and medical equipment to US 18%, Hong Kong 13%, Japan 8%, South Korea 5% and Germany 4% (2008).China imports machinery and equipment, oil and mineral fuels, optical and medical equipment, metal ores, plastics, organic chemicals from Japan 13%, South Korea 10%, Taiwan 9%, US 7 % and Germany 4% (2008). Achievements and challenges Frequent natural disasters which include typhoons, massive floods, earthquakes and droughts have severe impact on communities 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 250 million people living in poverty. There are also inequalities between rural and urban people, coastal and inland provinces, and men and women. Environmental damage (air pollution, deforestation, erosion and falling water tables) as a result of the enormous population's demands for food and services poses huge challenges for China. Political controls remain tight. There are ongoing tensions over the control of Taiwan and Tibet. Human rights violations include arbitrary and lengthy detention and restrictions on freedom of speech, the press, assembly, association, religion, privacy, and women’s, children’s and worker rights. 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 2006 Census the China-born population numbered 206, 590 with more than half living in New South Wales (114,040) and a quarter in Victoria (56,560). The importance of Australia’s diplomatic and trade relationship with China has increased as China has gained political and economic importance internationally. Chinese exports to Australia include clothing, computers, toys, sporting goods, footwear and telecommunications equipment worth AU$35.8million. Australian exports to China include iron ore, wool, copper and coal worth AU$37.3million. In 2009 China was Australia’s largest source of imports. The Australia-China Human Rights Dialogue is an important forum for frank exchanges on human rights and for identifying areas where Australia can help China implement international human rights standards. In 2010-2011 Australia will provide AU$22 million for programs which focus on building partnerships and improving policies for good governance, particularly economic reform and management; a better environment, especially in water resources and river basin management, as well as strengthening health systems, and controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS. Main Sources: https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html http://hdr.undp.org/ http://www.mwr.gov.cn/english/cpws.html http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/index.html http://www.ausaid.gov.au

The past and the future exist side by side. A musician outside the 15th century Bao An Temple in Ningxia Province, China, plays haunting tunes on the traditional erhu. Wei Chuirong, holds a bunch of lotus noodles, a specialty of the Du An County, China Painting news of crop results on a message board, AusAID Qinghai Community Development Project, Huang Zhong City, China Yang Yang Zhu and his wife Han Yu Hua weave Tibetan carpets in their home with help from a loan for the wool under the AusAID Microcredit Program. Liu Cheng Xiu (with yellow scarf) harvests garlic she planted with a loan from the AusAID Microcredit Program Secretary of village, Li Yan Ling, with flock of sheep he bought with a loan from the AusAID Microcredit Program