|
CHINA, officially the PEOPLE\'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (PRC), is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia and the world\'s most populous country , with a population of over 1.381 billion . Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres (3.7 million square miles), it is the world's second-largest state by land area and third- or fourth-largest by total area . Governed by the Communist Party of China , it exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces , five autonomous regions , four direct-controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin , Shanghai , and Chongqing ) and the Special Administrative Regions Hong Kong and Macau , also claiming sovereignty over Taiwan . China is a great power and a major regional power within Asia, and has been characterized as a potential superpower . China emerged as one of the world's earliest civilizations in the fertile basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain . For millennia, China's political system was based on hereditary monarchies, or dynasties , beginning with the semi-legendary Xia dynasty . Since then, China has then expanded, fractured, and re-unified numerous times. In 1912, the Republic of China (ROC) replaced the last dynasty and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949, when it was defeated by the communist People\'s Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War . The Communist Party established the People's Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, while the ROC government retreated to Taiwan with its present _de facto_ temporary capital in Taipei . Both the ROC and PRC continue to claim to be the legitimate government of all China, though the latter has more recognition in the world and controls more territory. Since the introduction of economic reforms in 1978 , China has become one of the world's fastest-growing major economies. As of 2016 , it is the world's second-largest economy by nominal GDP and largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). China is also the world's largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a recognized nuclear weapons state and has the world's largest standing army and second-largest defense budget . The PRC is a member of the United Nations , as it replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council in 1971. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO , APEC , BRICS , the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the BCIM and the G-20 . CONTENTS * 1 Names * 2 History * 2.1 Prehistory * 2.2 Early dynastic rule * 2.3 Imperial China * 2.4 End of dynastic rule * 2.5 Republic of China (1912–1949) * 2.6 People\'s Republic of China (1949–present) * 3 Geography * 3.1 Political geography * 3.2 Landscape and climate * 3.3 Biodiversity * 3.4 Environmental issues * 4 Politics * 4.1 Communist Party * 4.2 Government * 4.3 Administrative divisions * 4.4 Foreign relations * 4.4.1 Trade relations * 4.4.2 Territorial disputes * 4.4.3 Emerging superpower status * 4.5 Sociopolitical issues, human rights and reform * 5 Military * 6 Economy * 6.1 Economic history and growth * 6.2 China in the global economy * 6.3 Class and income equality * 6.4 Internationalization of the renminbi * 7 Science and technology * 7.1 Historical * 7.2 Modern era * 8 Infrastructure * 8.1 Telecommunications * 8.2 Transport * 8.3 Water supply and sanitation * 9 Demographics * 9.1 Ethnic groups * 9.2 Languages * 9.3 Urbanization * 9.4 Education * 9.5 Health * 9.6 Religion * 10 Culture * 10.1 Literature * 10.2 Cuisine * 10.3 Sports * 11 See also * 12 Footnotes * 13 References * 14 Further reading * 15 External links NAMES Main article: Names of China CHINA "China" in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese characters CHINESE NAME SIMPLIFIED CHINESE 中国 TRADITIONAL CHINESE 中國 LITERAL MEANING Middle or Central State TRANSCRIPTIONS STANDARD MANDARIN HANYU PINYIN Zhōngguó BOPOMOFO ㄓㄨㄥ ㄍㄨㄛˊ GWOYEU ROMATZYH Jong'gwo WADE–GILES Chung1-kuo2 TONGYONG PINYIN Jhongguó MPS2 Jūng-guó IPA OTHER MANDARIN XIAO\\'ERJING ﺟْﻮﻗُﻮَع DUNGAN Җунгуй SICHUANESE PINYIN Zong1 gwe2 WU ROMANIZATION Tson平-koh入 GAN ROMANIZATION Tung-koe̍t XIANG IPA Tan33-kwɛ24/ HAKKA ROMANIZATION Dung24-gued2 YUE: CANTONESE YALE ROMANIZATION Jūnggwok JYUTPING Zung1gwok3 SOUTHERN MIN HOKKIEN POJ Tiong-kok EASTERN MIN FUZHOU BUC Dṳ̆ng-guók PU-XIAN MIN HINGHWA BUC De̤ng-go̤h NORTHERN MIN JIAN\\'OU ROMANIZED Dô̤ng-gŏ PEOPLE\\'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA SIMPLIFIED CHINESE 中华人民共和国 TRADITIONAL CHINESE 中華人民共和國 TRANSCRIPTIONS STANDARD MANDARIN HANYU PINYIN Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó BOPOMOFO ㄓㄨㄥ ㄏㄨㄚˊ ㄖㄣˊ ㄇㄧㄣˊ ㄍㄨㄥˋ ㄏㄜˊ ㄍㄨㄛˊ OTHER MANDARIN XIAO\\'ERJING ﺟْﻮﺧُﻮَ ژٌمٍ ﻗْﻮحْقُوَع DUNGAN Җунхуа Жынмин Гунхәгуй SICHUANESE PINYIN Zong1 hua2 Zen2 min2 Gong4 hwe2 gwe2 WU ROMANIZATION Tson平 gho平 zin平 min平 gon去 ghu平 koh入 GAN ROMANIZATION Chungfa Ninmin Khungfokoet XIANG IPA /tan33 go13 ŋin13 min13 gan45 gu13 kwɛ24/ HAKKA ROMANIZATION Dung24 fa11 ngin11 min11 kiung55 fo11 gued2 YUE: CANTONESE YALE ROMANIZATION Jūngwàh Yàhnmàhn Guhngwòhgwok JYUTPING Zung1waa4 Jan4man4 Gung6wo4gwok3 SOUTHERN MIN HOKKIEN POJ Tiong-hôa jîn-bîn kiōng-hô-kok EASTERN MIN FUZHOU BUC Dṳ̆ng-huà Ìng-mìng Gê̤ṳng-huò-guók PU-XIAN MIN HINGHWA BUC De̤ng-huá Cíng-míng Gē̤ng-hó̤-go̤h NORTHERN MIN JIAN\\'OU ROMANIZED Dô̤ng-uǎ Nêng-měng Gō̤ng-uǎ-gŏ TIBETAN NAME TIBETAN ཀྲུང་ཧྭ་མི་དམངས་སྤྱི མཐུན་རྒྱལ་ཁབ TRANSCRIPTIONS WYLIE krung hwa mi dmangs spyi mthun rgyal khab TIBETAN PINYIN Zhunghua Mimang Jitun Gyalkab ZHUANG NAME ZHUANG Cunghvaz Yinzminz Gunghozgoz MONGOLIAN NAME MONGOLIAN TRANSCRIPTIONS SASM/GNC Bügüde nayiramdaqu dumdadu arad ulus UYGHUR NAME UYGHUR جۇڭخۇا خەلق جۇمھۇرىيىت TRANSCRIPTIONS LATIN YëZIQI Jungxua Xelq Jumhuriyiti YENGI YEZIⱪ Junghua Həlⱪ Jumⱨuriyiti SASM/GNC Junghua Hälk̂ Jumĥuriyiti SIRIL YëZIQI Җуңхуа Хәлқ Җумһурийити MANCHU NAME MANCHU SCRIPT ᡩᡡᠯᡳᠮᠪᠠᡳ ᡤᡠᡵᡠᠨ ROMANIZATION Dulimbai Gurun You may need rendering support to display the Chinese text in this article correctly. The English name "China" is first attested in Richard Eden 's 1555 translation of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa . The demonym , that is, the name for the people, and adjectival form "Chinese" developed later on the model of Portuguese _chinês_ and French _chinois_. Portuguese _China_ is thought to derive from Persian _Chīn_ (چین), and perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit _Cīna _ (चीन). _Cīna_ was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the _ Mahābhārata _ (5th century BCE) and the _Laws of Manu _ (2nd century BCE). The traditional theory, proposed in the 17th century by Martino Martini and supported by many later scholars, is that the word "China" and its earlier related forms are ultimately derived from the state of Qin (秦, Old Chinese : *_Dzin_), the westernmost of the Chinese states during the Zhou dynasty which unified China to form the Qin dynasty . There are, however, other suggestions for the derivation of "China". The official name of the modern state is the "People's Republic of China" (Chinese : 中华人民共和国; pinyin : _Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó_). The shorter form is "China" _Zhōngguó_ (中国), from _zhōng_ ("central" or "middle") and _guó_ ("state, nation-state"), a term which developed under the Zhou Dynasty in reference to its royal demesne . It was then applied to the area around Luoyi (present-day Luoyang) during the Eastern Zhou and then to China's Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state under the Qing . It was often used as a cultural concept to distinguish the Huaxia tribes from perceived "barbarians" and was the source of the English name "Middle Kingdom". A more literary or inclusive name, alluding to the "land of Chinese civilization", is _Zhōnghuá_ (中华). It developed during the Wei and Jin dynasties as a contraction of "the central state of the Huaxia ". Before the PRC's establishment, the proposed name of the country was the _People's Democratic Republic of China_ (simplified Chinese : 中华人民民主共和国; traditional Chinese : 中華人民民主共和國; pinyin : _Zhōnghuá Rénmín Mínzhǔ Gònghéguó_) during the first CPPCC held on 15 June 1949 . During the 1950s and 1960s, after the defeat of the Kuomintang in the Chinese Civil War , it was also referred to as "Communist China" or "Red China", to be differentiated from "Nationalist China" or "Free China ". HISTORY Main articles: History of China and Timeline of Chinese history HISTORY OF CHINA ANCIENT NEOLITHIC c. 8500 – c. 2070 BCE XIA DYNASTY c. 2070 – c. 1600 BCE SHANG DYNASTY c. 1600 – c. 1046 BCE ZHOU DYNASTY c. 1046 – 256 BCE WESTERN ZHOU EASTERN ZHOU Spring and Autumn IMPERIAL QIN DYNASTY 221–206 BCE HAN DYNASTY 206 BCE – 220 CE WESTERN HAN XIN DYNASTY EASTERN HAN THREE KINGDOMS 220–280 WEI , SHU and WU JIN DYNASTY 265–420 WESTERN JIN EASTERN JIN SIXTEEN KINGDOMS NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN DYNASTIES 420–589 SUI DYNASTY 581–618 TANG DYNASTY 618–907 (Second Zhou dynasty 690–705) Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms 907–960 LIAO DYNASTY 907–1125 SONG DYNASTY 960–1279 NORTHERN SONG WESTERN XIA SOUTHERN SONG JIN YUAN DYNASTY 1271–1368 MING DYNASTY 1368–1644 QING DYNASTY 1644–1912 MODERN REPUBLIC OF CHINA 1912–1949 People's Republic of China 1949–present Related articles * Chinese historiography * Timeline of Chinese history * Dynasties in Chinese history * Linguistic history * Art history * Economic history * Education history * Science and technology history * Legal history * Media history * Military history * Naval history This box: * view * talk * edit PREHISTORY Main article: Chinese prehistory Archaeological evidence suggests that early hominids inhabited China between 2.24 million and 250,000 years ago. The hominid fossils of Peking Man , a _ Homo erectus _ who used fire , were discovered in a cave at Zhoukoudian near Beijing ; they have been dated to between 680,000 and 780,000 years ago . The fossilized teeth of _Homo sapiens_ (dated to 125,000–80,000 years ago ) have been discovered in Fuyan Cave in Dao County , Hunan . Chinese proto-writing existed in Jiahu around 7000 BCE, Damaidi around 6000 BCE, Dadiwan from 5800–5400 BCE, and Banpo dating from the 5th millennium BCE. Some scholars have suggested that the Jiahu symbols (7th millennium BCE) constituted the earliest Chinese writing system. EARLY DYNASTIC RULE Further information: Dynasties in Chinese history Yinxu , the ruins of the capital of the late Shang Dynasty (14th century BCE) According to Chinese tradition, the first dynasty was the Xia , which emerged around 2100 BCE. The dynasty was considered mythical by historians until scientific excavations found early Bronze Age sites at Erlitou , Henan in 1959. It remains unclear whether these sites are the remains of the Xia dynasty or of another culture from the same period. The succeeding Shang dynasty is the earliest to be confirmed by contemporary records. The Shang ruled the plain of the Yellow River in eastern China from the 17th to the 11th century BCE. Their oracle bone script (from c. 1500 BCE) represents the oldest form of Chinese writing yet found, and is a direct ancestor of modern Chinese characters . The Shang were conquered by the Zhou , who ruled between the 11th and 5th centuries BCE, though centralized authority was slowly eroded by feudal warlords. Many independent states eventually emerged from the weakened Zhou state and continually waged war with each other in the 300-year Spring and Autumn period , only occasionally deferring to the Zhou king. By the time of the Warring States period of the 5th–3rd centuries BCE, there were seven powerful sovereign states in what is now China, each with its own king, ministry and army. IMPERIAL CHINA China's First Emperor is famed for having united the Warring States ' walls to form the Great Wall of China . Most of the present structure, however, dates to the Ming Dynasty . Classical Gardens of Suzhou The Terracotta Army (c. 210 BCE) discovered outside the tomb of the First Emperor in modern Xi\'an . The Warring States period ended in 221 BCE after the state of Qin conquered the other six kingdoms and established the first unified Chinese state. Its King Zheng proclaimed himself the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty (_Qín Shǐhuáng_ or _Shǐ Huángdì_). He enacted Qin's legalist reforms throughout China, notably the forced standardization of Chinese characters , measurements , road widths (i.e., cart axles' length), and currency . His dynasty also conquered the Yue tribes in Guangxi , Guangdong , and Vietnam . The Qin dynasty lasted only fifteen years, falling soon after the First Emperor's death, as his harsh authoritarian policies led to widespread rebellion. Following a widespread civil war during which the imperial library at Xianyang was burned , the Han dynasty emerged to rule China between 206 BCE and CE 220, creating a cultural identity among its populace still remembered in the ethnonym of the Han Chinese . The Han expanded the empire\'s territory considerably , with military campaigns reaching Central Asia, Mongolia , South Korea , and Yunnan , and the recovery of Guangdong and northern Vietnam from Nanyue . Han involvement in Central Asia and Sogdia helped establish the land route of the Silk Road , replacing the earlier path over the Himalayas to India. Han China gradually became the largest economy of the ancient world. Despite the Han's initial decentralization and the official abandonment of the Qin philosophy of Legalism in favor of Confucianism , Qin's legalist institutions and policies continued to be employed by the Han government and its successors. After the collapse of Han , a period of strife known as Three Kingdoms followed, whose central figures were later immortalized in one of the Four Classics of Chinese literature . At its end, Wei was swiftly overthrown by the Jin dynasty . The Jin fell to civil war upon the ascension of a developmentally-disabled emperor ; the Five Barbarians then invaded and ruled northern China as the Sixteen Kingdoms . The Xianbei unified them as the Northern Wei , whose Emperor Xiaowen reversed his predecessors' apartheid policies and enforced a drastic sinification on his subjects , largely integrating them into Chinese culture. In the south, the general Liu Yu secured the abdication of the Jin in favor of the Liu Song . The various successors of these states became known as the Northern and Southern dynasties , with the two areas finally reunited by the Sui in 581. The Sui restored the Han to power through China, reformed its agriculture and economy, constructed the Grand Canal , and patronized Buddhism . However, they fell quickly when their conscription for public works and a failed war with Korea provoked widespread unrest. _ A detail from Along the River During the Qingming Festival _, a 12th-century painting showing everyday life in the Song dynasty 's capital, Bianjing (present-day Kaifeng ) Under the succeeding Tang and Song dynasties, Chinese economy, technology, and culture entered a golden age. The Tang Empire returned control of the Western Regions and the Silk Road, and made the capital Chang\'an a cosmopolitan urban center. However, it was devastated and weakened by the An Shi Rebellion in the 8th century. In 907, the Tang disintegrated completely when the local military governors became ungovernable. The Song Dynasty ended the separatist situation in 960, leading to a balance of power between the Song and Khitan Liao . The Song was the first government in world history to issue paper money and the first Chinese polity to establish a permanent standing navy which was supported by the developed shipbuilding industry along with the sea trade. Between the 10th and 11th centuries, the population of China doubled in size to around 100 million people, mostly because of the expansion of rice cultivation in central and southern China, and the production of abundant food surpluses. The Song dynasty also saw a revival of Confucianism , in response to the growth of Buddhism during the Tang, and a flourishing of philosophy and the arts, as landscape art and porcelain were brought to new levels of maturity and complexity. However, the military weakness of the Song army was observed by the Jurchen Jin dynasty . In 1127, Emperor Huizong of Song and the capital Bianjing were captured during the Jin–Song Wars . The remnants of the Song retreated to southern China . In the 13th century, China was gradually conquered by the Mongol Empire . In 1271, the Mongol leader Kublai Khan established the Yuan dynasty ; the Yuan conquered the last remnant of the Song dynasty in 1279. Before the Mongol invasion, the population of Song China was 120 million citizens; this was reduced to 60 million by the time of the census in 1300. A peasant named Zhu Yuanzhang overthrew the Yuan Dynasty in 1368 and founded the Ming dynasty . Under the Ming Dynasty, China enjoyed another golden age, developing one of the strongest navies in the world and a rich and prosperous economy amid a flourishing of art and culture. It was during this period that Zheng He led voyages throughout the world, reaching as far as Africa . In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, China's capital was moved from Nanjing to Beijing. With the budding of capitalism, philosophers such as Wang Yangming further critiqued and expanded Neo- Confucianism with concepts of individualism and equality of four occupations . The scholar-official stratum became a supporting force of industry and commerce in the tax boycott movements, which, together with the famines and the wars against Japanese invasions of Korea and Manchu invasions , led to an exhausted treasury. In 1644, Beijing was captured by a coalition of peasant rebel forces led by Li Zicheng . The last Ming Chongzhen Emperor committed suicide when the city fell. The Manchu Qing dynasty , then allied with Ming dynasty general Wu Sangui , overthrew Li's short-lived Shun dynasty and subsequently seized control of Beijing, which became the new capital of the Qing dynasty. END OF DYNASTIC RULE A 19th-century depiction of the Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864). The Qing dynasty , which lasted from 1644 until 1912, was the last imperial dynasty of China. Its conquest of the Ming (1618–1683) cost 25 million lives and the economy of China shrank drastically . After the Southern Ming ended, the further conquest of the Dzungar Khanate added Mongolia, Tibet and Xinjiang to the empire. The centralized autocracy was strengthened to crack down on anti-Qing sentiment with the policy of valuing agriculture and restraining commerce, the _ Haijin _ ("sea ban"), and ideological control as represented by the literary inquisition , causing social and technological stagnation. In the mid-19th century, the dynasty experienced Western imperialism in the Opium Wars with Britain and France. China was forced to pay compensation, open treaty ports, allow extraterritoriality for foreign nationals, and cede Hong Kong to the British under the 1842 Treaty of Nanking , the first of the Unequal Treaties . The First Sino-Japanese War (1894–95) resulted in Qing China's loss of influence in the Korean Peninsula , as well as the cession of Taiwan to Japan . The Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China to defeat the anti-foreign Boxers and their Qing backers. The Qing dynasty also began experiencing internal unrest in which tens of millions of people died, especially in the failed Taiping Rebellion that ravaged southern China in the 1850s and 1860s and the Dungan Revolt (1862–77) in the northwest. The initial success of the Self-Strengthening Movement of the 1860s was frustrated by a series of military defeats in the 1880s and 1890s. In the 19th century, the great Chinese diaspora began. Losses due to emigration were added to by conflicts and catastrophes such as the Northern Chinese Famine of 1876–79 , in which between 9 and 13 million people died. The Guangxu Emperor drafted a reform plan in 1898 to establish a modern constitutional monarchy , but these plans were thwarted by the Empress Dowager Cixi . The ill-fated anti-foreign Boxer Rebellion of 1899–1901 further weakened the dynasty. Although Cixi sponsored a program of reforms, the Xinhai Revolution of 1911–12 brought an end to the Qing dynasty and established the Republic of China . REPUBLIC OF CHINA (1912–1949) Main articles: Republic of China (1912–1949) and History of the Republic of China See also: Taiwan and Taiwan after World War II Sun Yat-sen , the father of modern China (seated on right), and Chiang Kai-shek , later President of the Republic of China Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong toasting together in 1946 following the end of World War II On 1 January 1912, the Republic of China was established, and Sun Yat-sen of the Kuomintang (the KMT or Nationalist Party) was proclaimed provisional president. However, the presidency was later given to Yuan Shikai , a former Qing general who in 1915 proclaimed himself Emperor of China . In the face of popular condemnation and opposition from his own Beiyang Army , he was forced to abdicate and re-establish the republic. After Yuan Shikai's death in 1916, China was politically fragmented. Its Beijing-based government was internationally recognized but virtually powerless; regional warlords controlled most of its territory. In the late 1920s, the Kuomintang, under Chiang Kai-shek , the then Principal of the Republic of China Military Academy , was able to reunify the country under its own control with a series of deft military and political manoeuvrings, known collectively as the Northern Expedition . The Kuomintang moved the nation's capital to Nanjing and implemented "political tutelage", an intermediate stage of political development outlined in Sun Yat-sen's San-min program for transforming China into a modern democratic state. The political division in China made it difficult for Chiang to battle the Communist , People\'s Liberation Army (PLA) against whom the Kuomintang had been warring since 1927 in the Chinese Civil War . This war continued successfully for the Kuomintang, especially after the PLA retreated in the Long March , until Japanese aggression and the 1936 Xi\'an Incident forced Chiang to confront Imperial Japan . The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), a theater of World War II , forced an uneasy alliance between the Kuomintang and the PLA. Japanese forces committed numerous war atrocities against the civilian population; in all, as many as 20 million Chinese civilians died. An estimated 200,000 Chinese were massacred in the city of Nanjing alone during the Japanese occupation. During the war, China, along with the UK, the US and the Soviet Union, were referred to as "trusteeship of the powerful" and were recognized as the Allied "Big Four " in the Declaration by United Nations . Along with the other three great powers, China was one of the four major Allies of World War II , and was later considered one of the primary victors in the war. After the surrender of Japan in 1945, Taiwan, including the Pescadores , was returned to Chinese control. China emerged victorious but war-ravaged and financially drained. The continued distrust between the Kuomintang and the Communists led to the resumption of civil war. Constitutional rule was established in 1947, but because of the ongoing unrest, many provisions of the ROC constitution were never implemented in mainland China. PEOPLE\'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (1949–PRESENT) Main article: History of the People\'s Republic of China History of the People's Republic of China (PRC) 1949–1976 Mao era * Revolution * Korean War * Landlord Classicide under Mao Zedong * Zhen Fan * Three-anti/five-anti campaigns * Hundred Flowers Campaign * Anti-Rightist Movement Great Leap Forward ( Great Chinese Famine ) Cultural Revolution * ( Lin Biao * Gang of Four * Tiananmen Incident ) 1976–1989 Restructuring * Economic reform * Sino-Vietnamese War * Beijing Spring * Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign * Tiananmen protests 1989–2002 Rising power * Chinese reunification 2002–present China today * Sichuan earthquake * Beijing Olympics * Shanghai 2010 Expo * Wang Lijun incident * 2015 China Victory Day Parade * Anti-corruption campaign after the 18th Party Congress HISTORY OF * China * PRC constitution * Beijing * Shanghai GENERATIONS OF LEADERSHIP * 1. Mao * 2. Deng * 3. Jiang * 4. Hu * 5. Xi * Culture * Economy * Education * Geography * Politics China portal * v * t * e Mao Zedong proclaiming the establishment of the PRC in 1949 Major combat in the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949 with the Communist Party in control of most of mainland China , and the Kuomintang retreating offshore, reducing the ROC's territory to only Taiwan , Hainan , and their surrounding islands. On 1 October 1949, Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China. In 1950, the People's Liberation Army succeeded in capturing Hainan from the ROC and incorporating Tibet . However, remaining Kuomintang forces continued to wage an insurgency in western China throughout the 1950s. The regime consolidated its popularity among the peasants through land reform, which saw between 1 and 2 million landlords executed. Under its leadership, China developed an independent industrial system and its own nuclear weapons. The Chinese population almost doubled from around 550 million to over 900 million. However, the Great Leap Forward , a large-scale economic and social reform project, resulted in an estimated 45 million deaths between 1958 and 1961, mostly from starvation. In 1966, Mao and his allies launched the Cultural Revolution , sparking a decade of political recrimination and social upheaval which lasted until Mao's death in 1976. In October 1971, the PRC replaced the Republic of China in the United Nations, and took its seat as a permanent member of the Security Council. After Mao's death, the Gang of Four was quickly arrested and held responsible for the excesses of the Cultural Revolution. Deng Xiaoping took power in 1978, and instituted significant economic reforms . The Communist Party loosened governmental control over citizens' personal lives, and the communes were gradually disbanded in favor of private land leases. This marked China's transition from a planned economy to a mixed economy with an increasingly open-market environment . China adopted its current constitution on 4 December 1982. In 1989, the violent suppression of student protests in Tiananmen Square brought condemnation and sanctions against the Chinese government from various countries. Jiang Zemin , Li Peng and Zhu Rongji led the nation in the 1990s. Under their administration, China's economic performance pulled an estimated 150 million peasants out of poverty and sustained an average annual gross domestic product growth rate of 11.2%. The country formally joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, and maintained its high rate of economic growth under Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao 's leadership in the 2000s. However, rapid growth also severely impacted the country's resources and environment, and caused major social displacement . Living standards continued to improve rapidly despite the late-2000s recession , but centralized political control remained tight. Preparations for a decadal Communist Party leadership change in 2012 were marked by factional disputes and political scandals . During China's 18th National Communist Party Congress in November 2012, Hu Jintao was replaced as General Secretary of the Communist Party by Xi Jinping . Under Xi, the Chinese government began large-scale efforts to reform its economy, which has suffered from structural instabilities and slowing growth. The Xi–Li Administration also announced major reforms to the one-child policy and prison system. GEOGRAPHY Main article: Geography of China A composite satellite image showing the topography of China Longsheng Rice Terrace in Guangxi The Li River in Guangxi Köppen climate types of China China's landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from the Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts in the arid north to subtropical forests in the wetter south. The Himalaya , Karakoram , Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia . The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers , the third- and sixth-longest in the world, respectively, run from the Tibetan Plateau to the densely populated eastern seaboard. China's coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometers (9,000 mi) long and is bounded by the Bohai , Yellow , East China and South China seas. China connects through the Kazakh border to the Eurasian Steppe which has been an artery of communication between East and West since the Neolithic through the Steppe route - the ancestor of the terrestrial Silk Road (s). POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY Main articles: Borders of China and Territorial changes of the People\'s Republic of China The People's Republic of China is the second-largest country in the world by land area after Russia , and is either the third- or fourth-largest by total area, after Russia, Canada and, depending on the definition of total area, the United States. China's total area is generally stated as being approximately 9,600,000 km2 (3,700,000 sq mi). Specific area figures range from 9,572,900 km2 (3,696,100 sq mi) according to the _ Encyclopædia Britannica _, 9,596,961 km2 (3,705,407 sq mi) according to the UN Demographic Yearbook, to 9,596,961 km2 (3,705,407 sq mi) according to the CIA World Factbook . China has the longest combined land border in the world , measuring 22,117 km (13,743 mi) from the mouth of the Yalu River to the Gulf of Tonkin . China borders 14 nations , more than any other country except Russia, which also borders 14. China extends across much of East Asia, bordering Vietnam , Laos , and Myanmar (Burma) in Southeast Asia; India , Bhutan , Nepal , Afghanistan , and Pakistan in South Asia; Tajikistan , Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in Central Asia; and Russia , Mongolia , and North Korea in Inner Asia and Northeast Asia . Additionally, China shares maritime boundaries with South Korea , Japan, Vietnam, and the Philippines . LANDSCAPE AND CLIMATE The South China Sea coast at Hainan Jiuzhaigou Valley in Sichuan The territory of China lies between latitudes 18° and 54° N , and longitudes 73° and 135° E . China's landscapes vary significantly across its vast width. In the east, along the shores of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea , there are extensive and densely populated alluvial plains , while on the edges of the Inner Mongolian plateau in the north, broad grasslands predominate. Southern China is dominated by hills and low mountain ranges, while the central-east hosts the deltas of China's two major rivers, the Yellow River and the Yangtze River . Other major rivers include the Xi , Mekong , Brahmaputra and Amur . To the west sit major mountain ranges, most notably the Himalayas. High plateaus feature among the more arid landscapes of the north, such as the Taklamakan and the Gobi Desert . The world's highest point, Mount Everest (8,848m), lies on the Sino-Nepalese border. The country's lowest point, and the world's third-lowest, is the dried lake bed of Ayding Lake (−154m) in the Turpan Depression . China's climate is mainly dominated by dry seasons and wet monsoons , which lead to pronounced temperature differences between winter and summer. In the winter, northern winds coming from high-latitude areas are cold and dry; in summer, southern winds from coastal areas at lower latitudes are warm and moist. The climate in China differs from region to region because of the country's highly complex topography . A major environmental issue in China is the continued expansion of its deserts , particularly the Gobi Desert. Although barrier tree lines planted since the 1970s have reduced the frequency of sandstorms , prolonged drought and poor agricultural practices have resulted in dust storms plaguing northern China each spring, which then spread to other parts of east Asia, including Korea and Japan. China's environmental watchdog, SEPA , stated in 2007 that China is losing 4,000 km2 (1,500 sq mi) per year to desertification. Water quality, erosion , and pollution control have become important issues in China's relations with other countries. Melting glaciers in the Himalayas could potentially lead to water shortages for hundreds of millions of people. Danxia landform . BIODIVERSITY Main article: Wildlife of China A giant panda , China's most famous endangered and endemic species, at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Sichuan China is one of 17 megadiverse countries , lying in two of the world's major ecozones : the Palearctic and the Indomalaya . By one measure, China has over 34,687 species of animals and vascular plants, making it the third-most biodiverse country in the world, after Brazil and Colombia . The country signed the Rio de Janeiro Convention on Biological Diversity on 11 June 1992, and became a party to the convention on 5 January 1993. It later produced a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan , with one revision that was received by the convention on 21 September 2010. China is home to at least 551 species of mammals (the third-highest such number in the world), 1,221 species of birds (eighth), 424 species of reptiles (seventh) and 333 species of amphibians (seventh). China is the most biodiverse country in each category outside the tropics. Wildlife in China share habitat with and bear acute pressure from the world's largest population of _homo sapiens _. At least 840 animal species are threatened, vulnerable or in danger of local extinction in China, due mainly to human activity such as habitat destruction, pollution and poaching for food, fur and ingredients for traditional Chinese medicine . Endangered wildlife is protected by law, and as of 2005 , the country has over 2,349 nature reserves , covering a total area of 149.95 million hectares, 15 percent of China's total land area. China has over 32,000 species of vascular plants, and is home to a variety of forest types. Cold coniferous forests predominate in the north of the country, supporting animal species such as moose and Asian black bear , along with over 120 bird species. The understorey of moist conifer forests may contain thickets of bamboo . In higher montane stands of juniper and yew , the bamboo is replaced by rhododendrons . Subtropical forests, which are predominate in central and southern China, support as many as 146,000 species of flora. Tropical and seasonal rainforests , though confined to Yunnan and Hainan Island , contain a quarter of all the animal and plant species found in China. China has over 10,000 recorded species of fungi , and of them, nearly 6,000 are higher fungi . ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES Main article: Environmental issues in China See also: Water resources of China Wind turbines in Xinjiang . The Dabancheng project is one of Asia's largest wind farms In recent decades, China has suffered from severe environmental deterioration and pollution . While regulations such as the 1979 Environmental Protection Law are fairly stringent, they are poorly enforced, as they are frequently disregarded by local communities and government officials in favor of rapid economic development. Urban air pollution is a severe health issue in the country; the World Bank estimated in 2013 that 16 of the world's 20 most-polluted cities are located in China. China is the world's largest carbon dioxide emitter. The country also has significant water pollution problems: 40% of China's rivers had been polluted by industrial and agricultural waste by late 2011. In 2014, the internal freshwater resources per capita of China reduced to 2,062m3, and it was below 500m3 in the North China Plain , while 5,920m3 in the world. However, China is the world's leading investor in renewable energy commercialization , with $ 52 billion invested in 2011 alone; it is a major manufacturer of renewable energy technologies and invests heavily in local-scale renewable energy projects. By 2009, over 17% of China's energy was derived from renewable sources – most notably hydroelectric power plants, of which China has a total installed capacity of 197 GW. In 2011, the Chinese government announced plans to invest four trillion yuan (US$619 billion) in water infrastructure and desalination projects over a ten-year period, and to complete construction of a flood prevention and anti-drought system by 2020. In 2013, China began a five-year, US$277 billion effort to reduce air pollution, particularly in the north of the country. POLITICS Main article: Politics of the People\'s Republic of China See also: List of current Chinese provincial leaders Tiananmen with a portrait of Mao Zedong Xi Jinping President and General Secretary Li Keqiang Premier China\'s constitution states that The People's Republic of China "is a socialist state under the people's democratic dictatorship led by the working class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants," and that the state organs "apply the principle of democratic centralism." The PRC is one of the world's few remaining socialist states openly endorsing communism (see Ideology of the Communist Party of China ). The Chinese government has been variously described as communist and socialist, but also as authoritarian and corporatist , with heavy restrictions in many areas, most notably against free access to the Internet , freedom of the press , freedom of assembly , the right to have children , free formation of social organizations and freedom of religion . Its current political, ideological and economic system has been termed by its leaders as the "people\'s democratic dictatorship ", "socialism with Chinese characteristics " (which is Marxism adapted to Chinese circumstances) and the "socialist market economy " respectively. COMMUNIST PARTY China\'s constitution declares that the country is ruled "under the leadership" of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The electoral system is pyramidal. Local People's Congresses are directly elected , and higher levels of People's Congresses up to the National People\'s Congress (NPC) are indirectly elected by the People's Congress of the level immediately below. The political system is decentralized, and provincial and sub-provincial leaders have a significant amount of autonomy. Other political parties , referred to as democratic parties, have representatives in the National People's Congress and the Chinese People\'s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). China supports the Leninist principle of "democratic centralism ", but critics describe the elected National People's Congress as a "rubber stamp " body. GOVERNMENT Main article: Government of the People\'s Republic of China The Great Hall of the People in Beijing, where the National People\'s Congress convenes Monument in Tiananmen Square marking the 90th anniversary of the CPC The President of China is the titular head of state , serving as the ceremonial figurehead under National People\'s Congress . The Premier of China is the head of government , presiding over the State Council composed of four vice premiers and the heads of ministries and commissions. The incumbent president is Xi Jinping , who is also the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and the Chairman of the Central Military Commission , making him China's paramount leader . The incumbent premier is Li Keqiang , who is also a senior member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee , China's _de facto_ top decision-making body. There have been some moves toward political liberalization, in that open contested elections are now held at the village and town levels. However, the Party retains effective control over government appointments: in the absence of meaningful opposition, the CPC wins by default most of the time. Political concerns in China include the growing gap between rich and poor and government corruption. Nonetheless, the level of public support for the government and its management of the nation is high, with 80–95% of Chinese citizens expressing satisfaction with the central government, according to a 2011 survey. ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS Main articles: Administrative divisions of China , Districts of Hong Kong , and Municipalities of Macau The People's Republic of China is divided into 22 provinces , five autonomous regions , each with a designated minority group; four municipalities ; and two Special Administrative Regions (SARs) which enjoy a degree of political autonomy. These 31 provincial-level divisions can be collectively referred to as "mainland China ", a term which usually excludes two SARs of Hong Kong and Macau . Geographically, all 31 provincial divisions can be grouped into six regions, including North China , Northeast China , East China , South Central China , Southwest China and Northwest China . China considers Taiwan to be its 23rd province , although Taiwan is governed by the Republic of China, which disputes the PRC's claim. None of the divisions are recognized by the ROC government, which claims the entirety of the PRC's territory. _ PROVINCES (省) CLAIMED PROVINCE_ * Anhui (安徽省) * Fujian (福建省) * Gansu (甘肃省) * Guangdong (广东省) * Guizhou (贵州省) * Hainan (海南省) * Hebei (河北省) * Heilongjiang (黑龙江省) * Henan (河南省) * Hubei (湖北省) * Hunan (湖南省) * Jiangsu (江苏省) * Jiangxi (江西省) * Jilin (吉林省) * Liaoning (辽宁省) * Qinghai (青海省) * Shaanxi (陕西省) * Shandong (山东省) * Shanxi (山西省) * Sichuan (四川省) * Yunnan (云南省) * Zhejiang (浙江省) * _Taiwan_ (_台湾省_) governed by R.O. China AUTONOMOUS REGIONS (自治区) MUNICIPALITIES (直辖市) SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGIONS (特别行政区) * Guangxi (广西壮族自治区) * Inner Mongolia / _Nei Menggu_ (内蒙古自治区) * Ningxia (宁夏回族自治区) * Xinjiang (新疆维吾尔自治区) * Tibet / _Xizang_ (西藏自治区) * Beijing (北京市) * Chongqing (重庆市) * Shanghai (上海市) * Tianjin (天津市) * Hong Kong / _Xianggang_ (香港特别行政区) * Macau / _Aomen_ (澳门特别行政区) FOREIGN RELATIONS Main article: Foreign relations of China Chinese President Xi Jinping holds hands with fellow BRICS leaders at the 2014 G20 Brisbane summit in Australia The PRC has diplomatic relations with 175 countries and maintains embassies in 162 . Its legitimacy is disputed by the Republic of China and a few other countries; it is thus the largest and most populous state with limited recognition . In 1971, the PRC replaced the Republic of China as the sole representative of China in the United Nations and as one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council . China was also a former member and leader of the Non-Aligned Movement , and still considers itself an advocate for developing countries . Along with Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa, China is a member of the BRICS group of emerging major economies and hosted the group's third official summit at Sanya , Hainan in April 2011. Under its interpretation of the One-China policy , Beijing has made it a precondition to establishing diplomatic relations that the other country acknowledges its claim to Taiwan and severs official ties with the government of the Republic of China. Chinese officials have protested on numerous occasions when foreign countries have made diplomatic overtures to Taiwan, especially in the matter of armament sales. Much of current Chinese foreign policy is reportedly based on Premier Zhou Enlai 's Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence , and is also driven by the concept of "harmony without uniformity", which encourages diplomatic relations between states despite ideological differences. This policy may have led China to support states that are regarded as dangerous or repressive by Western nations, such as Zimbabwe , North Korea and Iran . China has a close economic and military relationship with Russia, and the two states often vote in unison in the UN Security Council. Chinese President Xi Jinping with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden , 14 February 2012 Trade Relations In recent decades, China has played an increasing role in calling for free trade areas and security pacts amongst its Asia-Pacific neighbours. China became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on 11 December 2001. In 2004, it proposed an entirely new East Asia Summit (EAS) framework as a forum for regional security issues. The EAS, which includes ASEAN Plus Three , India, Australia and New Zealand, held its inaugural summit in 2005. China is also a founding member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), along with Russia and the Central Asian republics. In 2000, the United States Congress approved "permanent normal trade relations" (PNTR) with China, allowing Chinese exports in at the same low tariffs as goods from most other countries. China has a significant trade surplus with the United States, its most important export market. In the early 2010s, US politicians argued that the Chinese yuan was significantly undervalued, giving China an unfair trade advantage. In recent decades, China has followed a policy of engaging with African nations for trade and bilateral co-operation; in 2012, Sino-African trade totalled over US$160 billion. China has furthermore strengthened its ties with major South American economies, becoming the largest trading partner of Brazil and building strategic links with Argentina . Territorial Disputes Main article: Foreign relations of China § International territorial disputes See also: List of wars involving the People\'s Republic of China , Cross-Strait relations , and One-China policy CHINA ↓ Qing conquest of the Ming ↓ Xinhai Revolution ↓Communist Revolution CHINA Ming Qing Republic of China People\'s Republic of China TAIWAN ↓Siege of Zeelandia ↓ Battle of Penghu ↓ Treaty of Shimonoseki ↓Surrender of Japan TAIWAN Dutch height:100%; text-align:center; overflow: hidden; background-color:#DDDDDD;width:5.5263157894737%"> Tungning Qing rule Japanese rule Republic of China rule │ 1625 │ 1650 │ 1675 │ 1700 │ 1725 │ 1750 │ 1775 │ 1800 │ 1825 │ 1850 │ 1875 │ 1900 │ 1925 │ 1950 │ 1975 │ 2000 Map depicting territorial disputes between the PRC and neighbouring states. For a larger map, see here . Ever since its establishment after the second Chinese Civil War , the PRC has claimed the territories governed by the Republic of China (ROC), a separate political entity today commonly known as Taiwan, as a part of its territory. It regards the island of Taiwan as its Taiwan Province , Kinmen and Matsu as a part of Fujian Province and islands the ROC controls in the South China Sea as a part of Hainan Province and Guangdong Province . These claims are controversial because of the complicated Cross-Strait relations , with the PRC treating the One-China policy as one of its most important diplomatic principles. In addition to Taiwan, China is also involved in other international territorial disputes. Since the 1990s, China has been involved in negotiations to resolve its disputed land borders, including a disputed border with India and an undefined border with Bhutan . China is additionally involved in multilateral disputes over the ownership of several small islands in the East and South China Seas, such as the Senkaku Islands and the Scarborough Shoal . On 21 May 2014 Xi Jinping , speaking at a conference in Shanghai, pledged to settle China's territorial disputes peacefully. " China stays committed to seeking peaceful settlement of disputes with other countries over territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests", he said. Emerging Superpower Status China is regularly hailed as a potential new superpower , with certain commentators citing its rapid economic progress, growing military might, very large population, and increasing international influence as signs that it will play a prominent global role in the 21st century. Others, however, warn that economic bubbles and demographic imbalances could slow or even halt China's growth as the century progresses. Some authors also question the definition of "superpower", arguing that China's large economy alone would not qualify it as a superpower, and noting that it lacks the military power and cultural influence of the United States. SOCIOPOLITICAL ISSUES, HUMAN RIGHTS AND REFORM See also: Human rights in China , Hukou system , Social welfare in China , Elections in the People\'s Republic of China , Censorship in China , and Feminism in China The Chinese democracy movement , social activists, and some members of the Communist Party of China have all identified the need for social and political reform. While economic and social controls have been significantly relaxed in China since the 1970s, political freedom is still tightly restricted. The Constitution of the People\'s Republic of China states that the "fundamental rights" of citizens include freedom of speech , freedom of the press , the right to a fair trial , freedom of religion , universal suffrage , and property rights . However, in practice, these provisions do not afford significant protection against criminal prosecution by the state. Although some criticisms of government policies and the ruling Communist Party are tolerated, censorship of political speech and information, most notably on the Internet, are routinely used to prevent collective action. In 2005, Reporters Without Borders ranked China 159th out of 167 states in its Annual World Press Freedom Index, indicating a very low level of press freedom. In 2014, China ranked 175th out of 180 countries. Rural migrants to China's cities often find themselves treated as second-class citizens by the _hukou_ household registration system, which controls access to state benefits . Property rights are often poorly protected, and taxation disproportionately affects poorer citizens. However, a number of rural taxes have been reduced or abolished since the early 2000s, and additional social services provided to rural dwellers. Candlelight vigil on the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests A number of foreign governments, foreign press agencies and NGOs also routinely criticize China\'s human rights record , alleging widespread civil rights violations such as detention without trial, forced abortions , forced confessions, torture , restrictions of fundamental rights, and excessive use of the death penalty . The government has suppressed popular protests and demonstrations that it considers a potential threat to "social stability", as was the case with the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 . Falun Gong was first taught publicly in 1992. In 1999, when there were 70 million practitioners, the persecution of Falun Gong began, resulting in mass arrests, extralegal detention, and reports of torture and deaths in custody. The Chinese state is regularly accused of large-scale repression and human rights abuses in Tibet and Xinjiang , including violent police crackdowns and religious suppression . The Chinese government has responded to foreign criticism by arguing that the right to subsistence and economic development is a prerequisite to other types of human rights, and that the notion of human rights should take into account a country's present level of economic development . It emphasizes the rise in the Chinese standard of living , literacy rate and average life expectancy since the 1970s, as well as improvements in workplace safety and efforts to combat natural disasters such as the perennial Yangtze River floods. Furthermore, some Chinese politicians have spoken out in support of democratization, although others remain more conservative . Some major reform efforts have been conducted; for an instance in November 2013, the government announced plans to relax the one-child policy and abolish the much-criticized re-education through labour program, though human rights groups note that reforms to the latter have been largely cosmetic. During the 2000s and early 2010s, the Chinese government was increasingly tolerant of NGOs that offer practical, efficient solutions to social problems, but such "third sector" activity remained heavily regulated. MILITARY Main articles: Military history of China before 1911 and People\'s Liberation Army _ A PLAAF Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter aircraft Liaoning _, the first aircraft carrier commissioned into the People\'s Liberation Army Navy Surface Force , and its carrier battle group are navigating in the South China Sea With 2.3 million active troops, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the largest standing military force in the world, commanded by the Central Military Commission (CMC). The PLA consists of the Ground Force (PLAGF), the Navy (PLAN), the Air Force (PLAAF), and the People\'s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF). According to the Chinese government, China's military budget for 2014 totalled US$132 billion, constituting the world\'s second-largest military budget . However, many authorities – including SIPRI and the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense – argue that China does not report its real level of military spending, which is allegedly much higher than the official budget. As a recognized nuclear weapons state, China is considered both a major regional military power and a potential military superpower . According to a 2013 report by the US Department of Defense , China fields between 50 and 75 nuclear ICBMs , along with a number of SRBMs . However, compared with the other four UN Security Council Permanent Members, China has relatively limited power projection capabilities. To offset this, it has developed numerous power projection assets since the early 2000s – its first aircraft carrier entered service in 2012, and it maintains a substantial fleet of submarines , including several nuclear-powered attack and ballistic missile submarines. China has furthermore established a network of foreign military relationships along critical sea lanes . China has made significant progress in modernising its air force in recent decades, purchasing Russian fighter jets such as the Sukhoi Su-30 , and also manufacturing its own modern fighters, most notably the Chengdu J-10 , J-20 and the Shenyang J-11 , J-15 , J-16 , and J-31 . China is furthermore engaged in developing an indigenous stealth aircraft and numerous combat drones . Air and Sea denial weaponry advances have increased the regional threat from the perspective of Japan as well as Washington. China has also updated its ground forces, replacing its ageing Soviet -derived tank inventory with numerous variants of the modern Type 99 tank , and upgrading its battlefield C3I and C4I systems to enhance its network-centric warfare capabilities. In addition, China has developed or acquired numerous advanced missile systems, including anti-satellite missiles , cruise missiles and submarine-launched nuclear ICBMs. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute 's data, China became the world's third largest exporter of major arms in 2010–14, an increase of 143 per cent from the period 2005–09. ECONOMY Main articles: Economy of China , Agriculture in China , and List of Chinese administrative divisions by GDP China and other major developing economies by GDP per capita at purchasing-power parity , 1990–2013. The rapid economic growth of China (red) is readily apparent. The Shanghai Stock Exchange building in Shanghai 's Lujiazui financial district. Shanghai has the 25th-largest city GDP in the world, totalling US$304 billion in 2011 China had the largest economy in the world for most of the past two thousand years, during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline. As of 2014 , China has the world\'s second-largest economy in terms of nominal GDP, totalling approximately US$10.380 trillion according to the International Monetary Fund . In terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) GDP, China's economy is the largest in the world, with a 2014 PPP GDP of US$17.617 trillion. In 2013, its PPP GDP per capita was US$12,880, while its nominal GDP per capita was US$7,589. Both cases put China behind around eighty countries (out of 183 countries on the IMF list) in global GDP per capita rankings. ECONOMIC HISTORY AND GROWTH Main article: Economic history of China (1949–present) From its founding in 1949 until late 1978, the People's Republic of China was a Soviet-style centrally planned economy . Following Mao's death in 1976 and the consequent end of the Cultural Revolution , Deng Xiaoping and the new Chinese leadership began to reform the economy and move towards a more market-oriented mixed economy under one-party rule. Agricultural collectivization was dismantled and farmlands privatized, while foreign trade became a major new focus, leading to the creation of Special Economic Zones (SEZs). Inefficient state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were restructured and unprofitable ones were closed outright, resulting in massive job losses. Modern-day China is mainly characterized as having a market economy based on private property ownership, and is one of the leading examples of state capitalism . The state still dominates in strategic "pillar" sectors such as energy production and heavy industries , but private enterprise has expanded enormously, with around 30 million private businesses recorded in 2008. Nanjing Road , a major shopping street in Shanghai Since economic liberalization began in 1978, China has been among the world's fastest-growing economies, relying largely on investment- and export-led growth. According to the IMF, China's annual average GDP growth between 2001 and 2010 was 10.5%. Between 2007 and 2011, China's economic growth rate was equivalent to all of the G7 countries' growth combined. According to the Global Growth Generators index announced by Citigroup in February 2011, China has a very high 3G growth rating. Its high productivity, low labor costs and relatively good infrastructure have made it a global leader in manufacturing. However, the Chinese economy is highly energy-intensive and inefficient; China became the world's largest energy consumer in 2010, relies on coal to supply over 70% of its energy needs, and surpassed the US to become the world's largest oil importer in September 2013. In the early 2010s, China's economic growth rate began to slow amid domestic credit troubles, weakening international demand for Chinese exports and fragility in the global economy. In the online realm, China's e-commerce industry has grown more slowly than the EU and the US, with a significant period of development occurring from around 2009 onwards. According to Credit Suisse , the total value of online transactions in China grew from an insignificant size in 2008 to around RMB 4 trillion (US$660 billion) in 2012. The Chinese online payment market is dominated by major firms such as Alipay , Tenpay and China UnionPay . CHINA IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY China is a member of the WTO and is the world's largest trading power, with a total international trade value of US$3.87 trillion in 2012. Its foreign exchange reserves reached US$2.85 trillion by the end of 2010, an increase of 18.7% over the previous year, making its reserves by far the world's largest. In 2012, China was the world's largest recipient of inward foreign direct investment (FDI), attracting $253 billion. In 2014, China's foreign exchange remittances were $US64 billion making it the second largest recipient of remittances in the world. China also invests abroad, with a total outward FDI of $62.4 billion in 2012, and a number of major takeovers of foreign firms by Chinese companies. In 2009, China owned an estimated $1.6 trillion of US securities , and was also the largest foreign holder of US public debt , owning over $1.16 trillion in US Treasury bonds . China's undervalued exchange rate has caused friction with other major economies, and it has also been widely criticized for manufacturing large quantities of counterfeit goods. According to consulting firm McKinsey , total outstanding debt in China increased from $7.4 trillion in 2007 to $28.2 trillion in 2014, which reflects 228% of China's GDP. In 2017 the Institute of International Finance reported that China's debt had reached 304% of its GDP. Graph comparing the 2014 nominal GDPs of major economies in US$ billions (IMF ) China ranked 29th in the Global Competitiveness Index in 2009, although it is only ranked 136th among the 179 countries measured in the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom . In 2014, _Fortune'_s Global 500 list of the world's largest corporations included 95 Chinese companies , with combined revenues of US$ 5.8 trillion. The same year, _Forbes _ reported that five of the world's ten largest public companies were Chinese, including the world\'s largest bank by total assets , the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China . CLASS AND INCOME EQUALITY See also: Income inequality in China China's middle-class population (if defined as those with annual income of between US$10,000 and US$60,000) had reached more than 300 million by 2012. According to the Hurun Report , the number of US dollar billionaires in China increased from 130 in 2009 to 251 in 2012, giving China the world's second-highest number of billionaires. China's domestic retail market was worth over 20 trillion yuan (US$3.2 trillion) in 2012 and is growing at over 12% annually as of 2013 , while the country's luxury goods market has expanded immensely, with 27.5% of the global share. However, in recent years, China's rapid economic growth has contributed to severe consumer inflation, leading to increased government regulation. China has a high level of economic inequality, which has increased in the past few decades. In 2012, China's official Gini coefficient was 0.474. A study conducted by Southwestern University of Finance and Economics showed that China’s Gini coefficient actually had reached 0.61 in 2012, and top 1% Chinese held more than 25% of China’s wealth. INTERNATIONALIZATION OF THE RENMINBI Main article: Internationalization of the renminbi Following the 2008 global financial crisis, China realized the dependency on the US Dollar and the weakness of the international monetary system. The RMB Internationalization accelerated in 2009 when China established dim sum bond market and expanded the Cross-Border Trade RMB Settlement Pilot Project, which helps establish pools of offshore RMB liquidity. In November 2010, Russia began using the Chinese renminbi in its bilateral trade with China. This was soon followed by Japan , Australia , Singapore , the United Kingdom , and Canada . As a result of the rapid internationalization of the renminbi, it became the eighth-most-traded currency in the world in 2013. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Main articles: Science and technology in China and Chinese space program History of science and technology in China * Inventions * Discoveries BY SUBJECT * Mathematics * Astronomy * Calendar * Units of measurement * Cartography * Printing * Ceramics * Metallurgy * Coinage * Chinese Alchemy * Traditional medicine * herbology * Agriculture * Silk industry * Architecture * Classic gardens * Bridges * Transport * Navigation * Military * Navy BY ERA * Han * Tang * Song * People\'s Republic * Agriculture * v * t * e HISTORICAL China was a world leader in science and technology until the Ming Dynasty . Ancient Chinese discoveries and inventions , such as papermaking , printing , the compass , and gunpowder (the Four Great Inventions ), later became widespread in Asia and Europe. Chinese mathematicians were the first to use negative numbers . However, by the 17th century, the Western world had surpassed China in scientific and technological development. The causes of this Great Divergence continue to be debated. After repeated military defeats by Western nations in the 19th century, Chinese reformers began promoting modern science and technology as part of the Self-Strengthening Movement . After the Communists came to power in 1949, efforts were made to organize science and technology based on the model of the Soviet Union , in which scientific research was part of central planning. After Mao's death in 1976, science and technology was established as one of the Four Modernizations , and the Soviet-inspired academic system was gradually reformed. MODERN ERA Since the end of the Cultural Revolution, China has made significant investments in scientific research, with $163 billion spent on scientific research and development in 2012. Science and technology are seen as vital for achieving China's economic and political goals, and are held as a source of national pride to a degree sometimes described as "techno-nationalism". Nonetheless, China's investment in basic and applied scientific research remains behind that of leading technological powers such as the United States and Japan. Chinese-born scientists have won the Nobel Prize in Physics four times, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Physiology or Medicine once respectively, though most of these scientists conducted their Nobel-winning research in western nations. The launch of a Chinese Long March 3B rocket China is developing its education system with an emphasis on science, mathematics and engineering ; in 2009, China graduated over 10,000 Ph.D. engineers, and as many as 500,000 BSc graduates, more than any other country. China is also the world's second-largest publisher of scientific papers , producing 121,500 in 2010 alone, including 5,200 in leading international scientific journals. Chinese technology companies such as Huawei and Lenovo have become world leaders in telecommunications and personal computing, and Chinese supercomputers are consistently ranked among the world\'s most powerful . China is also expanding its use of industrial robots ; from 2008 to 2011, the installation of multi-role robots in Chinese factories rose by 136 percent. The Chinese space program is one of the world's most active, and is a major source of national pride. In 1970, China launched its first satellite, Dong Fang Hong I , becoming the fifth country to do so independently. In 2003, China became the third country to independently send humans into space, with Yang Liwei 's spaceflight aboard Shenzhou 5 ; as of 2015 , ten Chinese nationals have journeyed into space, including two women. In 2011, China's first space station module, Tiangong-1 , was launched, marking the first step in a project to assemble a large manned station by the early 2020s. In 2013, China successfully landed the Chang\'e 3 probe and Yutu rover onto the Moon; China plans to collect lunar soil samples by 2017. INFRASTRUCTURE TELECOMMUNICATIONS Main article: Telecommunications in China China currently has the largest number of active cellphones of any country in the world, with over 1 billion users by February 2012. It also has the world's largest number of internet and broadband users , with over 688 million internet users as of 2016 , equivalent to around half of its population. The national average broadband connection speed is 9.46 Mbit/s, ranking China 91st in the world in terms of internet speed. As of July 2013, China accounts for 24% of the world's internet-connected devices. Since 2011 China is the nation with the most installed telecommunication bandwidth in the world. By 2014, China hosts more than twice as much national bandwidth potential than the U.S., the historical leader in terms of installed telecommunication bandwidth (China: 29% versus US:13% of the global total). China Telecom and China Unicom , the world's two largest broadband providers, accounted for 20% of global broadband subscribers. China Telecom alone serves more than 50 million broadband subscribers, while China Unicom serves more than 40 million. Several Chinese telecommunications companies, most notably Huawei and ZTE , have been accused of spying for the Chinese military. China is developing its own satellite navigation system, dubbed Beidou , which began offering commercial navigation services across Asia in 2012, and is planned to offer global coverage by 2020. TRANSPORT The Baling River Bridge is one of the world\'s highest Main article: Transport in China Since the late 1990s, China's national road network has been significantly expanded through the creation of a network of national highways and expressways . In 2011 China's highways had reached a total length of 85,000 km (53,000 mi), making it the longest highway system in the world . In 1991, there were only six bridges across the main stretch of the Yangtze River, which bisects the country into northern and southern halves. By October 2014, there were 81 such bridges and tunnels . China has the world's largest market for automobiles, having surpassed the United States in both auto sales and production . Auto sales in 2009 exceeded 13.6 million and may reach 40 million by 2020. A side-effect of the rapid growth of China's road network has been a significant rise in traffic accidents, with poorly enforced traffic laws cited as a possible cause—in 2011 alone, around 62,000 Chinese died in road accidents. In urban areas, bicycles remain a common mode of transport, despite the increasing prevalence of automobiles – as of 2012 , there are approximately 470 million bicycles in China. Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital International Airport is the 2nd-largest airport terminal in the world China\'s railways , which are state-owned , are among the busiest in the world , handling a quarter of the world's rail traffic volume on only 6 percent of the world's tracks in 2006. As of 2013 , the country had 103,144 km (64,091 mi) of railways, the third longest network in the world . All provinces and regions are connected to the rail network except Macau . The railways strain to meet enormous demand particularly during the Chinese New Year holiday, when the world\'s largest annual human migration takes place. In 2013, Chinese railways delivered 2.106 billion passenger trips, generating 1,059.56 billion passenger-kilometers and carried 3.967 billion tons of freight, generating 2,917.4 billion cargo tons-kilometers. China's high-speed rail (HSR) system started construction in the early 2000s. Today it has over 19,000 kilometers (11,806 miles) of dedicated lines alone, a length that exceeds rest of the world's high-speed rail tracks combined, making it the longest HSR network in the world . With an annual ridership of over 1.1 billion passengers in 2015 it is the world's busiest. The network includes the Beijing–Guangzhou– Shenzhen High-Speed Railway , the single longest HSR line in the world, and the Beijing– Shanghai High-Speed Railway , which has three of longest railroad bridges in the world . The HSR track network is set to reach approximately 16,000 km (9,900 mi) by 2020. The Shanghai Maglev Train , which reaches 431 km/h (268 mph), is the fastest commercial train service in the world. The Shanghai Maglev Train Since 2000, the growth of rapid transit systems in Chinese cities has accelerated. As of January 2016, 26 Chinese cities have urban mass transit systems in operation and 39 more have metro systems approved with a dozen more to join them by 2020. The Shanghai Metro , Beijing Subway , Guangzhou Metro , Hong Kong MTR and Shenzhen Metro are among the longest and busiest in the world. The China Standardized EMU , an indigenous Chinese bullet train There were 182 commercial airports in China in 2012. With 82 new airports planned to open by 2015, more than two-thirds of the airports under construction worldwide in 2013 were in China, and Boeing expects that China's fleet of active commercial aircraft in China will grow from 1,910 in 2011 to 5,980 in 2031. With rapid expansion in civil aviation , the largest airports in China have also joined the ranks of the busiest in the world . In 2013, Beijing's Capital Airport ranked second in the world by passenger traffic (it was 26th in 2002). Since 2010, the Hong Kong International Airport and Shanghai Pudong International Airport have ranked first and third in air cargo tonnage . Some 80% of China's airspace remains restricted for military use , and Chinese airlines made up eight of the 10 worst-performing Asian airlines in terms of delays. China has over 2,000 river and seaports , about 130 of which are open to foreign shipping. In 2012, the Ports of Shanghai , Hong Kong , Shenzhen , Ningbo-Zhoushan , Guangzhou , Qingdao , Tianjin , Dalian ranked in the top in the world in container traffic and cargo tonnage . The Port of Shanghai 's deep water harbor on Yangshan Island in the Hangzhou Bay became the world\'s busiest container port in 2010 WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION Main article: Water supply and sanitation in China Water supply and sanitation infrastructure in China is facing challenges such as rapid urbanization, as well as water scarcity, contamination, and pollution . According to data presented by the Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation of WHO and UNICEF in 2015, about 36% of the rural population in China still did not have access to improved sanitation . In June 2010, there were 1,519 sewage treatment plants in China and 18 plants were added each week. The ongoing South–North Water Transfer Project intends to abate water shortage in the north. DEMOGRAPHICS Main article: Demographics of China A 2009 population density map of the People's Republic of China. The eastern coastal provinces are much more densely populated than the western interior The national census of 2010 recorded the population of the People's Republic of China as approximately 1,370,536,875. About 16.60% of the population were 14 years old or younger, 70.14% were between 15 and 59 years old, and 13.26% were over 60 years old. The population growth rate for 2013 is estimated to be 0.46%. Although a middle-income country by Western standards, China's rapid growth has pulled hundreds of millions of its people out of poverty since 1978. Today, about 10% of the Chinese population lives below the poverty line of US$1 per day, down from 64% in 1978. In 2014, the urban unemployment rate of China was about 4.1%. With a population of over 1.3 billion and dwindling natural resources, the government of China is very concerned about its population growth rate and has attempted since 1979, with mixed results, to implement a strict family planning policy, known as the "one-child policy ." Before 2013, this policy sought to restrict families to one child each, with exceptions for ethnic minorities and a degree of flexibility in rural areas. A major loosening of the policy was enacted in December 2013, allowing families to have two children if one parent is an only child. In 2016, the one-child policy was replaced in favor of a two-child policy . Data from the 2010 census implies that the total fertility rate may be around 1.4. _ Population of China from 1949 to 2008 The policy, along with traditional preference for boys, may be contributing to an imbalance in the sex ratio at birth. According to the 2010 census, the sex ratio at birth was 118.06 boys for every 100 girls, which is beyond the normal range of around 105 boys for every 100 girls. The 2010 census found that males accounted for 51.27 percent of the total population. However, China's sex ratio is more balanced than it was in 1953, when males accounted for 51.82 percent of the total population. ETHNIC GROUPS Main articles: List of ethnic groups in China , Ethnic minorities in China , and Ethnic groups in Chinese history A trilingual sign in Sibsongbanna , with Tai Lü language on the top. China officially recognizes 56 distinct ethnic groups, the largest of which are the Han Chinese , who constitute about 91.51% of the total population. The Han Chinese – the world's largest single ethnic group – outnumber other ethnic groups in every provincial-level division except Tibet and Xinjiang . Ethnic minorities account for about 8.49% of the population of China, according to the 2010 census. Compared with the 2000 population census, the Han population increased by 66,537,177 persons, or 5.74%, while the population of the 55 national minorities combined increased by 7,362,627 persons, or 6.92%. The 2010 census recorded a total of 593,832 foreign citizens living in China. The largest such groups were from South Korea (120,750), the United States (71,493) and Japan (66,159). LANGUAGES Main articles: Languages of China and List of endangered languages in China 1990 map of Chinese ethnolinguistic groups There are as many as 292 living languages in China. The languages most commonly spoken belong to the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family, which contains Mandarin (spoken natively by 70% of the population), and other Chinese varieties : Yue (including Cantonese and Taishanese ), Wu (including Shanghainese and Suzhounese ), Min (including Fuzhounese , Hokkien and Teochew ), Xiang , Gan and Hakka . Languages of the Tibeto-Burman branch , including Tibetan , Qiang , Naxi and Yi , are spoken across the Tibetan and Yunnan– Guizhou Plateau . Other ethnic minority languages in southwest China include Zhuang , Thai , Dong and Sui of the Tai-Kadai family , Miao and Yao of the Hmong–Mien family , and Wa of the Austroasiatic family . Across northeastern and northwestern China , minority ethnic groups speak Altaic languages including Manchu , Mongolian and several Turkic languages : Uyghur , Kazakh , Kyrgyz , Salar and Western Yugur . Korean is spoken natively along the border with North Korea . Sarikoli , the language of Tajiks in western Xinjiang , is an Indo-European language . Taiwanese aborigines , including a small population on the mainland, speak Austronesian languages . Standard Mandarin , a variety of Mandarin based on the Beijing dialect , is the official national language of China and is used as a lingua franca in the country between people of different linguistic backgrounds. Chinese characters have been used as the written script for the Sinitic languages for thousands of years. They allow speakers of mutually unintelligible Chinese varieties to communicate with each other through writing. In 1956, the government introduced simplified characters , which have supplanted the older traditional characters in mainland China. Chinese characters are romanized using the Pinyin system . Tibetan uses an alphabet based on an Indic script . Uyghur is most commonly written in a Perseo-Arabic script . The Mongolian script used in China and the Manchu script are both derived from the Old Uyghur alphabet . Modern Zhuang uses the Latin alphabet . URBANIZATION See also: List of cities in China , List of cities in China by population , and Metropolitan regions of China Map of the ten largest cities in China (2010) China has urbanized significantly in recent decades. The percent of the country's population living in urban areas increased from 20% in 1980 to over 50% in 2014. It is estimated that China's urban population will reach one billion by 2030, potentially equivalent to one-eighth of the world population. As of 2012 , there are more than 262 million migrant workers in China, mostly rural migrants seeking work in cities. China has over 160 cities with a population of over one million, including the seven megacities (cities with a population of over 10 million) of Chongqing, Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Shenzhen, and Wuhan. By 2025, it is estimated that the country will be home to 221 cities with over a million inhabitants. The figures in the table below are from the 2010 census, and are only estimates of the urban populations within administrative city limits; a different ranking exists when considering the total municipal populations (which includes suburban and rural populations). The large "floating populations " of migrant workers make conducting censuses in urban areas difficult; the figures below include only long-term residents. * v * t * e Largest cities or towns in China Sixth National Population Census of the People\'s Republic of China (2010) RANK NAME PROVINCE POP. RANK NAME PROVINCE POP. Beijing 1 Shanghai Shanghai 20,217,700 11 Chengdu Sichuan 6,316,900 2 Beijing Beijing 16,446,900 12 Nanjing Jiangsu 6,238,200 3 Chongqing Chongqing 11,871,200 13 Shenyang Liaoning 5,718,200 4 Guangzhou Guangdong 10,641,400 14 Hangzhou Zhejiang 5,578,300 5 Shenzhen Guangdong 10,358,400 15 Xi\'an Shaanxi 5,399,300 6 Tianjin Tianjin 9,562,300 16 Harbin Heilongjiang 5,178,000 7 Wuhan Hubei 7,541,500 17 Suzhou Jiangsu 4,083,900 8 Dongguan Guangdong 7,271,300 18 Qingdao Shandong 3,990,900 9 Hong Kong Hong Kong 7,055,071 19 Dalian Liaoning 3,902,500 10 Foshan Guangdong 6,771,900 20 Zhengzhou Henan 3,677,000 EDUCATION Main articles: Education in the People\'s Republic of China and List of universities in China Beijing's Tsinghua University , one of the top-ranked universities in China Since 1986, compulsory education in China comprises primary and junior secondary school , which together last for nine years. In 2010, about 82.5 percent of students continued their education at a three-year senior secondary school. The Gaokao , China's national university entrance exam, is a prerequisite for entrance into most higher education institutions. In 2010, 27 percent of secondary school graduates are enrolled in higher education. Vocational education is available to students at the secondary and tertiary level. In February 2006, the government pledged to provide completely free nine-year education, including textbooks and fees. Annual education investment went from less than US$50 billion in 2003 to more than US$250 billion in 2011. However, there remains an inequality in education spending. In 2010, the annual education expenditure per secondary school student in Beijing totalled ¥20,023, while in Guizhou , one of the poorest provinces in China , only totalled ¥3,204. Free compulsory education in China consists of primary school and junior secondary school between the ages of 6 and 15. In 2011, around 81.4% of Chinese have received secondary education. By 2007, there were 396,567 primary schools, 94,116 secondary schools, and 2,236 higher education institutions in China. As of 2010 , 94% of the population over age 15 are literate, compared to only 20% in 1950. In 2009, Chinese students from Shanghai achieved the world's best results in mathematics, science and literacy, as tested by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a worldwide evaluation of 15-year-old school pupils' scholastic performance. Despite the high results, Chinese education has also faced both native and international criticism for its emphasis on rote memorization and its gap in quality from rural to urban areas. HEALTH Main article: Health in China See also: Pharmaceutical industry in China Chart showing the rise of China's Human Development Index from 1970 to 2010 The National Health and Family Planning Commission , together with its counterparts in the local commissions, oversees the health needs of the Chinese population. An emphasis on public health and preventive medicine has characterized Chinese health policy since the early 1950s. At that time, the Communist Party started the Patriotic Health Campaign , which was aimed at improving sanitation and hygiene, as well as treating and preventing several diseases. Diseases such as cholera , typhoid and scarlet fever , which were previously rife in China, were nearly eradicated by the campaign. After Deng Xiaoping began instituting economic reforms in 1978, the health of the Chinese public improved rapidly because of better nutrition, although many of the free public health services provided in the countryside disappeared along with the People's Communes. Healthcare in China became mostly privatized , and experienced a significant rise in quality. In 2009, the government began a 3-year large-scale healthcare provision initiative worth US$124 billion. By 2011, the campaign resulted in 95% of China's population having basic health insurance coverage. In 2011, China was estimated to be the world's third-largest supplier of pharmaceuticals , but its population has suffered from the development and distribution of counterfeit medications . As of 2012 , the average life expectancy at birth in China is 75 years, and the infant mortality rate is 12 per thousand. Both have improved significantly since the 1950s. Rates of stunting , a condition caused by malnutrition , have declined from 33.1% in 1990 to 9.9% in 2010. Despite significant improvements in health and the construction of advanced medical facilities, China has several emerging public health problems, such as respiratory illnesses caused by widespread air pollution , hundreds of millions of cigarette smokers , and an increase in obesity among urban youths. China's large population and densely populated cities have led to serious disease outbreaks in recent years, such as the 2003 outbreak of SARS , although this has since been largely contained. In 2010, air pollution caused 1.2 million premature deaths in China. RELIGION Main article: Religion in China Freedom of religion is guaranteed by China's constitution, although religious organizations that lack official approval can be subject to state persecution. The government of the People's Republic of China is officially atheist . Religious affairs and issues in the country are overseen by the State Administration for Religious Affairs . Over the millennia, Chinese civilization has been influenced by various religious movements. The "three teachings ", including Confucianism , Taoism , and Buddhism (Chinese Buddhism ), historically have a significant role in shaping Chinese culture, Chinese folk religion, which contains elements of the three teachings, consists in allegiance to the _shen _ (神), a character that signifies the "energies of generation ", who can be deities of the natural environment or ancestral principles of human groups, concepts of civility, culture heroes , many of whom feature in Chinese mythology and history. Among the most popular folk cults are those of Mazu (goddess of the seas), Huangdi (one of the two divine patriarchs of the Chinese race), Guandi (god of war and business), Caishen (god of prosperity and richness), Pangu and many others. China is home to many of the world\'s tallest religious statues , including the tallest of all, the Spring Temple Buddha in Henan . Clear data on religious affiliation in China is difficult to gather due to varying definitions on "religion" and the unorganized nature of Chinese religious traditions. Scholars note that in China there is no clear boundary between religions, especially Buddhism, Taoism and local folk religious practice. A 2015 poll conducted by Gallup International found that 61% of Chinese people self-identified as "convinced atheist". According to one study from 2012, about 90% of the Chinese population are either nonreligious or practice some form of Chinese folk religions, Taoism and Confucianism. Approximately 15% are Buddhists, 2% are Christians, and 1% are Muslims. In addition to Han people's local religious practices, there are also various ethnic minority groups in China who maintain their traditional autochthone religions . Various sects of indigenous origin comprise 2—3% of the population, while Confucianism as a religious self-designation is popular among intellectuals. Significant faiths specifically connected to certain ethnic groups include Tibetan Buddhism and the Islamic religion of the Hui and Uyghur peoples . Temple of the Great Buddha in Midong , Urumqi , Xinjiang . China has many of the tallest statues in the world, and most of them represent deities and buddhas. Temple of the White Sulde of Genghis Khan in the town of Uxin in Inner Mongolia , in the Mu Us Desert . Religion in Inner Mongolia blends Chinese and Mongolian folk religious traditions. Xuanyuan Temple in Huangling , Yan\'an , Shaanxi , dedicated to the worship of the Yellow Emperor (said to be the ancestor of all Chinese ) at the ideal sacred centre of China. Temple of Guandi in Chaoyang , Liaoning . Religion in Northeast China is characterised by the interaction of folk religions of Chinese and Manchus (Manchu folk religion ). Confucian religious movements like Shanrendao are widespread. Taoists of the Zhengyi order bowing during a rite at the White Cloud Temple of Shanghai . Taoism is a set of orders of philosophy and rite that operate as frameworks of Chinese religion, alongside vernacular ritual traditions . Larung Gar Academy of Tibetan Buddhism in Sêrtar , Garzê , Sichuan . Founded in the 1980s, it is now the largest monastic institution in the world, with about 40,000 members of which 1/10 Han Chinese . The City of the Eight Symbols in Qi , Hebi , is the headquarters of the Weixinist Church in Henan . Weixinism is a 21st-century renewal movement of Chinese religion and philosophy. CULTURE Main articles: Chinese culture and Culture of the People\'s Republic of China The Temple of Heaven , a center of heaven worship and an UNESCO World Heritage site, symbolizes the Interactions Between Heaven and Mankind . Since ancient times, Chinese culture has been heavily influenced by Confucianism and conservative philosophies. For much of the country's dynastic era, opportunities for social advancement could be provided by high performance in the prestigious imperial examinations , which have their origins in the Han Dynasty . The literary emphasis of the exams affected the general perception of cultural refinement in China, such as the belief that calligraphy , poetry and painting were higher forms of art than dancing or drama. Chinese culture has long emphasized a sense of deep history and a largely inward-looking national perspective. Examinations and a culture of merit remain greatly valued in China today. The first leaders of the People's Republic of China were born into the traditional imperial order, but were influenced by the May Fourth Movement and reformist ideals. They sought to change some traditional aspects of Chinese culture, such as rural land tenure, sexism , and the Confucian system of education, while preserving others, such as the family structure and culture of obedience to the state. Some observers see the period following the establishment of the PRC in 1949 as a continuation of traditional Chinese dynastic history, while others claim that the Communist Party's rule has damaged the foundations of Chinese culture, especially through political movements such as the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, where many aspects of traditional culture were destroyed, having been denounced as "regressive and harmful" or "vestiges of feudalism ". Many important aspects of traditional Chinese morals and culture, such as Confucianism, art, literature, and performing arts like Peking opera , were altered to conform to government policies and propaganda at the time. Access to foreign media remains heavily restricted. Today, the Chinese government has accepted numerous elements of traditional Chinese culture as being integral to Chinese society. With the rise of Chinese nationalism and the end of the Cultural Revolution, various forms of traditional Chinese art, literature, music, film, fashion and architecture have seen a vigorous revival, and folk and variety art in particular have sparked interest nationally and even worldwide. China is now the third-most-visited country in the world , with 55.7 million inbound international visitors in 2010. It also experiences an enormous volume of domestic tourism ; an estimated 740 million Chinese holidaymakers travelled within the country in October 2012 alone. LITERATURE Main article: Chinese literature _ The stories in Journey to the West _ are common themes in Peking opera Chinese literature is based on the literature of the Zhou dynasty . Concepts covered within the Chinese classic texts present a wide range of thoughts and subjects including calendar , military , astrology , herbology , geography and many others. Some of the most important early texts include the _ I Ching _ and the _Shujing _ within the Four Books and Five Classics which served as the Confucian authoritative books for the state-sponsored curriculum in dynastic era. Inherited from the _ Classic of Poetry _, classical Chinese poetry developed to its floruit during the Tang dynasty. Li Bai and Du Fu opened the forking ways for the poetic circles through romanticism and realism respectively. Chinese historiography began with the _ Shiji _, the overall scope of the historiographical tradition in China is termed the Twenty-Four Histories , which set a vast stage for Chinese fictions along with Chinese mythology and folklore . Pushed by a burgeoning citizen class in the Ming dynasty , Chinese classical fiction rose to a boom of the historical, town and gods and demons fictions as represented by the Four Great Classical Novels which include _ Water Margin _, _Romance of the Three Kingdoms _, _Journey to the West _ and _ Dream of the Red Chamber _. Along with the wuxia fictions of Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng , it remains an enduring source of popular culture in the East Asian cultural sphere . In the wake of the New Culture Movement after the end of the Qing dynasty, Chinese literature embarked on a new era with written vernacular Chinese for ordinary citizens. Hu Shih and Lu Xun were pioneers in modern literature. Various literary genres, such as misty poetry , scar literature , young adult fiction and the xungen literature , which is influenced by magic realism , emerged following the Cultural Revolution. Mo Yan , a xungen literature author, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2012. CUISINE Main article: Chinese cuisine Chinese foods originated from different regional cuisines: laziji from Sichuan in the west, xiaolongbao from Jiangsu in the east, rice noodle roll from Cantonese in the south and Peking duck from Shandong in the north. Chinese cuisine is highly diverse, drawing on several millennia of culinary history and geographical variety, in which the most influential are known as the "Eight Major Cuisines", including Sichuan , Cantonese , Jiangsu , Shandong , Fujian , Hunan , Anhui , and Zhejiang cuisines. All of them are featured by the precise skills of shaping, heating, colorway and flavoring. Chinese cuisine is also known for its width of cooking methods and ingredients, as well as food therapy that is emphasized by traditional Chinese medicine . Generally, China's staple food is rice in the south, wheat based breads and noodles in the north. The diet of the common people in pre-modern times was largely grain and simple vegetables, with meat reserved for special occasions. And the bean products, such as tofu and soy milk , remain as a popular source of protein. Pork is now the most popular meat in China, accounting for about three-fourths of the country's total meat consumption. While there is also a Buddhist cuisine and an Islamic cuisine . Southern cuisine, due to the area's proximity to the ocean and milder climate, has a wide variety of seafood and vegetables; it differs in many respects from the wheat-based diets across dry northern China. Numerous offshoots of Chinese food, such as Hong Kong cuisine and American Chinese food , have emerged in the nations that play host to the Chinese diaspora . SPORTS Main articles: Sport in the People\'s Republic of China and China at the Olympics Dragon boat racing, a popular traditional Chinese sport China has become a prime sports destination worldwide. The country gained the hosting rights for several major global sports tournaments including the 2008 Summer Olympics , the 2015 World Championships in Athletics and the upcoming 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup . China has one of the oldest sporting cultures in the world. There is evidence that archery (_shèjiàn_) was practiced during the Western Zhou Dynasty . Swordplay (_jiànshù_) and cuju , a sport loosely related to association football date back to China's early dynasties as well. Physical fitness is widely emphasized in Chinese culture, with morning exercises such as qigong and t\'ai chi ch\'uan widely practiced, and commercial gyms and fitness clubs gaining popularity in the country. Basketball is currently the most popular spectator sport in China. The Chinese Basketball Association and the American National Basketball Association have a huge following among the people, with native or ethnic Chinese players such as Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian held in high esteem. China's professional football league, now known as Chinese Super League , was established in 1994, it is the largest football market in Asia. Other popular sports in the country include martial arts , table tennis, badminton, swimming and snooker . Board games such as go (known as _wéiqí_ in Chinese), xiangqi , mahjong , and more recently chess , are also played at a professional level. In addition, China is home to a huge number of cyclists , with an estimated 470 million bicycles as of 2012 . Many more traditional sports, such as dragon boat racing, Mongolian-style wrestling and horse racing are also popular. China has participated in the Olympic Games since 1932, although it has only participated as the PRC since 1952 . China hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where its athletes received 51 gold medals – the highest number of gold medals of any participating nation that year. China also won the most medals of any nation at the 2012 Summer Paralympics , with 231 overall, including 95 gold medals. In 2011, Shenzhen in Guangdong, China hosted the 2011 Summer Universiade . China hosted the 2013 East Asian Games in Tianjin and the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing . SEE ALSO * Index of China-related articles * Outline of China * China\'s Circular Economy FOOTNOTES * ^ Romanized as "Peking" prior to the adoption of Pinyin . * ^ Portuguese ( Macau only), English ( Hong Kong only). * ^ Ethnic minorities that are recognized officially. * ^ Xi Jinping holds four concurrent positions: General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (_de facto_ paramount leader ), President of the People\'s Republic of China (_de jure_ head of state ), and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (Commander-in-chief ) for both state and party. * ^ The area given is the official United Nations figure for the mainland and excludes Hong Kong , Macau and Taiwan . It also excludes the Trans- Karakoram Tract (5,800 km2 or 2,200 sq mi), Aksai Chin (37,244 km2 or 14,380 sq mi) and other territories in dispute with India. The total area of China is listed as 9,572,900 km2 (3,696,100 sq mi) by the _Encyclopædia Britannica_. For further information, see Territorial changes of the People\'s Republic of China . * ^ This figure was calculated using data from the CIA World Factbook. * ^ The Hong Kong Dollar is used in Hong Kong and Macau while the Macanese pataca is used in Macau only. * ^ Except Hong Kong and Macau . * ^ The total area ranking relative to the United States depends on the measurement of the total areas of China and the United States. See List of countries and outlying territories by area for more information. * ^ " Next vnto this, is found the great China, whose kyng is thought to bee the greatest prince in the worlde, and is named Santoa Raia". * ^ " The Very Great Kingdom of China". (Portuguese : _...O Grande Reino da China..._). * ^ Eden used the now obsolete form _Chinish_: "...whence the Chinishe nation haue theyr prouision for shppyng..." * ^ Although this is the present meaning of _guó_, in Old Chinese (when its pronunciation was something like /*qʷˤək/) it meant the walled city of the Chinese and the areas they could control from them. * ^ Its use is attested from the 6th-century Classic of History , which states "Huangtian bestowed the lands and the peoples of the central state to the ancestors" (皇天既付中國民越厥疆土于先王). * ^ Owing to the First Emperor 's earlier policy involving the "burning of books and burying of scholars ", the destruction of the confiscated copies at Xianyang was an event similar to the destructions of the Library of Alexandria in the west. Even those texts that did survive had to be painstakingly reconstructed from memory, luck, or forgery. The Old Texts of the Five Classics were said to have been found hidden in a wall at the Kong residence in Qufu . Mei Ze 's "rediscovered" edition of the Book of Documents was only shown to be a forgery in the Qing dynasty . * ^ According to the _Encyclopædia Britannica_, the total area of the United States, at 9,522,055 km2 (3,676,486 sq mi), is slightly smaller than that of China. Meanwhile, the CIA World Factbook states that China's total area was greater than that of the United States until the coastal waters of the Great Lakes was added to the United States' total area in 1996. From 1989 through 1996, the total area of US was listed as 9,372,610 km2 (3,618,780 sq mi) (land area plus inland water only). The listed total area changed to 9,629,091 km2 (3,717,813 sq mi) in 1997 (with the Great Lakes areas and the coastal waters added), to 9,631,418 km2 (3,718,711 sq mi) in 2004, to 9,631,420 km2 (3,718,710 sq mi) in 2006, and to 9,826,630 km2 (3,794,080 sq mi) in 2007 (territorial waters added). * ^ China's border with Pakistan and part of its border with India falls in the disputed region of Kashmir . The area under Pakistani administration is claimed by India, while the area under Indian administration is claimed by Pakistan. * ^ Tsung-Dao Lee , Chen Ning Yang , Daniel C. Tsui , Charles K. Kao , Yuan T. Lee , Tu Youyou * ^ The national life expectancy at birth rose from about 31 years in 1949 to 75 years in 2008, and infant mortality decreased from 300 per thousand in the 1950s to around 33 per thousand in 2001. * ^ The Yellow Emperor (_Huangdi_ 黄帝) is often presented as the ancestor of both Chinese people and Chinese civilization. In Chinese religion , he embodies or grasps the _axis mundi _ (Kunlun Mountain ), the hub of creation, identifying with the spring of the universe (天 _Tiān _). REFERENCES * ^ Chan, Kam Wing (2007). "Misconceptions and Complexities in the Study of China\'s Cities: Definitions, Statistics, and Implications" (PDF). _ Eurasian Geography and Economics _. 48 (4): 383–412. doi :10.2747/1538-7216.48.4.383 . Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2011. p. 395 * ^ "Law of the People\'s Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language (Order of the President No.37)". Chinese Government. 31 October 2000. Retrieved 21 June 2013. For purposes of this Law, the standard spoken and written Chinese language means Putonghua (a common speech with pronunciation based on the Beijing dialect) and the standardized Chinese characters. * ^ _General Information of the People\'s Republic of China (PRC): Languages_, chinatoday.com, retrieved 17 April 2008 * ^ _A_ _B_ "Tabulation of the 2010 Census of the People\'s Republic of China". China Statistics Press. * ^ "Constitution of the People\'s Republic of China". The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China. 15 November 2007. Retrieved 8 February 2015. * ^ "New man at helm: Xi Jinping elected to lead China". RT.com. 15 November 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2013. * ^ _A_ _B_ "Demographic Yearbook—Table 3: Population by sex, rate of population increase, surface area and density" (PDF). UN Statistics. 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 December 2010. Retrieved 31 July 2010. * ^ "China". _Encyclopædia Britannica_. Retrieved 16 November 2012. * ^ _A_ _B_ _C_ "CIA – The World Factbook". Cia.gov. Retrieved 23 November 2013. * ^ " The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency". * ^ _A_ _B_ _C_ _D_ "Communiqué of the National Bureau of Statistics of People\'s Republic of China on Major Figures of the 2010 Population Census (No. 1)". National Bureau of Statistics of China. 28 April 2011. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013. * ^ "Population density (people per sq. km of land area)". IMF. Retrieved 16 May 2015. * ^ _A_ _B_ _C_ _D_ _E_ _F_ "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects: China". _World Economic Outlook_. International Monetary Fund. April 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2017. * ^ "China\'s Economy Realized a Moderate but Stable and Sound Growth in 2015". National Bureau of Statistics of China. 19 January 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2016. Taking the per capita disposable income of nationwide households by income quintiles, that of the low-income group reached 5,221 yuan, the lower-middle-income group 11,894 yuan, the middle-income group 19,320 yuan, the upper-middle-income group 29,438 yuan, and the high-income group 54,544 yuan. The Gini Coefficient for national income in 2015 was 0.462. * ^ "Human Development Report 2016: Human Development for Everyone" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. Retrieved 3 April 2017. * ^ " China Population". _www.worldometers.info_. 15 March 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2016. * ^ "Countries of the world ordered by land area". Listofcountriesoftheworld.com. Archived from the original on 5 March 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2010. * ^ Shambaugh (2008) , p. 3 etc.. * ^ Muldavin, Joshua (9 February 2006). "From Rural Transformation to Global Integration: The Environmental and Social Impacts of China\'s Rise to Superpower". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Retrieved 17 January 2010. * ^ _A_ _B_ _C_ "A Point Of View: What kind of superpower could China be?". BBC. 19 October 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2012. * ^ _A_ _B_ White, Garry (10 February 2013). " China trade now bigger than US". _Daily Telegraph_. London. Retrieved 15 February 2013. * ^ _A_ _B_ "Military and Security Developments Involving the People\'s Republic of China 2013" (PDF). US Secretary of Defense. 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013. * ^ _A_ _B_ _C_ "Mar. 2014: Deciphering China\'s latest defence budget figures". SIPRI . March 2014. Archived from the original on 9 February 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2015. * ^ _A_ _B_ Bilik, Naran (2015), "Reconstructing China beyond Homogeneity", _Patriotism in East Asia_, _Political Theories in East Asian Context_, Abingdon: Routledge, p. 105 * ^ Eden, Richard (1555), _Decades of the New World_, p. 230. * ^ Myers, Henry Allen (1984). _Western Views of China and the Far East, Volume 1_. Asian Research Service. p. 34. * ^ Dames, Mansel Longworth, ed. (1918), _The Book of Duarte Barbosa,_ Vol. II, London, p. 211 * ^ Barbosa, Duarte (1946), _Livro em que dá Relação do que Viu e Ouviu no Oriente_, Lisbon, archived from the original on 22 October 2008 . (in Portuguese) * ^ "China" in the _Oxford English Dictionary_ (1989). ISBN 0-19-957315-8 . * ^ "-ese, _suffix_", and "Chinese, _adj._ and _n._", in the _Oxford English Dictionary_, Oxford: Oxford University Press. * ^ Eden, Richard in R. Willes (1577). _The History of Trauayle in the West and East Indies_, p. 260 * ^ "China". _The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language_ (2000). Boston and New York: Houghton-Mifflin. * ^ _A_ _B_ Wade, Geoff. "The Polity of Yelang and the Origin of the Name \'China\'". _ Sino-Platonic Papers _, No. 188, May 2009, p. 20. * ^ Martino, Martin, _Novus Atlas Sinensis_, Vienna 1655, Preface, p. 2. * ^ _A_ _B_ Baxter-Sagart . * ^ Liu, Lydia He (2009). _The Clash of Empires: the invention of China in modern world making_. Harvard University Press . pp. 77–78. ISBN 9780674040298 . Olivelle 's evidence affirms that _cīna_ is related to the Qin dynasty but leaves the precise nature of that linkage open to speculation. * ^ _A_ _B_ _C_ _D_ Wilkinson, Endymion (2000), _Chinese History: A Manual_, Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph No. 52, Cambridge : Harvard University Asia Center, p. 132 * ^ 《尚書》, 梓材. (in Chinese) * ^ Tang, Xiaoyang (2010). Guo, Sujian; Guo, Baogang, eds. _Greater China in an Era of Globalization_. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 52–53. ISBN 978-0-7391-3534-1 . * ^ Challen, Paul (2005). _Life in ancient China_. New York: Crabtree Publishing. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-7787-2037-9 . * ^ Hui-Ching Chang; et al., _Language, Politics, and Identity in Taiwan: Naming China_, _Routledge Research on Taiwan_, Abingdon: Routledge, p. 220 * ^ Proposed country name of the People\'s Republic of China (People\'s Daily - Chinese) * ^ _Dong Biwu Report: Central People Committee of the People\'s Republic of China_ (Chinese) * ^ Garver, John W. (April 1997). _The Sino-American Alliance: Nationalist China and American Cold War Strategy in Asia_. M.E. Sharp. ISBN 978-0-7656-0025-7 . * ^ "Early Homo erectus Tools in China". Archaeological Institute of America. 2000. Retrieved 30 November 2012. * ^ "The Peking Man World Heritage Site at Zhoukoudian". UNESCO. Retrieved 6 March 2013. * ^ Shen, G; Gao, X; Gao, B; Granger, De (Mar 2009). "Age of Zhoukoudian Homo erectus determined with (26)Al/(10)Be burial dating". _Nature_. 458 (7235): 198–200. Bibcode :2009Natur.458..198S. ISSN 0028-0836 . PMID 19279636 . doi :10.1038/nature07741 . * ^ "Fossil teeth place humans in Asia \'20,000 years early\'". BBC News. Retrieved 14 October 2015. * ^ _A_ _B_ Rincon, Paul (17 April 2003). "\'Earliest writing\' found in China". _ BBC News_. * ^ Qiu Xigui (2000). _Chinese Writing_. English translation of 文字學概論 by Gilbert L. Mattos and Jerry Norman . Early China Special Monograph Series No. 4. Berkeley: The Society for the Study of Early China and the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley. ISBN 978-1-55729-071-7 . * ^ Tanner, Harold M. (2009). _China: A History_. Hackett Publishing. pp. 35–36. ISBN 0872209156 . * ^ " Bronze Age China". National Gallery of Art . Retrieved 11 July 2013. * ^ _China: Five Thousand Years of History and Civilization_. City University of HK Press. 2007. p. 25. ISBN 9789629371401 . * ^ Pletcher, Kenneth (2011). _The History of China_. Britannica Educational Publishing. p. 35. ISBN 9781615301812 . * ^ Fowler, Jeaneane D.; Fowler, Merv (2008). _Chinese Religions: Beliefs and Practices_. Sussex Academic Press. p. 17. ISBN 9781845191726 . * ^ William G. Boltz, Early Chinese Writing, World Archaeology, Vol. 17, No. 3, Early Writing Systems. (Feb. 1986), pp. 420–436 (436). * ^ David N. Keightley, "Art, Ancestors, and the Origins of Writing in China", _Representations_, No. 56, Special Issue: The New Erudition. (Autumn, 1996), pp.68–95 (68). * ^ Hollister, Pam (1996). "Zhengzhou". In Schellinger, Paul E.; Salkin, Robert M. _International Dictionary of Historic Places: Asia and Oceania_. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. p. 904. ISBN 9781884964046 . * ^ Allan, Keith (2013). _The Oxford Handbook of the History of Linguistics_. Oxford University Press. p. 4. ISBN 9780199585847 . * ^ Sima Qian, Translated by Burton Watson. _Records of the Grand Historian: Han Dynasty I_, p. 11-12. ISBN 0-231-08165-0 . * ^ _A_ _B_ Bodde, Derk. (1986). "The State and Empire of Ch'in", in _The Cambridge History of China: Volume I: the Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C. – A.D. 220_. Edited by Denis Twitchett and Michael Loewe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-24327-0 . * ^ _A_ _B_ Lewis, Mark Edward (2007). _The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han_. London: Belknap Press. ISBN 978-0-674-02477-9 . * ^ Cotterell, Arthur (2011), _The Imperial Capitals of China_, Pimlico, pp. 35–36 * ^ "Dahlman, Carl J; Aubert, Jean-Eric. _ China and the Knowledge Economy: Seizing the 21st century_". World Bank Publications via Eric.ed.gov. Retrieved 22 October 2012. * ^ Goucher, Candice; Walton, Linda (2013). _World History: Journeys from Past to Present – Volume 1: From Human Origins to 1500 CE_. Routledge. p. 108. ISBN 9781135088224 . * ^ Whiting, Marvin C. (2002). _Imperial Chinese Military History._ iUniverse. p. 214 * ^ Ki-Baik Lee (1984). _A new history of Korea._ Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-61576-2 . p.47. * ^ David Andrew Graff (2002). _Medieval Chinese warfare, 300–900._ Routledge. ISBN 0-415-23955-9 . p.13. * ^ Adshead, S. A. M. (2004). _T'ang China: The Rise of the East in World History_. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 54 * ^ Nishijima, Sadao (1986), "The Economic and Social History of Former Han", in Twitchett, Denis; Loewe, Michael, _Cambridge History of China: Volume I: the Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C. – A.D. 220_, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 545–607, ISBN 0-521-24327-0 * ^ City University of HK Press (2007). _China: Five Thousand Years of History and Civilization_. ISBN 962-937-140-5 . p.71 * ^ Paludan, Ann (1998). _Chronicle of the Chinese Emperors_. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-05090-2 . p. 136. * ^ _Essentials of Neo-Confucianism: Eight Major Philosophers of the Song and Ming Periods_. Greenwood Publishing Group. 1999. p. 3. ISBN 9780313264498 . * ^ "Northern Song dynasty (960–1127)". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 27 November 2013. * ^ "从汝窑、修内司窑和郊坛窑的技术传承看宋代瓷业的发展". wanfangdata.com.cn. 15 February 2011. Retrieved 15 August 2015. * ^ _Daily Life in China on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion, 1250–1276_. Stanford University Press. 1962. p. 22. ISBN 0-8047-0720-0 . * ^ Ping-ti Ho. "An Estimate of the Total Population of Sung-Chin China", in _Études Song_, Series 1, No 1, (1970). pp. 33–53. * ^ Rice, Xan (25 July 2010). "Chinese archaeologists\' African quest for sunken ship of Ming admiral". _The Guardian_. London. * ^ " Wang Yangming (1472—1529)". _Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy_. Retrieved 9 December 2013. * ^ "论明末士人阶层与资本主义萌芽的关系". docin.com. 8 April 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2015. * ^ John M. Roberts (1997). _A Short History of the World_. Oxford University Press. p. 272. ISBN 0-19-511504-X . * ^ The Cambridge History of China: Volume 10, Part 1, by John K. Fairbank, p37 * ^ _中国通史·明清史_. 九州出版社. 2010. pp. 104–112. ISBN 978-7-5108-0062-7 . * ^ _中华通史·第十卷_. 花城出版社. 1996. p. 71. ISBN 978-7-5360-2320-8 . * ^ Ainslie Thomas Embree , Carol Gluck (1997). _ Asia in Western and World History: A Guide for Teaching_. M.E. Sharpe. p.597. ISBN 1-56324-265-6 . * ^ "Sino-Japanese War (1894–95)". _ Encyclopædia Britannica _. Retrieved 12 November 2012. * ^ "Dimensions of need – People and populations at risk". 1995. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Retrieved 3 July 2013. * ^ Eileen Tamura (1997). _China: Understanding Its Past._ Volume 1. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-1923-3 . p.146. * ^ Stephen Haw , (2006). Beijing: A Concise History. Taylor Stoler, Mark A. (2005). _Debating Franklin D. Roosevelt\'s foreign policies, 1933–1945_. Rowman & Littlefield. * ^ "The Moscow Declaration on general security". _Yearbook of the United Nations 1946–1947_. Lake Success, NY: United Nations. 1947. p. 3. OCLC 243471225 . Retrieved 25 April 2015. * ^ "Declaration by United Nations". United Nations. Retrieved 20 June 2015. * ^ Hoopes, Townsend, and Douglas Brinkley. _FDR and the Creation of the U.N._ (Yale University Press, 1997) * ^ Gaddis, John Lewis (1972). _The United States and the Origins of the Cold War, 1941–1947_. Columbia University Press. pp. 24–25. ISBN 978-0-231-12239-9 . * ^ Tien, Hung-mao (1991). "Constitutional Reform and the Future of the Republic of China". In Feldman, Harvey. _Constitutional Reform and the Future of the Republic of China_. M.E. Sharpe. p. 3. ISBN 9780873328807 . * ^ "The Chinese people have stood up". UCLA Center for East Asian Studies. Archived from the original on 18 February 2009. Retrieved 16 April 2006. * ^ "Red Capture of Hainan Island". _The Tuscaloosa News_. Google News Archive. 9 May 1950. Retrieved 20 July 2013. * ^ "The Tibetans" (PDF). University of Southern California. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2013. * ^ John W. Garver (1997). _The Sino-American alliance: Nationalist China and American Cold War strategy in Asia_. M.E. Sharpe. p. 169. ISBN 0-7656-0025-0 . Retrieved 20 July 2013. * ^ Busky, Donald F. (2002). _Communism in History and Theory_. Greenwood Publishing Group. p.11. * ^ "A Country Study: China". _lcweb2.loc.gov_. Retrieved 24 July 2015. * ^ Madelyn Holmes (2008). _Students and teachers of the new China: thirteen interviews_. McFarland. p. 185. ISBN 0-7864-3288-8 . Retrieved 7 November 2011. * ^ Akbar, Arifa (17 September 2010). "Mao\'s Great Leap Forward \'killed 45 million in four years\'". _The Independent_. London. Retrieved 30 October 2010. * ^ Michael Y.M. Kao. "Taiwan's and Beijing's Campaigns for Unification" in Harvey Feldman and Michael Y. M. Kao (eds., 1988): _ Taiwan in a Time of Transition_. New York: Paragon House. p.188. * ^ Hart-Landsberg, Martin; and Burkett, Paul. " China and Socialism: Market Reforms and Class Struggle". Monthly Review. Retrieved 30 October 2008. * ^ "The Impact of Tiananmen on China\'s Foreign Policy". The National Bureau of Asian Research. Archived from the original on 4 April 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2013. * ^ _Nation bucks trend of global poverty_ Archived 14 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine .. _ China Daily_. 11 July 2003. Retrieved 10 July 2013. * ^ _China\'s Average Economic Growth in 90s Ranked 1st in World_. _People's Daily_. 1 March 2000. Retrieved 10 July 2013. * ^ "China\'s Environmental Crisis". _ New York Times _. 26 August 2007. Retrieved 16 May 2012. * ^ _ China worried over pace of growth_. BBC. Retrieved 16 April 2006. * ^ _China: Migrants, Students, Taiwan_. Migration News. January 2006. * ^ _In Face of Rural Unrest, China Rolls Out Reforms_. _Washington Post_. 28 January 2006. * ^ "_Frontline_: _The Tank Man_ transcript". _Frontline_. PBS. 11 April 2006. Retrieved 12 July 2008. * ^ "Bo Xilai scandal: Timeline". BBC. 5 September 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2012. * ^ _A_ _B_ Moore, Malcolm (15 November 2012). " Xi Jinping crowned new leader of China Communist Party". _The Daily Telegraph_. London. Retrieved 15 November 2012. * ^ "New China leadership tipped to be all male". Stuff.co.nz. 6 November 2012. * ^ " China frees up bank lending rates". BBC. 19 July 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2013. * ^ Evans-Pritchard, Ambrose (23 July 2013). " China eyes fresh stimulus as economy stalls, sets 7pc growth floor". _Daily Telegraph_. London. Retrieved 25 July 2013. * ^ "The decade of Xi Jinping". _ Financial Times _. 25 November 2012. Retrieved 27 November 2012. * ^ " China sees both industrial output and retail sales rise". BBC. 9 December 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2012. * ^ "China\'s exports and imports decline". BBC. 10 July 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013. * ^ " China orders government debt audit". BBC. 29 July 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013. * ^ _A_ _B_ " China ends one child policy". _Slate_. 15 November 2013. Archived from the original on 16 November 2013. Retrieved 16 November 2013. * ^ Amitendu, Palit (2012). _China- India Economics: Challenges, Competition and Collaboration_. Routledge. p. 4. ISBN 9781136621628 . * ^ "Geography – china.org.cn". china.org.cn. Archived from the original on 13 September 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2015. * ^ "United States". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 25 March 2008. * ^ "Which country borders the most other countries?". About.com. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2013. * ^ " Nepal and China agree on Mount Everest\'s height". _ BBC News_. 8 April 2010. * ^ "Lowest Places on Earth". National Park Service. Retrieved 2 December 2013. * ^ _Regional Climate Studies of China_. Springer. 2008. p. 1. ISBN 9783540792420 . * ^ Waghorn, Terry (7 March 2011). "Fighting Desertification". _Forbes_. * ^ " Beijing hit by eighth sandstorm". BBC news. Retrieved 17 April 2006. * ^ Coonan, Cliff (9 November 2007). "The gathering sandstorm: Encroaching desert, missing water". _The Independent_. Archived from the original on 24 April 2008. Retrieved 23 July 2014. * ^ " Himalaya glaciers melting much faster". MSNBC. 24 November 2008. Retrieved 21 September 2011. * ^ "Biodiversity Theme Report". Environment.gov.au. 10 December 2009. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2010. * ^ Countries with the Highest Biological Diversity Archived 26 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine .. Mongabay.com. 2004 data. Retrieved 24 April 2013. * ^ "List of Parties". Retrieved 9 December 2012. * ^ "" (PDF). Retrieved 9 December 2012. * ^ IUCN Initiatives – Mammals – Analysis of Data – Geographic Patterns 2012 Archived 12 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine .. IUCN. Retrieved 24 April 2013. Data does not include species in Taiwan. * ^ Countries with the most bird species Archived 16 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine .. Mongabay.com. 2004 data. Retrieved 24 April 2013. * ^ Countries with the most reptile species. Mongabay.com. 2004 data. Retrieved 24 April 2013. * ^ IUCN Initiatives – Amphibians – Analysis of Data – Geographic Patterns 2012 Archived 12 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine .. IUCN. Retrieved 24 April 2013. Data does not include species in Taiwan. * ^ Top 20 countries with most endangered species IUCN Red List Archived 24 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine .. 5 March 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2013. * ^ "Nature Reserves". China.org.cn. Retrieved 2 December 2013. * ^ Countries with the most vascular plant species Archived 12 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine .. Mongabay.com. 2004 data. Retrieved 24 April 2013. * ^ _A_ _B_ _C_ _China_ (3 ed.). Rough Guides. 2003. p. 1213. ISBN 9781843530190 . * ^ _Conservation Biology: Voices from the Tropics_. John Wiley & Sons. 2013. p. 208. ISBN 9781118679814 . * ^ Liu, Ji-Kai (2007). "Secondary metabolites from higher fungi in China and their biological activity". _Drug Discoveries & Therapeutics_. 1 (2): 94. Archived from the original on 7 December 2013. * ^ Ma, Xiaoying; Ortalano, Leonard (2000). _Environmental Regulation in China_. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 1. * ^ " China acknowledges \'cancer villages\'". BBC. 22 February 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2013. * ^ "Riot police and protesters clash over China chemical plant". BBC. 28 October 2012. * ^ " Beijing Orders Official Cars Off Roads to Curb Pollution". Bloomberg L.P. 14 January 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2013. * ^ "Global carbon emissions hit record high in 2012". Reuters. 10 June 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2013. * ^ "China\'s decade plan for water" Archived 30 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine .. The Earth Institute. Columbia University . 24 October 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2011. * ^ "Renewable internal freshwater resources per capita (cubic meters)". The World Bank. Retrieved 29 August 2016. * ^ _A_ _B_ " China works to ease water woes". BBC. 11 June 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2013. * ^ "300 million Chinese drinking unsafe water". _People's Daily_. 23 December 2004. Retrieved 27 March 2009. * ^ Friedman, Lisa (25 March 2010). " China Leads Major Countries With $34.6 Billion Invested in Clean Technology". _The New York Times_. Retrieved 27 April 2010. * ^ Black, Richard (26 March 2010). " China steams ahead on clean energy". BBC News. Retrieved 27 April 2010. * ^ Perkowski, Jack (27 July 2012). " China Leads The World In Renewable Energy Investment". _ Forbes _. Retrieved 5 December 2012. * ^ Bradsher, Keith (30 January 2010). " China leads global race to make clean energy". _New York Times_. * ^ "China\'s big push for renewable energy". _Scientific American _. 4 August 2008. Retrieved 24 September 2011. * ^ " China tops the world in clean energy production." Ecosensorium. 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2011. * ^ "Splashing out: China to spend 4 trillion yuan on water projects" Archived 5 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine .. Want China Times. 11 July 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2011. * ^ Upton, John (25 July 2013). " China to spend big to clean up its air". _Grist Magazine_. Retrieved 27 July 2013. * ^ Chapter 1, Articles !, 3 Constitution of the People\'s Republic of China * ^ Unger, Jonathan; Chan, Anita (January 1995). "China, Corporatism, and the East Asian Model". _The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs_ (33): 29–53. doi :10.2307/2950087 . * ^ _A_ _B_ "Freedom in the World 2011: China". Freedom House. 2011. Retrieved 19 June 2013. * ^ "Xi reiterates adherence to socialism with Chinese characteristics". _Xinhua_. 5 January 2013. * ^ "Constitution of the People\'s Republic of China". _People's Daily_. Retrieved 14 July 2009. * ^ Article 97 of the Constitution of the People\'s Republic of China * ^ "CFR.org". CFR.org. Retrieved 27 April 2010. * ^ "Democratic Parties". _People's Daily_. Retrieved 8 December 2013. * ^ _Constitution of the People\'s Republic of China _. (1982) * ^ "BBC, Country Report: China". BBC News. Retrieved 14 July 2009. * ^ Shirk, Susan (13 November 2012). "China\'s Next Leaders: A Guide to What\'s at Stake". _ China File_. Retrieved 31 May 2015. * ^ "Beijingers Get Greater Poll Choices". _ China Daily_. 2003. Retrieved 18 February 2007. * ^ Lohmar, Bryan; and Somwaru, Agapi; _Does China\'s Land-Tenure System Discourage Structural Adjustment?_. 1 May 2006. USDA Economic Research Service. Retrieved 3 May 2006. * ^ " China sounds alarm over fast-growing gap between rich and poor". Associated Press via Highbeam (subscription required to see full article). 11 May 2002. Retrieved 1 February 2013. * ^ Hasmath, R. (2012) "Red China\'s Iron Grip on Power: Communist Party Continues Repression Archived 20 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine .", The Washington Times, 12 November, p. B4. * ^ "A Point Of View: Is China more legitimate than the West?". _ BBC News_. 2 November 2012. * ^ Gwillim Law (2 April 2005). Provinces of China. Retrieved 15 April 2006. * ^ Chang, Eddy (22 August 2004). _Perseverance will pay off at the UN_ Archived 6 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine ., _The Taipei Times_. * ^ " China says communication with other developing countries at Copenhagen summit transparent". _People's Daily_. 21 December 2009. Retrieved 20 August 2010. * ^ " BRICS summit ends in China". BBC. 14 April 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2011. * ^ "Taiwan\'s Ma to stopover in US: report". _mysinchew.com_. 12 January 2010. Archived from the original on 9 September 2015. * ^ Macartney, Jane (1 February 2010). " China says US arms sales to Taiwan could threaten wider relations". _The Times_. London. * ^ Keith, Ronald C. _ China from the inside out – fitting the People's republic into the world_. PlutoPress. pp. 135–136. * ^ "An Authoritarian Axis Rising?". _The Diplomat_. 29 June 2012. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013. * ^ "China, Russia launch largest ever joint military exercise". _Deutsche Welle_. 5 July 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2013. * ^ "Energy to dominate Russia President Putin\'s China visit". BBC. 5 June 2012. * ^ Gladstone, Rick (19 July 2012). "Friction at the U.N. as Russia and China Veto Another Resolution on Syria Sanctions". _New York Times _. Retrieved 15 November 2012. * ^ "Xi Jinping: Russia- China ties \'guarantee world peace\'". BBC. 23 March 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013. * ^ Dillon, Dana; and Tkacik, John, Jr.; _China\'s Quest for Asia_. _Policy Review_. December 2005 and January 2006. Issue No. 134. Retrieved 22 April 2006. * ^ "Clinton signs China trade bill". CNN. 10 October 2000. Archived from the original on 5 May 2009. * ^ "US trade gap widens on increased Chinese imports". BBC News. 14 October 2010. * ^ "Chinese President Hu Jintao resists Obama calls on yuan". BBC News. 13 April 2010. * ^ _A_ _B_ Palmer, Doug (24 September 2012). "Obama should call China a currency manipulator: Romney aide". Reuters. Retrieved 6 October 2012. * ^ "US says China not a currency manipulator". BBC. 27 November 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2012. * ^ McLaughlin, Abraham; "A rising China counters US clout in Africa" Archived 16 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine .. _Christian Science Monitor _. 30 March 2005. * ^ Lyman, Princeton N.; "China\'s Rising Role in Africa". 21 July 2005. Council of Foreign Relations. Retrieved 26 June 2007. * ^ Politzer, Malia. " China and Africa: Stronger Economic Ties Mean More Migration". Migration Information Source. August 2008. Retrieved 26 February 2013. * ^ "China- Africa trade likely to hit record high". _ China Daily_. 28 December 2012. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2013. * ^ "Is Brazil a derivative of China?". Forbes .com. 24 August 2011. Retrieved 24 September 2011. * ^ "China, Argentina agree to further strategic ties". Xinhua .com. 9 September 2011. Retrieved 24 September 2011. * ^ "Chinese Civil War". Cultural-China.com. Archived from the original on 12 September 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2013. To this day, since no armistice or peace treaty has ever been signed, there is controversy as to whether the Civil War has legally ended. * ^ " China denies preparing war over South China Sea shoal". BBC. 12 May 2012. * ^ "Q&A: China- Japan islands row". BBC News. 27 November 2013. * ^ "Asian nations should avoid military ties with third party powers, says China\'s Xi". _ China National News_. Retrieved 21 May 2014. * ^ Watts, Jonathan (18 June 2012). "China: witnessing the birth of a superpower". _The Guardian_. London. Retrieved 6 March 2013. * ^ Sanders, Sol (29 June 2007). "China\'s utterly distorted economy is a train wreck waiting to happen". _World Tribune_. Archived from the original on 10 August 2009. Retrieved 27 March 2009. * ^ "Broken BRICs: Why the Rest Stopped Rising". _Foreign Affairs _. November 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2012. * ^ Grinin, Leonid. "Chinese Joker in the World Pack" Archived 15 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine .. _Journal of Globalization Studies_. Volume 2, Number 2. November 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2012. * ^ Sorman, Guy (2008). _Empire of Lies: The Truth About China in the Twenty-First Century_. pp. 46, 152. * ^ "World Report 2009: China". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 14 July 2009. * ^ " China Requires Internet Users to Register Names". AP via My Way News. 28 December 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2012. * ^ Bradsher, Keith (28 December 2012). " China Toughens Its Restrictions on Use of the Internet". _New York Times_. * ^ King, Gary; Pan, Jennifer; Roberts, Margaret E. (May 2013). "How Censorship in China Allows Government Criticism but Silences Collective Expression" (PDF). _American Political Science Review_. 107: 326–343. doi :10.1017/S0003055413000014 . Retrieved 6 March 2015. Our central theoretical finding is that, contrary to much research and commentary, the purpose of the censorship program is not to suppress criticism of the state or the Communist Party. * ^ "Annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index – 2005". Reporters Without Borders. 30 April 2009. Archived from the original on 19 April 2008. Retrieved 14 July 2009. * ^ "World Press Freedom Index 2014". Reporters Without Borders. Archived from the original on 14 February 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2015. * ^ _A_ _B_ Wingfield, Rupert (7 March 2006). "China\'s rural millions left behind". BBC. Retrieved 14 July 2009. * ^ _A_ _B_ Luard, Tim (10 November 2005). " China rethinks peasant apartheid". BBC. Retrieved 14 July 2009. * ^ Ni, Ching-Ching (30 December 2005). " China to Abolish Contentious Agricultural Levy". _Los Angeles Times_. Retrieved 27 April 2010. * ^ " China ends school fees for 150m". BBC. 13 December 2006. Retrieved 27 April 2010. * ^ Didi Tang (9 January 2014). "Forced abortion highlights abuses in China policy". Associated Press. * ^ _A_ _B_ " China bans religious activities in Xinjiang". _ Financial Times _. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2012. * ^ Fan, Maureen; Cha, Ariana Eunjung (24 December 2008). "China\'s Capital Cases Still Secret, Arbitrary". _ The Washington Post _. Retrieved 16 August 2010. * ^ "Amnesty sees hope in China on death penalty". _Yahoo news_. 27 March 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2015. * ^ Seth Faison, "In Beijing: A Roar of Silent Protestors", New York Times , 27 April 1999 * ^ _A_ _B_ Amnesty International (Dec 2013). _Changing the soup but not the medicine: Abolishing re-education through labor in China_ (PDF). London, UK. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 February 2016. * ^ Spiegel, Mickey (2002). _Dangerous Meditation: China\'s Campaign Against Falungong_. Human Rights Watch. ISBN 1-56432-269-6 . * ^ " China \'moves two million Tibetans\'". BBC. 27 June 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2013. * ^ "Fresh unrest hits China\'s Xinjiang". BBC. 29 June 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2013. * ^ _A_ _B_ "China\'s Progress in Human Rights in 2004". Gov.cn. July 2005. Retrieved 31 May 2015. * ^ " China seeks to improve workplace safety". _ USA Today _. 30 January 2008. Retrieved 15 May 2012. * ^ "China\'s reform and opening-up promotes human rights, says premier". Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States. 11 December 2003. Retrieved 28 April 2006. * ^ "Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao talks reform, but most countrymen never get to hear what he says". _ Washington Post _. 13 October 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2013. * ^ "Service providers wanted". _Development and Cooperation_. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2012. * ^ Hsu, Jennifer; Hasmath, Reza, eds. (2013). _The Chinese Corporatist State: Adaption, Survival and Resistance_. Routledge. p. 124. ISBN 9780415640725 . * ^ "The new generals in charge of China\'s guns". BBC. 14 November 2012. Retrieved 10 December 2012. * ^ Annual Report To Congress – Military Power of the People\'s Republic of China 2009 (PDF). Defenselink.mil. Retrieved 27 November 2011. * ^ Nolt, James H. Analysis: The China- Taiwan military balance. _ Asia Times_. 1999. Retrieved 15 April 2006. * ^ Andrew, Martin (18 August 2005). "THE DRAGON BREATHES FIRE: CHINESE POWER PROJECTION". AsianResearch.org. Retrieved 26 June 2013. * ^ _A_ _B_ "IN FOCUS: Long march ahead for Chinese naval airpower". Flightglobal.com. 26 November 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2012. * ^ "China\'s first aircraft carrier completes sea trial". Xinhua News Agency. 15 August 2011. Retrieved 15 August 2011. * ^ "China: Aircraft Carrier Now in Service". _The Wall Street Journal_. 25 September 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2012. * ^ " China unveils fleet of submarines". _ The Guardian _. 22 April 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2011. * ^ "India, Japan join hands to break China\'s \'string of pearls\'". _Times of India_. 30 May 2013. Archived from the original on 5 December 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2013. * ^ "J-10". SinoDefence.com. 28 March 2009. Retrieved 27 April 2010. * ^ "Inside China\'s Secret Arsenal". _ Popular Science _. 20 December 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2012. * ^ "Early Eclipse: F-35 JSF Prospects in the Age of Chinese Stealth." China-Defense. Retrieved 23 January 2011. * ^ " Chengdu J-20 – China\'s 5th Generation Fighter." Defense-Update.com. Retrieved 23 January 2011. * ^ Washington Journal. (12 August 2015) "U.S. Military Approach toward China". Mark Perry, Politico writer, interview by Steve Scanlan, host. C-Span. Retrieved 12 August 2015. C-Span website * ^ Al Jazeera America Wire Service. (11 May 2015) Japan moves to boost role of military. Retrieved 12 August 2015. Al Jazerra America website * ^ Ground Forces. SinoDefence.com. Retrieved 31 May 2015. * ^ Surface-to-air Missile System. SinoDefence.com. 2006. Retrieved 31 May 2015. * ^ "HQ-19 (S-400) (China)". _Jane's Weapons: Strategic_. IHS. 23 December 2008. * ^ " China plays down fears after satellite shot down". Agence France-Presse via ChannelNews Asia . 20 January 2007. Retrieved 11 July 2013. * ^ "Chinese Navy Tests Land Attack Cruise Missiles: Implications for Asia-Pacific". New Pacific Institute. 25 July 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2012. * ^ " China expanding its nuclear stockpile". _The Washington Times _. 25 August 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2011. * ^ "The United States leads upward trend in arms exports, Asian and Gulf states arms imports up, says SIPRI". _www.sipri.org_. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Retrieved 18 March 2015. * ^ " World Bank World Development Indicators". World Bank. Retrieved 8 December 2014. * ^ "Shanghai\'s GDP grows 8.2% in 2011". _ China Daily_. 20 January 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2012. * ^ Dahlman, Carl J; Aubert, Jean-Eric. " China and the Knowledge Economy: Seizing the 21st Century. WBI Development Studies. World Bank Publications.". Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved 26 July 2014. * ^ Angus Maddison. Chinese Economic Performance in the Long Run. Development Centre Studies. Accessed 2007. p.29 * ^ "Estimates for 2014 nominal GDP". International Monetary Fund. 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2015. * ^ " China is already a market economy—Long Yongtu, Secretary General of Boao Forum for Asia". EastDay.com. 2008. Archived from the original on 9 September 2009. Retrieved 14 July 2009. * ^ "Communism Is Dead, But State Capitalism Thrives". Vahan Janjigian. _Forbes_. 22 March 2010. Retrieved 11 July 2013. * ^ "The Winners And Losers In Chinese Capitalism". Gady Epstein. _Forbes_. 31 August 2010. Retrieved 11 July 2013. * ^ John Lee. "Putting Democracy in China on Hold". The Center for Independent Studies. 26 July 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2013. * ^ English@peopledaily.com .cn (13 July 2005). "People.com". _People_. Retrieved 27 April 2010. * ^ "Businessweek.com". _BusinessWeek_. 22 August 2005. Retrieved 27 April 2010. * ^ "Microsoft Word – China2bandes.doc" (PDF). OECD. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2010. * ^ "China\'s Economic Rise: History, Trends, Challenges, and Implications for the United States" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. 5 September 2013. * ^ " China must be cautious in raising consumption". _ China Daily_. Retrieved 8 February 2009. * ^ Walker, Andrew (16 June 2011). "Will China\'s Economy Stumble?". BBC. Retrieved 1 November 2011. * ^ Joe Weisenthal (22 February 2011). "3G Countries". Businessinsider.com. Retrieved 1 November 2011. * ^ " China Quick Facts". World Bank . Archived from the original on 17 December 2005. Retrieved 26 July 2008. * ^ Swartz, Spencer; Oster, Shai (19 July 2010). " China Becomes World\'s Biggest Energy Consumer". _Wall Street Journal_. Retrieved 19 July 2010. * ^ "The Ultimate Guide To China\'s Voracious Energy Use". _Business Insider_. 17 August 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2012. * ^ " China overtakes US as the biggest importer of oil". BBC. 10 October 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2013. * ^ "China\'s economy slows but data hints at rebound". BBC. 18 October 2012. * ^ " China Loses Control of Its Frankenstein Economy". Bloomberg L.P. 24 June 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013. * ^ "The lowdown on China\'s slowdown: It\'s not all bad". CNN Money. 15 July 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2013. * ^ John Watling (14 February 2014). "China\'s Internet Giants Lead in Online Finance". _The Financialist_. Credit Suisse. Retrieved 15 February 2014. * ^ "China\'s Foreign-Exchange Reserves Surge, Exceeding $2 Trillion". _ Bloomberg L.P. _ 15 July 2009. Archived from the original on 13 June 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2010. * ^ "China\'s forex reserves reach USD 2.85 trillion". Smetimes.tradeindia.com. Retrieved 1 November 2011. * ^ _A_ _B_ "FDI in Figures" (PDF). OECD. Retrieved 28 November 2013. * ^ Sakib Sherani. "Pakistan’s remittances". _dawn.com_. Retrieved 17 December 2015. * ^ "Being eaten by the dragon". _The Economist_. 11 November 2010. * ^ " China must keep buying US Treasuries for now-paper". Reuters. 20 August 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2009. * ^ "Washington learns to treat China with care". CNNMoney.com. 29 July 2009. * ^ Hornby, Lucy (23 September 2009). "Factbox: US-China Interdependence Outweighs Trade Spat". Reuters. Retrieved 25 September 2009. * ^ "2007 trade surplus hits new record – $262.2B". _China Daily_. 11 January 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2010. * ^ " China widens yuan, non-dollar trading range to 3%". 23 September 2005. Retrieved 19 July 2010. * ^ Intellectual Property Rights. Asia Business Council. September 2005. Retrieved 13 January 2012. * ^ "MIT CIS: Publications: Foreign Policy Index". Archived from the original on 14 February 2007. Retrieved 15 May 2010. * ^ Scutt, David (16 April 2015). "Germany\'s finance minister is worried about China\'s debt and shadow banking". Business Insider. * ^ "China\'s Debt Surpasses 300%". Retrieved 15 July 2017. * ^ "Nominal GDP comparison of China, Germany, France, Japan and USA". _World Economic Outlook_. International Monetary Fund. October 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2015. * ^ The Global Competitiveness Report 2009–2010 World Economic Forum. Retrieved on 24 September 2009. * ^ "2011 Index of Economic Freedom". The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 17 April 2011. * ^ "Global 500". _Fortune _. 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2015. * ^ "The World\'s Largest Companies: China Takes Over The Top Three Spots". _ Forbes _. 7 May 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2015. * ^ "China\'s growing middle class". _CNN_. 26 April 2012. * ^ "Richest People In China Got Poorer, Says Hurun Rich List 2012". Ibtimes. 25 September 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2015. * ^ "China\'s billionaires double in number". _The Daily Telegraph _. Retrieved 7 September 2011. * ^ " China retail sales growth accelerates". _ China Daily_. 18 January 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2013. * ^ "China\'s retail sales up 12.4 pct in Q1". _Global Times_. 15 April 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2013. * ^ "Super Rich have Craze for luxury goods". _ China Daily_. 3 March 2010. Retrieved 4 March 2010. * ^ " China inflation exceeding 6%". _BusinessWeek_. 14 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011. * ^ "Steep rise in Chinese food prices". BBC . 16 April 2008. Retrieved 18 October 2011. * ^ "China\'s GDP grows 9.1% in third quarter". _ Financial Times _. 18 October 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2013. * ^ "Income inequality on the rise in China". _Al Jazeera_. 12 January 2013. * ^ "Inequality in China: Rural poverty persists as urban wealth balloons". _ BBC News_. 29 June 2011. * ^ "Income inequality: Delta blues". _The Economist_. 23 January 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2013. * ^ The Controversial Chinese Economist Uncovering Tough Truths, _ Bloomberg Businessweek _, 24 March 2017 * ^ Huang, Yukon (Fall 2013). "Does Internationalizing the RMB Make Sense for China?" (PDF). _Cato Journal_. Retrieved 28 July 2014. * ^ Chan, Norman T.L. (18 February 2014). " Hong Kong as Offshore Renminbi Centre – Past and Prospects". HKMA. Retrieved 24 July 2014. * ^ "RMB Settlement", Kasikorn Research Center, Bangkok, 8 February 2011 * ^ Kramer, Andrew E. (14 December 2010). "Sidestepping the U.S. Dollar, a Russian Exchange Will Swap Rubles and Renminbi". _The New York Times _. Retrieved 10 October 2013. * ^ Kosuke Takahashi. "Japan, China bypass US in currency trade". Asia Times Online . Retrieved 16 October 2013. * ^ " China and Australia Announce Direct Currency Trading". Department of the Treasury (Australia) . Retrieved 22 October 2013. Direct trading between the two currencies will commence on the China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS) and the Australian foreign exchange market on 10 April 2013. * ^ "New Initiatives to Strengthen China- Singapore Financial Cooperation". Monetary Authority of Singapore . Retrieved 22 October 2013. * ^ "Chancellor George Osborne cements London as renminbi hub". _ Financial Times _. The two countries agreed to allow direct renminbi-sterling trading in Shanghai and offshore, making the pound the fourth currency to trade directly against the renminbi, while Chinese banks will be permitted to set up branches in London. * ^ "Bank of Canada announces signing of reciprocal 3-year Canadian dollar/renminbi bilateral swap arrangement". Bank of Canada . Retrieved 11 November 2014. As part of the initiative announced today by the Government of Canada to promote increased trade and investment between Canada and China, as well as to support domestic financial stability should market conditions warrant, Governor Stephen S. Poloz and Governor Zhou Xiaochuan of the People's Bank of China have signed an agreement establishing a reciprocal 3-year, Canadian dollar (Can$)/renminbi (RMB) currency swap line. * ^ "RMB now 8th most widely traded currency in the world". Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication . Retrieved 10 October 2013. * ^ "In Our Time: Negative Numbers". BBC. Retrieved 19 June 2013. * ^ Struik, Dirk J. (1987). _A Concise History of Mathematics_. New York: Dover Publications. p.32–33. "_In these matrices we find negative numbers, which appear here for the first time in history._" * ^ _Chinese Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology_. 179. Kluwer Academic Publishers. 1996. pp. 137–138. * ^ Frank, Andre (2001). "Review of _The Great Divergence_". _Journal of Asian Studies_. Cambridge University Press. 60 (1): 180–182. doi :10.2307/2659525 . * ^ Yu, Q. Y. (1999). _The Implementation of China\'s Science and Technology Policy_. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 2. ISBN 9781567203325 . * ^ Vogel, Ezra F. (2011). _ Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China_. Harvard University Press. p. 129. ISBN 9780674055445 . * ^ DeGlopper, Donald D. (1987). "Soviet Influence in the 1950s". _China: a country study_. Library of Congress. * ^ _A_ _B_ "R&D share for basic research in China dwindles". _Chemistry World_. * ^ _A_ _B_ "A Peek Into the \'Black Box\' of Where China’s Hefty R&D Budget Goes". _Bloomberg_. 1 October 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2017. * ^ Kang, David; Segal, Adam (March 2006). "The Siren Song of Technonationalism". _Far Eastern Economic Review_. Archived from the original on 10 March 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2013. * ^ _A_ _B_ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1957". Nobel Media AB. Retrieved 26 July 2014. * ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1998". Retrieved 6 December 2013. * ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2009". Retrieved 6 December 2013. * ^ " Yuan T. Lee – Biographical". Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2013. * ^ "Nobel Prize announcement" (PDF). _NobelPrize.org_. Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet . Retrieved 5 October 2015. * ^ "Desperately seeking math and science majors" CNN. 29 July 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2012. * ^ " China publishes the second most scientific papers in international journals in 2010: report". Xinhua. 2 December 2011. Retrieved 25 April 2012. * ^ "Who\'s afraid of Huawei?". _ The Economist _. 4 August 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2012. * ^ "Shares in China\'s Lenovo rise on profit surge". _New Straits Times _. 17 August 2012. Archived from the original on 17 August 2012. * ^ " Lenovo ousts HP as world\'s top PC maker, says Gartner". BBC. 11 October 2012. * ^ " China retakes supercomputer crown". BBC. 17 June 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013. * ^ Williams, Christopher (12 November 2012). "\'Titan\' supercomputer is world\'s most powerful". _ The Daily Telegraph _. London. Retrieved 13 November 2012. * ^ "Robots to boost China\'s economy". _People\'s Daily _. 6 January 2013. Retrieved 29 January 2013. * ^ Axe, David (16 April 2012). " China Now Tops U.S. in Space Launches". _Wired _. Retrieved 24 October 2012. * ^ David Eimer, "China\'s huge leap forward into space threatens US ascendancy over heavens". _Daily Telegraph_. 5 November 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2013. * ^ Long, Wei (25 April 2000). " China Celebrates 30th Anniversary Of First Satellite Launch". Space daily. * ^ "Rocket launches Chinese space lab". BBC. 29 September 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2012. * ^ Rincon, Paul (14 December 2013). " China lands Jade Rabbit robot rover on Moon". BBC News. Retrieved 26 July 2014. * ^ Flannery, Russell (30 March 2012). " China Mobile Phone Users Now Top One Billion". _Forbes_. * ^ Barboza, David (26 July 2008). " China Surpasses US in Number of Internet Users". _New York Times_. Retrieved 26 July 2008. * ^ _A_ _B_ "China\'s Internet Speed Ranks 91st in the World". _New York Times_. 3 June 2016. * ^ " China Report: Device and App Trends in the #1 Mobile Market". Vaidis.com. 25 July 2013. Retrieved 31 May 2015. * ^ "The bad news is that the digital access divide is here to stay: Domestically installed bandwidths among 172 countries for 1986–2014", Martin Hilbert (2016), _Telecommunications Policy_; free access to the article http://escholarship.org/uc/item/2jp4w5rq * ^ "Broadband provider rankings: The Rise and Rise of China". Telegeography.com. 28 July 2010. Retrieved 1 November 2011. * ^ "Huawei, ZTE Provide Opening for China Spying, Report Says". Bloomberg L.P. 8 October 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2012. * ^ "China\'s Beidou GPS-substitute opens to public in Asia". BBC. 27 December 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2012. * ^ "The final frontier". _ China Daily_. 27 April 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2013. * ^ "Once China Catches Up—What Then?". _Forbes_. 17 September 2013. * ^ " China auto sales officially surpass US in 2009, 13.6 million vehicles sold". Industry News. 8 January 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2010. * ^ " China premium car sector remains bright spot". Reuters. 23 April 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2012. * ^ "Road Traffic Accidents Increase Dramatically Worldwide". Population Reference Bureau. Retrieved 16 November 2013. * ^ "Chinese bus collides with tanker, killing 36". BBC. 26 August 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2012. * ^ _A_ _B_ "Bike-Maker Giant Says Fitness Lifestyle Boosting China Sales". Bloomberg L.P. 17 August 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2012. * ^ "Chinese Railways Carry Record Passengers, Freight" Xinhua 21 June 2007 * ^ _A_ _B_ "China\'s trains desperately overcrowded for Lunar New Year". _Seattle Times_. 22 January 2009. * ^ _A_ _B_ (Chinese) "2013年铁道统计公报" * ^ UK, DVV Media. "Chinese high speed network to double in latest master plan". _Railway Gazette_. Retrieved 24 October 2016. * ^ (Chinese) "中国高铁总里程达11028公里占世界一半" 新华网 5 March 2014 * ^ " China Exclusive: Five bln trips made on China\'s bullet trains – Xinhua English.news.cn". _news.xinhuanet.com_. Retrieved 24 October 2016. * ^ " China opens world\'s longest high-speed rail route". BBC. 26 December 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2012. * ^ " China boasts biggest high-speed rail network". Agence France-Presse via The Raw Story. 24 July 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2012. * ^ "Top ten fastest trains in the world" railway-technology.com 29 August 2013 * ^ " China to let more cities build metro systems – Economic Information Daily". _Reuters_. 16 May 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016. * ^ "China\'s Building Push Goes Underground". _Wall Street Journal_. 10 November 2013. Retrieved 16 November 2013. * ^ _A_ _B_ "Primed to be world leader". _ China Daily_. 5 July 2013. Retrieved 18 November 2013. * ^ " China \'suffers worst flight delays\'". BBC. 12 July 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2013. * ^ "Top 50 World Container Ports" World Shipping Council Archived 27 August 2013 at Archive-It Accessed 2 June 2014 * ^ Hook, Leslie (14 May 2013). "China: High and dry: Water shortages put a brake on economic growth". Financial Times. Retrieved 15 May 2013. * ^ "Website of the Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation" (PDF). JMP ( WHO and UNICEF). Retrieved 14 February 2016. * ^ Global Water Intelligence:"New directions in Chinese wastewater", October 2010, p. 22, quoting the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development * ^ Wang, Yue (20 February 2014). "Chinese Minister Speaks Out Against South-North Water Diversion Project". _ Forbes Asia_. Retrieved 9 March 2014. * ^ "Communiqué of the National Bureau of Statistics of People\'s Republic of China on Major Figures of the 2010 Population Census (No. 1)". National Bureau of Statistics of China. Retrieved 31 May 2015. * ^ "POPULATION GROWTH RATE". CIA. Retrieved 29 September 2013. * ^ "China´s 2013 urban unemployment rate at 4.1 pct CCTV News – CNTV English". 27 December 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2014. * ^ "China\'s 2013 urban unemployment rate at 4.1%". Business Standard. 24 January 2014. Retrieved 12 March 2014. * ^ "The New England Journal of Medicine, September 2005". _New England Journal of Medicine_. 353: 1171–1176. doi :10.1056/NEJMhpr051833 . Retrieved 14 July 2009. * ^ " China formalizes easing of one-child policy". _USA Today_. 28 December 2013. * ^ "Top legislature amends law to allow all couples to have two children". Xinhua News Agency . 27 December 2015. * ^ "The most surprising demographic crisis". _The Economist_. 5 May 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2011. * ^ Parry, Simon (9 January 2005). "Shortage of girls forces China to criminalize selective abortion". _The Daily Telegraph_. London. Retrieved 22 October 2012. * ^ "Chinese facing shortage of wives". BBC News. 12 January 2007. Retrieved 23 March 2009. * ^ _A_ _B_ _C_ "Chinese mainland gender ratios most balanced since 1950s: census data". Xinhua . 28 April 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2011. * ^ "The odds that you will give birth to a boy or girl depend on where in the world you live". Pew Research Center. 24 September 2013. * ^ Lilly, Amanda (7 July 2009). "A Guide to China\'s Ethnic Groups". _Washington Post_. * ^ _China\'s Geography: Globalization and the Dynamics of Political, Economic, and Social Change_. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2011. p. 102. ISBN 9780742567849 . * ^ "Major Figures on Residents from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and Foreigners Covered by 2010 Population Census". National Bureau of Statistics of China. 29 April 2011. Retrieved 31 May 2015. * ^ Languages of China – from Lewis, M. Paul (ed.), 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. * ^ Kaplan, Robert B.; Richard B. Baldauf (2008). _Language Planning and Policy in Asia: Japan, Nepal, Taiwan and Chinese characters_. Multilingual Matters. p. 42. ISBN 9781847690951 . * ^ "Languages". 2005. Gov.cn. Retrieved 31 May 2015. * ^ _Rough Guide Phrasebook: Mandarin Chinese_. Rough Guides. 2011. p. 19. ISBN 9781405388849 . * ^ _A_ _B_ _C_ "Preparing for China\'s urban billion". McKinsey Global Institute. February 2009. pp. 6, 52. Retrieved 18 February 2015. * ^ _A_ _B_ "Urbanisation: Where China\'s future will happen". _The Economist_. 19 April 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2015. * ^ "National Data". _data.stats.gov.cn_. Retrieved 20 January 2016. * ^ " China Now Has More Than 260 Million Migrant Workers Whose Average Monthly Salary Is 2,290 Yuan ($374.09)". _International Business Times_. 28 May 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2015. * ^ "China\'s urban explosion: A 21st century challenge". CNN. 20 January 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2015. * ^ "China\'s mega city: the country\'s existing mega cities". _The Telegraph_. London. 24 January 2011. * ^ "Overview". Shenzhen Municipal E-government Resources Center. Retrieved 17 October 2013. * ^ "Wu-Where? Opportunity Now In China\'s Inland Cities". NPR. 7 August 2012. * ^ Francesco Sisci. "China's floating population a headache for census". _The Straits Times_. 22 September 2000. * ^ " Zhejiang University surpasses Tsinghua as top university of China". China.org.cn. 17 June 2011. * ^ "9-year Compulsory Education". China.org.cn. Retrieved 11 December 2013. * ^ " China eyes high school enrollment rate of 90%". _ China Daily_. 8 August 2011. * ^ "China\'s higher education students exceed 30 million". _People's Daily_. 11 March 2011. * ^ "Vocational Education in China". China.org.cn. Retrieved 11 December 2013. * ^ " China pledges free 9-year education in rural west". China Economic Net. 21 February 2006. Retrieved 18 February 2013. * ^ "In Education, China Takes the Lead". _New York Times_. 16 January 2013. * ^ "Chinese Education: The Truth Behind the Boasts". _Bloomberg Businessweek_. 4 April 2013. * ^ "School enrollment, secondary (% gross)". World Bank. Retrieved 18 October 2013. * ^ "FACTBOX: Education in China". _Xinhua_. 7 August 2008. * ^ "Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above)". World Bank. Retrieved 9 July 2013. * ^ Plafker, Ted. "China\'s Long—but Uneven—March to Literacy". _International Herald Tribune_. 12 February 2001. Retrieved 22 December 2012. * ^ " China Beats Out Finland for Top Marks in Education". _TIME _. 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2013. * ^ "Ministry National Health and Family Planning Commission". nhfpc.gov.cn. Archived from the original on 28 September 2014. Retrieved 6 September 2015. * ^ "China\'s $124 Billion Health-Care Plan Aims to Boost Consumption". _Bloomberg L.P_. 22 January 2009. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. * ^ "Great Progress, but More Is Needed". _New York Times_. 1 November 2011. * ^ Barboza, David (5 August 2012). "2,000 Arrested in China in Counterfeit Drug Crackdown". _New York Times_. Retrieved 23 March 2013. * ^ " Life expectancy at birth, total (years)". World Bank. Retrieved 28 October 2013. * ^ "Mortality rate, infant (per 1,000 live births)". World Bank. Retrieved 28 October 2013. * ^ " Life expectancy increases by 44 years from 1949 in China\'s economic powerhouse Guangdong". _People's Daily_. 4 October 2009. * ^ "China\'s Infant Mortality Rate Down". 11 September 2001. China.org.cn. Retrieved 3 May 2006. * ^ Stone, R. (2012). "Despite Gains, Malnutrition Among China's Rural Poor Sparks Concern". _Science_. 336 (6080): 402. PMID 22539691 . doi :10.1126/science.336.6080.402 . * ^ McGregor, Richard (2 July 2007). "750,000 a year killed by Chinese pollution". _Financial Times_. Retrieved 22 July 2007. * ^ "China\'s Tobacco Industry Wields Huge Power" article by Didi Kirsten Tatlow in _The New York Times _ 10 June 2010 * ^ "Serving the people?". 1999. Bruce Kennedy. CNN. Retrieved 17 April 2006. * ^ " Obesity Sickening China\'s Young Hearts". 4 August 2000. _People's Daily_. Retrieved 17 April 2006. * ^ "China\'s latest SARS outbreak has been contained, but biosafety concerns remain". 18 May 2004. World Health Organization . Retrieved 17 April 2006. * ^ Wong, Edward (1 April 2013). "Air Pollution Linked to 1.2 Million Premature Deaths in China". _New York Times_. * ^ _Constitution of the People's Republic of China_. Chapter 2, Article 36. * ^ "国家宗教事务局". sara.gov.cn. Retrieved 30 August 2015. * ^ _A_ _B_ Xinzhong Yao . _Chinese Religion: A Contextual Approach_. Bloomsbury Academic, 2011. pp. 9–11. ISBN 1847064760 * ^ Miller, James (2006). _Chinese Religions in Contemporary Societies_. ABC-CLIO. p. 57. ISBN 9781851096268 . * ^ Tam Wai Lun, "Local Religion in Contemporary China", in Xie, Zhibin (2006). _Religious Diversity and Public Religion in China_. Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 9780754656487 . p. 73 * ^ Steven F. Teiser. _What is Popular Religion?_. Part of: _Living in the Chinese Cosmos_, Asia for Educators, Columbia University. Extracts from: Stephen F. Teiser. _The Spirits of Chinese Religion_. In: _Religions of China in Practice_. Princeton University Press, 1996. * ^ _A_ _B_ André Laliberté. _Religion and the State in China: The Limits of Institutionalization_. On: _Journal of Current Chinese Affairs_, 40, 2, 3–15. 2011. ISSN 1868-4874 (online), ISSN 1868-1026 (print). p. 7, quote: « while provincial leaders in Fujian nod to Taoism with their sponsorship of the Mazu Pilgrimage in Southern China, the leaders of Shanxi have gone further with their promotion of worship of the Yellow Emperor (黄帝, _Huangdi_).» * ^ _Religions ">(PDF). _Washington Post_. WIN-Gallup International. April 2015. * ^ Chinese Family Panel Studies 2012 survey. Published in _The World Religious Cultures_ issue 2014: 卢云峰：当代中国宗教状况报告——基于CFPS（2012）调查数据 Archived 9 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine .. p. 13, reporting the results of the Renmin University's Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) for the years 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2011, and their average. * ^ Chinese Family Panel Studies 2014 survey. For the see release #1 (archived) and release #2. The tables also contain the results of CFPS 2012 and Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) results for 2006, 2008 and 2010. * ^ Wenzel-Teuber, Katharina. "Statistics on Religions and Churches in the People\'s Republic of China – Update for the Year 2016" (PDF). _Religions ">(PDF) on 22 July 2017. * ^ Fowler, Jeanine D. (2005). _An Introduction to the Philosophy and Religion of Taoism: Pathways to Immortality_. Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 1845190866 . pp. 200–201 * ^ "Temple of Heaven: an Imperial Sacrificial Altar in Beijing". UNESCO . Retrieved 17 July 2015. * ^ _China: Understanding Its Past_. University of Hawaii Press. 1997. p. 29. * ^ "Historical and Contemporary Exam-driven Education Fever in China" (PDF). _KEDI Journal of Educational Policy_. 2 (1): 17–33. 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 March 2015. * ^ "Tour Guidebook: Beijing". China National Tourism Administration. Retrieved 14 July 2013. * ^ "Why China is letting \'Django Unchained\' slip through its censorship regime". Quartz . 13 March 2013. Archived from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2013. * ^ ""China: Traditional arts". Library of Congress – Country Studies". Lcweb2.loc.gov. Retrieved 1 November 2011. * ^ "China: Cultural life: The arts". _Encyclopædia Britannica_. Retrieved 1 November 2011. * ^ ""China: Folk and Variety Arts". Library of Congress – Country Studies". Lcweb2.loc.gov. Retrieved 1 November 2011. * ^ "What is the world\'s favourite holiday destination?". BBC. 4 August 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2013. * ^ "Microsoft Word – UNWTO Barom07 2 en.doc" (PDF). UNWTO. 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2010. * ^ "China\'s Economy: What the Tourist Boom Tells Us". _TIME _. 17 October 2012. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2012. * ^ "中国文学史概述". jstvu.edu.cn. Retrieved 18 July 2015. * ^ "The Canonical Books of Confucianism – Canon of the Literati". 14 November 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2014. * ^ "什么是四书五经". _360doc.com_. 6 June 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2015. * ^ "李白杜甫优劣论". 360doc.com. 18 April 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2015. * ^ "史传文学与中国古代小说". 明清小说研究. April 1997. Retrieved 18 July 2015. * ^ "第一章 中国古典小说的发展和明清小说的繁荣". nbtvu.net.cn. Retrieved 18 July 2015. * ^ "金庸作品从流行穿越至经典" Archived 22 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine .. 包头日报. 12 March 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2015. * ^ "四大名著在日、韩的传播与跨文化重构". 东北师大学报：哲学社会科学版. June 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2015. * ^ "新文化运动中的胡适与鲁迅". 中共杭州市委党校学报. April 2000. Retrieved 18 July 2015. * ^ "魔幻现实主义文学与"寻根"小说" Archived 23 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine .. 文学评论. February 2006. Retrieved 18 July 2015. * ^ "莫言：寻根文学作家". 东江时报. 12 October 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2015. * ^ "鲁菜泰斗颜景祥". _凤凰网山东_. 16 September 2013. Retrieved 17 July 2015. * ^ "Eight Major Cuisines". _chinese.cn_. 2 June 2011. Archived from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2015. * ^ "【外国人最惊叫的烹饪技法】食材、刀工、火候、调料。". _360doc.com_. 15 November 2014. Retrieved 17 July 2015. * ^ "中国美食成外国网友"噩梦" 鸡爪内脏鱼头不敢吃". _xinhuanet.com_. 23 September 2013. Retrieved 17 July 2015. * ^ "中医强调"药疗不如食疗" 食疗有三大优势". _antpedia.com_. 1 April 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2015. * ^ "中国居民豆类及豆制品的消费现状". 中国食物与营养. January 2008. Retrieved 17 July 2015. * ^ "China\'s Hunger For Pork Will Impact The U.S. Meat Industry". _Forbes_. 19 June 2013. * ^ "清真菜对北京菜影响". yqx.cc. 8 January 2013. Retrieved 17 July 2015. * ^ _Historical Dictionary of Soccer_. Scarecrow Press. 2011. p. 2. * ^ "Sport in Ancient China". JUE LIU (刘珏) (The World of Chinese). 31 August 2013. Retrieved 28 June 2014. * ^ Thornton, E. W.; Sykes, K. S.; Tang, W. K. (2004). "Health benefits of Tai Chi exercise: Improved balance and blood pressure in middle-aged women". _Health Promotion International_. 19 (1): 33–38. PMID 14976170 . doi :10.1093/heapro/dah105 . * ^ " China health club market – Huge potential & challenges". China Sports Business. 1 July 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2012. * ^ "2014年6岁至69岁人群体育健身活动和体质状况抽测结果发布". 温州日报. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2015. * ^ Beech, Hannah (28 April 2003). "Yao Ming". _Time Magazine_. Archived from the original on 5 July 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2007. * ^ "足球不给劲观众却不少 中超球市世界第9亚洲第1". 搜狐体育. 14 July 2013. Retrieved 17 July 2015. * ^ "Chinese players dominate at Malaysia open chess championship". TheStar.com. 2 September 2011. Retrieved 24 September 2011. * ^ Qinfa, Ye. "Sports History of China". About.com. Retrieved 21 April 2006. * ^ " China targets more golds in 2012". BBC Sport. 27 August 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2011. * ^ "Medal Count". London2012.com. Retrieved 9 September 2012. * ^ " China dominates medals; U.S. falls short at Paralympics". _USA Today _. 9 September 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2013. FURTHER READING * Meng, Fanhua (2011). _Phenomenon of Chinese Culture at the Turn of the 21st century_. Singapore: Silkroad Press. ISBN 978-981-4332-35-4 . * Farah, Paolo (2006). "Five Years of China's WTO Membership: EU and US Perspectives on China's Compliance with Transparency Commitments and the Transitional Review Mechanism". _Legal Issues of Economic Integration_. Kluwer Law International. Volume 33, Number 3. pp. 263–304. Abstract. * Heilig, Gerhard K. (2006/2007). _ China Bibliography – Online._ China-Profile.com. * Jacques, Martin (2009)._When China Rules the World: The End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order _. Penguin Books. Rev. ed. (28 August 2012). ISBN 978-1-59420-185-1 . * Lagerwey, John (2010). _China: A Religious State_. Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong Press. ISBN 9888028049 . * Sang Ye (2006). _ China Candid: The People on the People's Republic_. University of California Press . ISBN 0-520-24514-8 . * Selden, Mark (1979). _The People's Republic of China: Documentary History of Revolutionary Change_. New York: Monthly Review Press. ISBN 0-85345-532-5 . * Shambaugh, David L. (2008). _China\'s Communist Party: Atrophy and Adaptation_. Washington, D.C.; Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 9780520254923 . EXTERNAL LINKS Find more aboutCHINAat's sister projects * _Definitions from Wiktionary * Media from Commons * News from Wikinews * Quotations from Wikiquote * Texts from Wikisource * Textbooks from Wikibooks * Travel guide from Wikivoyage * Learning resources from Wikiversity Government * The Central People\'s Government of People\'s Republic of China (in English) * China Internet Information Center (in English)—Authorized government portal site to China General information * China at a Glance from People\'s Daily _ * BBC News – China Profile * "China". _ The World Factbook _. Central Intelligence Agency . * China, People\'s Republic of from _UCB Libraries GovPubs_ * China at DMOZ * China's _ Encyclopædia Britannica _ entry * "Rethinking \'Capitalist Restoration\' in China" by Yiching Wu * Key Development Forecasts for China from International Futures * " China on the Rise". PBS Online NewsHour. October 2005. Studies * "Assertive Pragmatism: China\'s Economic Rise and Its Impact on Chinese Foreign Policy". Minxin Pei (2006). IFRI Proliferation Papers. No. 15. Travel * China National Tourist Office (CNTO) Maps * Google Maps—China * Wikimedia Atlas of the People\'s Republic of China * Geographic data related to China at OpenStreetMap ARTICLES RELATED TO CHINA * v * t * e China articles HISTORY * China * timeline * Ancient China (outline ) (2070–221 BC) * Republic of China (1912–49) * People\'s Republic of China * 1949–76 * 1976–89 * 1989–2002 * Since 2002 * Years in the People\'s Republic of China * Geography * Natural environment OVERVIEWS * Extreme points * Geology * Natural disasters REGIONS * East * Northeast * North * South Central * Central * South * Western * Northwest * Southwest TERRAIN * Bays * Canyons * Caves * Deserts * Grasslands * Hills * Islands * Mountains * ranges * passes * |