Business Consulting - Asia: China
Overview (Taken from the CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia)
Country Name:
Long - People's Republic of China
Short - China
Population:
1,321,851,888 (July 2007 est.)
Age Structure:
0-14 years: 20.4% (male 143,527,634/female 126,607,344)
15-64 years: 71.7% (male 487,079,770/female 460,596,384)
65 years and over: 7.9% (male 49,683,856/female 54,356,900) (2007 est.)
Median Age:
total: 33.2 years
male: 32.7 years
female: 33.7 years (2007 est.)
Population Growth Rate:
0.606% (2007 est.)
Birth Rate:
13.45 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Religions:
Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Christian 3%-4%, Muslim 1%-2%
note: officially atheist (2002 est.)
Languages:
Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 90.9%
male: 95.1%
female: 86.5% (2000 census)
Government Type:
Communist state
Capital City:
Beijing
Administrative Divisions:
23 provinces (sheng, singular and plural), 5 autonomous regions (zizhiqu, singular and plural), and 4 municipalities (shi, singular and plural)
provinces: Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang; (see note on Taiwan)
autonomous regions: Guangxi, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Xinjiang Uygur, Xizang (Tibet)
municipalities: Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Tianjin
note: China considers Taiwan its 23rd province; see separate entries for the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau
Traditional holidays:
* Lunar Calendar Month 1 Day 1 - Chinese Lunar New Year
* Lunar Calendar Month 1 Day 15 - Lantern Festival
* April 4/April 5 - Qing Ming Jie
* Lunar Calendar Month 5 Day 5 - Dragon Boat
* Lunar Calendar Month 7 Day 7 - Qi Xi
* Lunar Calendar Month 7 Day 15 - Ghost Festival
* Lunar Calendar Month 8 Day 15 - Mid-Autumn Festival
* Lunar Calendar Month 9 Day 9 - Double Ninth Festival
Holidays in the People's Republic of China:
* January 1 - New Year's Day
* January 2 - New Year's Day Holiday
* May 1-May 3 - Labour Day
* July 1 - CPC Founding Day
* August 1 - Army Day
* October 1-October 3 - National Day
Labor Force:
798 million (2006 est.)
Labor Force - by occupation:
agriculture: 45%
industry: 24%
services: 31% (2005 est.)
Unemployment Rate:
4.2% official registered unemployment in urban areas in 2005; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas (2005)
Telephone Lines:
350.433 million (2005)
Cellular Phones:
437.48 million (2006)
Internet Country Code:
.cn
Internet Users:
123 million (2006)
Airports:
486 (2006)
Railways:
total: 74,408 km
standard gauge: 74,408 km 1.435-m gauge (19,303 km electrified) (2004)
Roadways:
total: 1,870,661 km
paved: 1,515,797 km (with at least 34,288 km of expressways)
unpaved: 354,864 km (2004)
Waterways:
124,000 km navigable (2006)
Ports and Terminals:
Dalian, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai
General Information
CIA World Factbook - China
Wikipedia - China
ChinaToday.com
Business
Are You China Ready?
Export.gov - China
The China Business Network
Economics
MSN Money Series - Keeping up with the Wangs: The Rise of the Middle Class in China
MSN Money Special Coverage - The China Syndrome: Can the country's leaders regain control of its superheated economy?
Politics
Language
The leading languages of the global economy - July 20, 2007
Newspapers
China.org.cn - Chinese
China.org.cn - English
Xinhua News Agency - Chinese
Xinhua News Agency - English
People's Daily Online - Chinese
People's Daily Online - English
China Daily - English
PLA Daily - Chinese
PLA Daily - English
