CHINA
People's Republic of China
Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo
GENERAL
- Area:
- 9,597,000 km2.
- Population:
- 1,198,500,000 (1994).
- Capital:
- Beijing.
- Ethnic composition:
- Han Chinese (92%); 55 minority groups.
- Major languages:
- Mandarin Chinese.
- Major religions:
- Buddhism, Islam, Christianity.
- History:
- Following the overthrow of the Ch'ng (Manchu) dynasty
in 1911, the Republic of China was established in 1912.
The Chinese Communist Party was formed in 1921. After two
civil wars between communist and nationalist forces, the
People's Republic of China was created on October 1,
1949.
GOVERNMENT
- Type:
- Republic.
- Head of state:
- President: Jiang Zemin.
- Legislature:
- National People's Congress.
- Executive:
- Li Peng is premier. The foreign minister is Qian Qichen,
and the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party
is Jiang Zemin.
- Domestic politics:
- China has made modernization through economic
construction its first priority, and it is pursuing
reform and open-door policies. It aims to increase
industrial and agricultural output to four times the 1980
level by 1997 and to quadruple production again by the
middle of the 21st century.
- Foreign policy:
- China has made peaceful coexistence the cornerstone of
its relations with other countries. Opposing the hegemony
of any single country, it is devoted to preserving world
peace. It seeks to strengthen ties of cooperation and
solidarity with the third world using an autonomous and
peaceful foreign policy.
- Military:
- Defense budget, 63.1 billion yuan (fiscal 1995) (1.3% of
GNP in fiscal 1994). Regular armed forces consist of 2.2
million members of the army, 260,000 members of the navy
(which has a total displacement of 980,000 tons), and
470,000 members of the air force (which has about 4,970
fighters). Male and female members may be conscripted;
they serve three years in the army or four years in the
navy or air force.
ECONOMY
- Major industries:
- Agriculture, energy, steel, textiles, foods.
- GDP:
- $503.4 billion (1994).
- Per capita GNP:
- $490 (1993).
- Real growth rate:
- 11.8% (GDP, 1994).
- Inflation:
- 21.7% (1994).
- Unemployment:
- 2.9% (Dec. 1994).
- Trade: Exports:
- $91.8 billion; imports: $104.0 billion (1993).
- Principal items traded:
- Exports: textiles, machinery, electric products, oil and
oil products, textile materials; imports: industrial
machinery, steel, automobiles, communications equipment.
- Principal trading partners:
- Exports: Hong Kong, United States, Japan, European Union;
imports: Japan, Chinese Taipei, European Union, United
States.
- Currency:
- RMB. 1 yuan=12 yen (approximate).
- Economic conditions:
- China in 1994 registered economic growth of 11.8% (3.5%
in agriculture, 18% in industry), but prices were rising
rapidly.
ECONOMIC COOPERATION
- Japan's aid: Loans:
- 1,539.4 billion yen; grants: 95.7 billion yen; technical
cooperation: 71.5 billion yen (cumulative ODA total
through fiscal 1994).
- Principal donors:
- Japan, Italy, Germany, Spain, France.
BILATERAL RELATIONS
- Political:
- Japan and China have friendly relations. They have agreed
on building a mature, future-oriented relationship that
will contribute to the world. Japan is rendering support
to China's reform and open-door policies.
- Trade:
- Exports to Japan: $27,566 million, featuring textiles,
foods, oil; imports from Japan: $18,682 million,
featuring machinery and equipment, steel (1994).
- Investment:
- Cumulative Japanese direct investment in China through
fiscal 1994 came to $8,729 million.
- Cultural:
- Subsequent to the conclusion of a 1979 bilateral
agreement on promoting cultural exchange, Japan and China
have been engaging in exchange in all areas of activity
at both public and private levels.
- Japanese residing in China:
- 13,675 (Oct. 1994).
- Chinese residing in Japan:
- 218,585, including overseas Chinese living in Japan (Dec.
1994, Justice Ministry data).
- Visits by eminent persons:
- Japan to China: Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka (1972),
Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira (1979), Prime Minister
Zenko Suzuki (1982), Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone
(1984, 1986), Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita (1988),
Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu (1991), Emperor Akihito and
Empress Michiko (1992), Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa
(1994), Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama (1995);
China to Japan: Vice-Premier Deng Xiaoping (1978, 1979), Premier Hua Guofeng (1980, twice), Premier Zhao Ziyang (1982), General Secretary Hu Yaobang (1983), Premier Li Peng (1989), General Secretary Jiang Zemin (1992). - Treaties and agreements:
- Trade Agreement Between the Government of Japan and the
Government of the People's Republic of China (1974),
Air Transport Agreement Between Japan and the People's
Republic of China (1974), Shipping Agreement Between the
Government of Japan and the Government of the People's
Republic of China (1975), Agreement on Fisheries Between
Japan and the People's Republic of China (1975), Treaty
of Peace and Friendship Between Japan and the People's
Republic of China (1978), Agreement Between Japan and the
People's Republic of China Concerning the Protection of
Trademarks (1978), Agreement Between the Government of
Japan and the Government of the People's Republic of
China Concerning the Promotion of Cultural Exchange
(1979), Japan-China Agreement on Cooperation in the Field
of Science and Technology (1980), China-Japan Agreement
for the Protection of Migratory Birds (1981), Agreement
Between the Government of Japan and the Government of the
People's Republic of China for the Avoidance of Double
Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with
Respect to Taxes on Income (1983), Agreement Between the
Government of Japan and the Government of the People's
Republic of China for Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of
Nuclear Energy (1985), Agreement Between Japan and the
People's Republic of China Concerning the Encouragement
and Reciprocal Protection of Investment (1989),
Japan-China Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of
Environmental Protection (1994).
(September 1995)
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