


People's Republic of China
  • 中华人民共和国
  • Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó

Capital Beijing[a]
Largest city Shanghai[1]
Official languages Standard Chinese[2][b]
Official script Simplified Chinese[c]
Recognised regional
Ethnic groups
Religion See Religion in China
Demonym Chinese
Government Unitary one-party republic[5]
Xi Jinping[e]
• Premier
Li Keqiang
Zhang Dejiang
Yu Zhengsheng
• First Secretary of the Party Secretariat
Liu Yunshan
Wang Qishan
• First Vice Premier
Zhang Gaoli
Legislature National People's Congress
c. 2070 BCE
221 BCE
1 January 1912
21 September 1949[7][8][9]
• Total
• Water (%)
• 2016 estimate
1,403,500,365 Increase[13] (1st)
• 2010 census
1,339,724,852[14] (1st)
• Density
GDP (PPP) 2017 estimate
• Total
$23.2 trillion[16] (1st)
• Per capita
$16,676[16] (83rd)
GDP (nominal) 2017 estimate
• Total
$11.8 trillion[16] (2nd)
• Per capita
$8,481[16] (72nd)
Gini (2015) 46.2[17]
HDI (2015) Increase 0.738[18]
high · 90th
Time zone China Standard Time (UTC+8)
Date format
  • yyyy-mm-dd
  • or yyyymd
  • (CE; CE-1949)
Drives on the right[i]
Calling code +86
ISO 3166 code CN
Internet TLD

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 around 1.404 billion.[13] Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres (3.7 million square miles), it is the world's second-largest state by land area[19] and third- or fourth-largest by total area.[j] 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.[20][21]

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 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 21 September 1949, while the ROC government retreated to Taiwan with its present de facto 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.



China (Chinese characters).svg
PRC (Chinese characters.svg
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese 中国
Traditional Chinese 中國
Literal meaning "Middle Kingdom"[25] or "Central State"[26]
People's Republic of China
Simplified Chinese 中华人民共和国
Traditional Chinese 中華人民共和國
Tibetan name
Tibetan ཀྲུང་ཧྭ་མི་དམངས་སྤྱི
Zhuang name
Zhuang Cunghvaz Yinzminz Gunghozgoz
Mongolian name
Mongolian Bügüde nayiramdaqu dumdadu arad ulus, ᠪᠦᠭᠦᠳᠡ ᠨᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠᠮᠳᠠᠬᠤ ᠳᠤᠮᠳᠠᠳᠤ ᠠᠷᠠᠳ ᠤᠯᠤᠰ
Uyghur name
جۇڭخۇا خەلق جۇمھۇرىيىت
Manchu name
Manchu script ᡩᡡᠯᡳᠮᠪᠠᡳ
Romanization Dulimbai Gurun

The English word "China" is first attested in Richard Eden's 1555 translation[k] of a 1516 journal by Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa.[l][31] The Portuguese word was derived from Persian Chīnī (چین) and some traced it further to Sanskrit Cīna (चीन).[32] The earliest known example of Cīna being used to refer to China dates from AD 150.[33] Although Indian writers may not have been aware of China's existence prior to the first century BC,[34] the word Cīna appears in Mahābhārata, as well as in the Laws of Manu.[35] In 1655, Martino Martini suggested that the word China is derived from the name of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC),[36] a proposal supported by many later scholars,[37][38][39] although there are also a number of alternative suggestions.[35][40]

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"),[26][m] a term which developed under the Zhou Dynasty in reference to its royal demesne.[n] 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.[42] It was often used as a cultural concept to distinguish the Huaxia tribes from perceived "barbarians"[42] and was the source of the English name "Middle Kingdom".[44][45] A more literary or inclusive name, alluding to the "land of Chinese civilization", is Zhōnghuá (中华).[46] It developed during the Wei and Jin dynasties as a contraction of "the central state of the Huaxia".[42] Before the PRC's establishment, the proposed name of the country was the People's Democratic Republic of China (simplified Chinese: 中华人民共和国; traditional Chinese: 中華人民共和國; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Rénmín Mínzhǔ Gònghéguó) during the first CPPCC held on 15 June 1949.[47][48] 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".[49]


History of China
History of China
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
   Warring States
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
Sui dynasty 581–618
Tang dynasty 618–907
  (Second Zhou dynasty 690–705)
Five Dynasties and
Ten Kingdoms

Liao dynasty
Song dynasty
  Northern Song Western Xia
  Southern Song Jin
Yuan dynasty 1271–1368
Ming dynasty 1368–1644
Qing dynasty 1644–1912
Republic of China 1912–1949
People's Republic of China 1949–present


Archaeological evidence suggests that early hominids inhabited China between 2.24 million and 250,000 years ago.[50] The hominid fossils of Peking Man, a Homo erectus who used fire,[51] were discovered in a cave at Zhoukoudian near Beijing; they have been dated to between 680,000 and 780,000 years ago.[52] The fossilized teeth of Homo sapiens (dated to 125,000–80,000 years ago) have been discovered in Fuyan Cave in Dao County, Hunan.[53] Chinese proto-writing existed in Jiahu around 7000 BCE,[54] Damaidi around 6000 BCE,[55] 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.[54]

Early dynastic rule

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.[56] The dynasty was considered mythical by historians until scientific excavations found early Bronze Age sites at Erlitou, Henan in 1959.[57] It remains unclear whether these sites are the remains of the Xia dynasty or of another culture from the same period.[58] The succeeding Shang dynasty is the earliest to be confirmed by contemporary records.[59] The Shang ruled the plain of the Yellow River in eastern China from the 17th to the 11th century BCE.[60] Their oracle bone script (from c. 1500 BCE)[61][62] represents the oldest form of Chinese writing yet found,[63] and is a direct ancestor of modern Chinese characters.[64]


Imperial China


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. King Zheng of Qin 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.[65] The Qin dynasty lasted only fifteen years, falling soon after the First Emperor's death, as his harsh authoritarian policies led to widespread rebellion.[66][67]




Under the succeeding Tang and Song dynasties, Chinese economy, technology, and culture entered a golden age.[74] The Tang Empire returned control of the Western Regions and the Silk Road,[75] 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.[76] 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.[77] 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,[78] and a flourishing of philosophy and the arts, as landscape art and porcelain were brought to new levels of maturity and complexity.[79][80] 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.[81]




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.[86] After the Southern Ming ended, the further conquest of the Dzungar Khanate added Mongolia, Tibet and Xinjiang to the empire.[87] 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.[88][89] 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[90] 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.[91]




Republic of China (1912–1949)



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.[95][96] 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.[97][98] 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.[99][100] 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.[101]

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.[102] An estimated 200,000 Chinese were massacred in the city of Nanjing alone during the Japanese occupation.[103] During the war, China, along with the UK, the US and the Soviet Union, were referred to as "trusteeship of the powerful"[104] and were recognized as the Allied "Big Four" in the Declaration by United Nations.[105][106] 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.[107][108] 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.[109]

People's Republic of China (1949–present)

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 21 September 1949, Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China.[7][8][9] This was followed by a mass celebration in Tiananmen Square on October 1 which became the new country's first National Day. In 1950, the People's Liberation Army succeeded in capturing Hainan from the ROC[110] and incorporating Tibet.[111] However, remaining Kuomintang forces continued to wage an insurgency in western China throughout the 1950s.[112] In modern US history studies, the founding of PRC China is often termed as "the loss of China" as reflected in US state policy documents of the time, which thinkers such as Chomsky call the beginning of McCarthyism.[113]

The regime consolidated its popularity among the peasants through land reform, which saw between 1 and 2 million landlords executed.[114] Under its leadership, China developed an independent industrial system and its own nuclear weapons.[115] The Chinese population almost doubled from around 550 million to over 900 million.[116] 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.[117] 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.[118]


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%.[121][122] 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,[123][124] and caused major social displacement.[125][126] Living standards continued to improve rapidly despite the late-2000s recession, but centralized political control remained tight.[127]

Preparations for a decadal Communist Party leadership change in 2012 were marked by factional disputes and political scandals.[128] 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.[129][130] Under Xi, the Chinese government began large-scale efforts to reform its economy,[131][132] which has suffered from structural instabilities and slowing growth.[133][134][135][136] The Xi–Li Administration also announced major reforms to the one-child policy and prison system.[137]


A composite satellite image showing the topography of China
The Li River in Guangxi


Political geography

The People's Republic of China is the second-largest country in the world by land area[138] 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.[p] China's total area is generally stated as being approximately 9,600,000 km2 (3,700,000 sq mi).[139] Specific area figures range from 9,572,900 km2 (3,696,100 sq mi) according to the Encyclopædia Britannica,[140] 9,596,961 km2 (3,705,407 sq mi) according to the UN Demographic Yearbook,[10] to 9,596,961 km2 (3,705,407 sq mi) according to the CIA World Factbook.[12]


Landscape and climate


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.[144] 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.[145][146] 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.[147] 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.[148]

Five Flower Sea at Jiuzhaigou Valley, Sichuan
Danxia landform, steep red sandstone cliff in Chishui, Guizhou
Winter scenery of China Snowland in Hailin, Heilongjiang


China is one of 17 megadiverse countries,[149] 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.[150] 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.[151] It later produced a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, with one revision that was received by the convention on 21 September 2010.[152]

China is home to at least 551 species of mammals (the third-highest such number in the world),[153] 1,221 species of birds (eighth),[154] 424 species of reptiles (seventh)[155] and 333 species of amphibians (seventh).[156] 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.[157] 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.[158]

China has over 32,000 species of vascular plants,[159] 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.[160] 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.[160] Tropical and seasonal rainforests, though confined to Yunnan and Hainan Island, contain a quarter of all the animal and plant species found in China.[160] China has over 10,000 recorded species of fungi,[161] and of them, nearly 6,000 are higher fungi.[162]

Environmental issues

In recent decades, China has suffered from severe environmental deterioration and pollution.[163][164] 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.[165] 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.[166] China is the world's largest carbon dioxide emitter.[167] The country also has significant water pollution problems: 40% of China's rivers had been polluted by industrial and agricultural waste by late 2011.[168] 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.[169][170][171]

However, China is the world's leading investor in renewable energy and its commercialization, with $52 billion invested in 2011 alone;[172][173][174] it is a major manufacturer of renewable energy technologies and invests heavily in local-scale renewable energy projects.[175][176] By 2015, over 24% of China's energy was derived from renewable sources, while most notably from hydroelectric power: a total installed capacity of 197 GW makes China the largest hydroelectric power producer in the world.[177][178] China also has the largest power capacity of installed solar photovoltaics system and wind power system in the world.[179][180] 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.[170][181] In 2013, China began a five-year, US$277 billion effort to reduce air pollution, particularly in the north of the country.[182]


Tiananmen with a portrait of Mao Zedong
Xi Jinping
General Secretary
and President
Li Keqiang

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."[183] 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,[184] 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.[185] 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.[186]

Communist Party


China's constitution declares that the country is ruled "under the leadership" of the Communist Party of China (CPC).[187] As China is a de facto one-party state, the General Secretary (party leader) holds ultimate power and authority over state and government serving as the paramount leader.[188] 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.[189] The political system is decentralized, and provincial and sub-provincial leaders have a significant amount of autonomy.[190] Another eight political parties, have representatives in the NPC and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).[191] China supports the Leninist principle of "democratic centralism",[192] but critics describe the elected National People's Congress as a "rubber stamp" body.[193]



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.[194] 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.[195][129]

There have been some moves toward political liberalization, in that open contested elections are now held at the village and town levels.[196][197] 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.[198][199] 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.[200]

Administrative divisions


China considers Taiwan to be its 23rd province, although Taiwan is governed by the Republic of China, which disputes the PRC's claim.[201] None of the divisions are recognized by the ROC government, which claims the entirety of the PRC's territory.

About this image

Foreign relations

Diplomatic Relations of China

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.[202] China was also a former member and leader of the Non-Aligned Movement, and still considers itself an advocate for developing countries.[203] 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.[204]

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,[205] especially in the matter of armament sales.[206]

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.[207] 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.[208] China has a close economic and military relationship with Russia,[209] and the two states often vote in unison in the UN Security Council.[210][211][212]

China's paramount leader Xi Jinping with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden, 14 February 2012

Trade relations


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.[214] China has a significant trade surplus with the United States, its most important export market.[215] In the early 2010s, US politicians argued that the Chinese yuan was significantly undervalued, giving China an unfair trade advantage.[216][217][218] In recent decades, China has followed a policy of engaging with African nations for trade and bilateral co-operation;[219][220][221] in 2012, Sino-African trade totalled over US$160 billion.[222] China has furthermore strengthened its ties with major South American economies, becoming the largest trading partner of Brazil and building strategic links with Argentina.[223][224]

Territorial disputes




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.[21][229] Others, however, warn that economic bubbles and demographic imbalances could slow or even halt China's growth as the century progresses.[230][231] 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.[232]

Sociopolitical issues, human rights and reform

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.[233][234] Although some criticisms of government policies and the ruling Communist Party are tolerated, censorship of political speech and information, most notably on the Internet,[235][236] are routinely used to prevent collective action.[237] 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.[238] In 2014, China ranked 175th out of 180 countries.[239]

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.[240][241] Property rights are often poorly protected,[240] and taxation disproportionately affects poorer citizens.[241] However, a number of rural taxes have been reduced or abolished since the early 2000s, and additional social services provided to rural dwellers.[242][243]

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,[244] forced confessions, torture, restrictions of fundamental rights,[185][245] and excessive use of the death penalty.[246][247] 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,[248] the persecution of Falun Gong began, resulting in mass arrests, extralegal detention, and reports of torture and deaths in custody.[249][250] 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.[251][252]

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.[253] 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.[253][254][255] Furthermore, some Chinese politicians have spoken out in support of democratization, although others remain more conservative.[256] 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,[137] though human rights groups note that reforms to the latter have been largely cosmetic.[249] 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.[257][258]


A PLA air force 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).[259] 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, although the military expenditures-GDP ratio is below world average.[24] 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.[24][260]

As a recognized nuclear weapons state, China is considered both a major regional military power and a potential military superpower.[261] 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.[23] However, compared with the other four UN Security Council Permanent Members, China has relatively limited power projection capabilities.[262] To offset this, it has developed numerous power projection assets since the early 2000s – its first aircraft carrier entered service in 2012,[263][264][265] and it maintains a substantial fleet of submarines, including several nuclear-powered attack and ballistic missile submarines.[266] China has furthermore established a network of foreign military relationships along critical sea lanes.[267]

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.[263][268] China is furthermore engaged in developing an indigenous stealth aircraft and numerous combat drones.[269][270][271] Air and Sea denial weaponry advances have increased the regional threat from the perspective of Japan as well as Washington.[272][273] 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.[274] In addition, China has developed or acquired numerous advanced missile systems,[275][276] including anti-satellite missiles,[277] cruise missiles[278] and submarine-launched nuclear ICBMs.[279] 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.[280]



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.[283][284] 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.[16] 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.[16] 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.[285]

Economic history and growth

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,[286] and is one of the leading examples of state capitalism.[287][288] 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.[289][290][291][292]

Headquarter of Alibaba Group in Hangzhou

Since economic liberalization began in 1978, China has been among the world's fastest-growing economies,[293] relying largely on investment- and export-led growth.[294] 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.[295] According to the Global Growth Generators index announced by Citigroup in February 2011, China has a very high 3G growth rating.[296] 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;[297] China became the world's largest energy consumer in 2010,[298] 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.[299][300] 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.[301][302][303]


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.[22] 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.[305][306] In 2012, China was the world's largest recipient of inward foreign direct investment (FDI), attracting $253 billion.[307] In 2014, China's foreign exchange remittances were $US64 billion making it the second largest recipient of remittances in the world.[308] China also invests abroad, with a total outward FDI of $62.4 billion in 2012,[307] and a number of major takeovers of foreign firms by Chinese companies.[309] In 2009, China owned an estimated $1.6 trillion of US securities,[310] and was also the largest foreign holder of US public debt, owning over $1.16 trillion in US Treasury bonds.[311][312] China's undervalued exchange rate has caused friction with other major economies,[217][313][314] and it has also been widely criticized for manufacturing large quantities of counterfeit goods.[315][316] 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.[317] In 2017 the Institute of International Finance reported that China's debt had reached 304% of its GDP.[318]

Graph comparing the 2014 nominal GDPs
of major economies in US$ billions (IMF)[319]

China ranked 29th in the Global Competitiveness Index in 2009,[320] although it is only ranked 136th among the 179 countries measured in the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom.[321] 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.[322] 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.[323]

Class and income inequality

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.[324] 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.[325][326] China's domestic retail market was worth over 20 trillion yuan (US$3.2 trillion) in 2012[327] and is growing at over 12% annually as of 2013,[328] while the country's luxury goods market has expanded immensely, with 27.5% of the global share.[329] However, in recent years, China's rapid economic growth has contributed to severe consumer inflation,[330][331] leading to increased government regulation.[332] China has a high level of economic inequality,[333] which has increased in the past few decades.[334] In 2012, China's official Gini coefficient was 0.474.[335] 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.[336]

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.[337] 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.[338][339] In November 2010, Russia began using the Chinese renminbi in its bilateral trade with China.[340] This was soon followed by Japan,[341] Australia,[342] Singapore,[343] the United Kingdom,[344] and Canada.[345] As a result of the rapid internationalization of the renminbi, it became the eighth-most-traded currency in the world in 2013.[346]

Science and technology


China was once 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), became widespread in Asia and later to the Europe. Chinese mathematicians were the first to use negative numbers.[347][348] By the 17th century, the Western world had surpassed China in scientific and technological development.[349] The causes of this Great Divergence continue to be debated.[350]

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.[351] After Mao's death in 1976, science and technology was established as one of the Four Modernizations,[352] and the Soviet-inspired academic system was gradually reformed.[353]

Modern era

Since the end of the Cultural Revolution, China has made significant investments in scientific research,[354] with $163 billion spent on scientific research and development in 2012.[355] 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".[356] Nonetheless, China's investment in basic and applied scientific research remains behind that of leading technological powers such as the United States and Japan.[354][355] 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.[r]

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.[362] 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.[363] Chinese technology companies such as Huawei and Lenovo have become world leaders in telecommunications and personal computing,[364][365][366] and Chinese supercomputers are consistently ranked among the world's most powerful.[367][368] 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.[369]

The Chinese space program is one of the world's most active, and is a major source of national pride.[370][371] In 1970, China launched its first satellite, Dong Fang Hong I, becoming the fifth country to do so independently.[372] 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.[373] In 2013, China successfully landed the Chang'e 3 lander and Yutu rover onto the lunar surface; China plans to collect lunar soil samples by 2017.[374]



Beidou satellites are mainly launched using Long March 3 rocket family.

China currently has the largest number of active cellphones of any country in the world, with over 1 billion users by February 2012.[375] It also has the world's largest number of internet and broadband users,[376] with over 688 million internet users as of 2016, equivalent to around half of its population.[377] The national average broadband connection speed is 9.46 Mbit/s, ranking China 91st in the world in terms of internet speed.[377] As of July 2013, China accounts for 24% of the world's internet-connected devices.[378] 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).[379]

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.[380] Several Chinese telecommunications companies, most notably Huawei and ZTE, have been accused of spying for the Chinese military.[381]

China is developing its own satellite navigation system, dubbed Beidou, which began offering commercial navigation services across Asia in 2012,[382] and is planned to offer global coverage by 2020.[383]



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[385] and may reach 40 million by 2020.[386] A side-effect of the rapid growth of China's road network has been a significant rise in traffic accidents,[387] with poorly enforced traffic laws cited as a possible cause—in 2011 alone, around 62,000 Chinese died in road accidents.[388] 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.[389]


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.[390][391] As of 2013, the country had 103,144 km (64,091 mi) of railways, the third longest network in the world.[392] 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.[391] 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.[392]

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,[393] making it the longest HSR network in the world.[394] With an annual ridership of over 1.1 billion passengers in 2015 it is the world's busiest.[395] 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.[396] The HSR track network is set to reach approximately 16,000 km (9,900 mi) by 2020.[397] The Shanghai Maglev Train, which reaches 431 km/h (268 mph), is the fastest commercial train service in the world.[398]

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[399] with a dozen more to join them by 2020.[400] 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,[401] 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.[401] 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.



Water supply and sanitation

Water supply and sanitation infrastructure in China is facing challenges such as rapid urbanization, as well as water scarcity, contamination, and pollution.[404] 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.[405] In June 2010, there were 1,519 sewage treatment plants in China and 18 plants were added each week.[406] The ongoing South–North Water Transfer Project intends to abate water shortage in the north.[407]



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.[408] The population growth rate for 2013 is estimated to be 0.46%.[409]


With a population of around 1.4 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,[412] 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.[413] In 2016, the one-child policy was replaced in favor of a two-child policy.[414] Data from the 2010 census implies that the total fertility rate may be around 1.4.[415]

Population of China from 1949 to 2008[needs update]

The policy, along with traditional preference for boys, may be contributing to an imbalance in the sex ratio at birth.[416][417] According to the 2010 census, the sex ratio at birth was 118.06 boys for every 100 girls,[418] which is beyond the normal range of around 105 boys for every 100 girls.[419] The 2010 census found that males accounted for 51.27 percent of the total population.[418] However, China's sex ratio is more balanced than it was in 1953, when males accounted for 51.82 percent of the total population.[418]

Ethnic groups

A trilingual sign in Sibsongbanna, with Tai Lü language on the top.



1990 map of Chinese ethnolinguistic groups





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.[427][428][429] It is estimated that China's urban population will reach one billion by 2030, potentially equivalent to one-eighth of the world population.[427][428] As of 2012, there are more than 262 million migrant workers in China, mostly rural migrants seeking work in cities.[430]

China has over 160 cities with a population of over one million,[431] including the seven megacities (cities with a population of over 10 million) of Chongqing, Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Shenzhen, and Wuhan.[432][433][434] By 2025, it is estimated that the country will be home to 221 cities with over a million inhabitants.[427] The figures in the table below are from the 2010 census,[4] 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;[435] the figures below include only long-term residents.


Since 1986, compulsory education in China comprises primary and junior secondary school, which together last for nine years.[437] In 2010, about 82.5 percent of students continued their education at a three-year senior secondary school.[438] 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.[439] Vocational education is available to students at the secondary and tertiary level.[440]

In February 2006, the government pledged to provide completely free nine-year education, including textbooks and fees.[441] Annual education investment went from less than US$50 billion in 2003 to more than US$250 billion in 2011.[442] 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.[443] 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.[444] By 2007, there were 396,567 primary schools, 94,116 secondary schools, and 2,236 higher education institutions in China.[445]

As of 2010, 94% of the population over age 15 are literate.[446] In 1949, only 20% of the population could read, compared to 65.5% thirty years later.[447] 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.[448] 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.




As of 2012, the average life expectancy at birth in China is 75 years,[453] and the infant mortality rate is 12 per thousand.[454] Both have improved significantly since the 1950s.[s] Rates of stunting, a condition caused by malnutrition, have declined from 33.1% in 1990 to 9.9% in 2010.[457] 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,[458] hundreds of millions of cigarette smokers,[459] and an increase in obesity among urban youths.[460][461] 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.[462] In 2010, air pollution caused 1.2 million premature deaths in China.[463]


Freedom of religion is guaranteed by China's constitution, although religious organizations that lack official approval can be subject to state persecution.[245][464] 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.[465]

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,[466][467] Chinese folk religion, which contains elements of the three teachings,[468] 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.[469] Among the most popular folk cults are those of Mazu (goddess of the seas),[470][471] Huangdi (one of the two divine patriarchs of the Chinese race),[470][472] 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 three teachings religions, Buddhism, Taoism and local folk religious practice.[466] A 2015 poll conducted by Gallup International found that 61% of Chinese people self-identified as "convinced atheist".[473] According to a 2014 study, approximately 74% are either non-religious or practise Chinese folk belief, 16% are Buddhists, 2% are Christians, and 1% are Muslims.[474][475] 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 people, also of Uyghur, Kazakh, Kyrgyz and other peoples in the Northwest China.

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.



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.[478] 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.[21] Examinations and a culture of merit remain greatly valued in China today.[479]


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,[482][483] and folk and variety art in particular have sparked interest nationally and even worldwide.[484] China is now the third-most-visited country in the world,[485] with 55.7 million inbound international visitors in 2010.[486] It also experiences an enormous volume of domestic tourism; an estimated 740 million Chinese holidaymakers travelled within the country in October 2012 alone.[487]



Chinese literature is based on the literature of the Zhou dynasty.[488] Concepts covered within the Chinese classic texts present a wide range of thoughts and subjects including calendar, military, astrology, herbology, geography and many others.[489] 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.[490] 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.[491] 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.[492] 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.[493] Along with the wuxia fictions of Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng,[494] it remains an enduring source of popular culture in the East Asian cultural sphere.[495]

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.[496] Various literary genres, such as misty poetry, scar literature, young adult fiction and the xungen literature, which is influenced by magic realism,[497] emerged following the Cultural Revolution. Mo Yan, a xungen literature author, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2012.[498]



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.[500] All of them are featured by the precise skills of shaping, heating, colorway and flavoring.[501] Chinese cuisine is also known for its width of cooking methods and ingredients,[502] as well as food therapy that is emphasized by traditional Chinese medicine.[503] 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.[504] Pork is now the most popular meat in China, accounting for about three-fourths of the country's total meat consumption.[505] While there is also a Buddhist cuisine and an Islamic cuisine.[506] 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.


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 and 2022 Winter Olympics.

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[507] date back to China's early dynasties as well.[508]

Physical fitness is widely emphasized in Chinese culture, with morning exercises such as qigong and t'ai chi ch'uan widely practiced,[509] and commercial gyms and fitness clubs gaining popularity in the country.[510] Basketball is currently the most popular spectator sport in China.[511] 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.[512] China's professional football league, now known as Chinese Super League, was established in 1994, it is the largest football market in Asia.[513] 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.[514] In addition, China is home to a huge number of cyclists, with an estimated 470 million bicycles as of 2012.[389] Many more traditional sports, such as dragon boat racing, Mongolian-style wrestling and horse racing are also popular.[515]

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.[516] China also won the most medals of any nation at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, with 231 overall, including 95 gold medals.[517][518] 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.

Traditional Chinese medicine

Traditional Chinese medicine has roots dating back more than 2,500 years. The practice focuses on balancing the yin and yang to create an internal harmony. There are various types of Chinese medicine and the techniques may be influenced by local culture and beliefs. [519][520]

The Chinese government also recognizes the significance of traditional Chinese medicine and the need to protect its heritage. Dingkun Dan, GuilingJi, and Angong Niuhuang Wan were declared part of China’s official “Intangible Cultural Heritage” by the State Council of the People’s Republic of China.[521] Both GuangYuYuan and Tong Ren Tang have been recognized officially by the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China as Laozi Hao or “China Time-Honored Brands.”[522][523][524][525]

See also


  3. ^ In the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau, Traditional Chinese characters are used
  4. ^ Ethnic minorities that are recognized officially.
  9. ^ Except Hong Kong and Macau.
  12. ^ "[...] The Very Great Kingdom of China".[29] (Portuguese: ...O Grande Reino da China...).[30]
  13. ^ Although this is the present meaning of guó, in Old Chinese (when its pronunciation was something like /*qʷˤək/)[41] it meant the walled city of the Chinese and the areas they could control from them.[42]
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