The People’s Republic of China (PRC) commonly known as China is a country in East Asia. It is one of the most populous countries in the world. Beijing is political capital of China. Shanghai is the largest city and the main trade center. The neighboring countries to China are (counted clockwise from south): Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), India, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia and North Korea.
The Communist Party of China (shortly known as CPC) lead the People’s Republic of China (PRC) under a single party system since its formation in 1949. The People’s Republic of China has dispute with Taiwan. During the period of civil war in China, the CPC’s rival Kuomintang (KMT), claimed traditional authority over China and Mongolia as it was the ruling power of the Republic of China and retreated to Taiwan and surrounding islands in 1949. However, PRC regarded ROC’s claims as illegitimate.
China has largest population in the world, its economy is rapidly growing; the China’s expenditures on research and developments are quite high and the experts consider it as emerging superpower. At Purchasing Power Parity, China is the second largest; it is also worlds’ fourth largest economy. China’s economy is market based and helped around 400 million people to live normal life (above poverty). The poverty rate dipped from 53% in 1981 to 8% in 2001. However, PRC is strolling with other problems like rapidly aging population and increasing rural-urban income gap. China is at No. 2 in the world in making imports of petroleum and world’s largest consumer of concrete and steel.
Han Chinese is the largest ethnic group in China, which makes around 92% of the total population. The other ethnic groups are- Zhuang, Manchu, Hui, Miao, Uygur, Yi, Mongolian, Tibetan, Buyi, Korean, and few more. Chinese people mainly follow Buddhism, few Chinese practices Taoism. About 70% population speaks Mandarin. Other languages spoken in China are Mongolian, Tibetan, Uygur, Korean and other Turkic languages.
The political experts regard China as communist State. The China government considered as authoritarian, communist, and socialist, because of major restrictions imposed on reproductive rights, Internet usages, and freedom of assembly, press, movement and religion. The country is ruled under the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China. The president of China is Head of the State.
The People’s Republic of China has good diplomatic relations with other countries of the world. Much of the current foreign policy is based on the concept of China's peaceful rise. China is permanent member of United Nations. China is also a founding member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), with Russia and the Central Asian republics. China is also member of World Trade Organizations (WTO) since 2001.
The People’s Republic of China has different variety of landscapes. 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, grasslands can be seen. Southern China is dominated by hill country and low mountain ranges. In the central-east are the deltas of China's two major rivers, the Huang He and Yangtze River (Chang Jiang). Other major rivers include the Xijiang River, Mekong, Brahmaputra and Amur. To the west, major mountain ranges, notably the Himalayas with China's highest point Mount Everest, and high plateaus feature among the more arid landscapes such as the Taklamakan and the Gobi Desert.
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is one of the largest producer and consumer of agriculture and agriculture based products. Nearly half of China’s total work force involved in agricultural activities. Though only 10% China land is suitable for agriculture that accounts for 13% of total GDP. Major industries are mining and ore processing; iron; steel; aluminum; coal, machinery; textiles and apparel; armaments; petroleum; cement; chemicals; fertilizers; consumer products including footwear, toys, and electronics; automobiles and other transportation equipment including rail, cars and locomotives, ships, and aircraft; and telecommunications.
