China#People's Republic (1949–present)

{{Main|Names of China}}

File:CEM-09-Asiae-Nova-Descriptio-China-2510.jpg), Mangi (inland of Xanton), and Cataio (inland of China and Chequan, and including the capital Cambalu, Xandu, and a marble bridge) are all shown as separate regions on this 1570 map by Abraham Ortelius.]]

The word "China" has been used in English since the 16th century; however, it was not used by the Chinese themselves during this period. Its origin has been traced through Portuguese, Malay, and Persian back to the Sanskrit word {{transliteration|sa|Cīna}}, used in ancient India.{{Cite web |title=China |url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/31735? |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230712030439/https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/31735 |archive-date=12 July 2023 |access-date=28 March 2024 |website=Oxford English Dictionary}}{{ISBN|0-1995-7315-8}} "China" appears in Richard Eden's 1555 translation{{efn|"...{{nbsp}}Next into this, is found the great China, whose king is thought to be the greatest prince in the world, and is named Santoa Raia".Eden, Richard (1555), Decades of the New World, [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/a20032.0001.001/511?page=root;size=125;vid=4616;view=text p. 230] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811170243/https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/a20032.0001.001/511?page=root;size=125;vid=4616;view=text |date=11 August 2023}}.{{Cite book |last=Myers |first=Henry Allen |title=Western Views of China and the Far East, Volume 1 |date=1984 |publisher=Asian Research Service |page=34}}}} of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa.{{efn|"...{{nbsp}}The Very Great Kingdom of China".{{Cite book |last=Barbosa |first=Duarte |title=The Book of Duarte Barbosa |date=1918 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |isbn=978-8-1206-0451-3 |editor-last=Dames |editor-first=Mansel Longworth |volume=II |location=London |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=edzW9fuOF-cC&pg=PA211 211]}} ({{langx|pt|...{{nbsp}}O Grande Reino da China{{nbsp}}...}}).{{Cite book |last=Barbosa |first=Duarte |url=http://purl.pt/435 |title=Livro em que dá Relação do que Viu e Ouviu no Oriente |date=1946 |publisher=Agência Geral das Colónias |editor-last=Augusto Reis Machado |location=Lisbon |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20081022202824/http://purl.pt/435 |archive-date=22 October 2008 |url-status=dead}}. {{in lang|pt}}}} Barbosa's usage was derived from Persian {{transliteration|fa|Chīn}} ({{lang|fa|{{linktext|چین}}}}), which in turn derived from Sanskrit {{transliteration|sa|Cīna}} ({{lang|sa|{{linktext|चीन}}}})."[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/China?qsrc=2888 China] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110921131850/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/China?qsrc=2888 |date=21 September 2011}}". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000). Boston and New York: Houghton-Mifflin. The origin of the Sanskrit word is a matter of debate. {{transliteration|sa|Cīna}} was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahabharata (5th century BCE) and the Laws of Manu (2nd century BCE).Wade, Geoff. "[http://www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp188_yelang_china.pdf The Polity of Yelang and the Origin of the Name 'China'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171117222125/http://www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp188_yelang_china.pdf |date=17 November 2017}}". Sino-Platonic Papers, No. 188, May 2009, p. 20. In 1655, Martino Martini suggested that the word China is derived ultimately from the name of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE).Martino, Martin, Novus Atlas Sinensis, Vienna 1655, Preface, p. 2. Although use in Indian sources precedes this dynasty, this derivation is still given in various sources.{{Cite book |last=Bodde |first=Derk |author-link=Derk Bodde |title=The Cambridge History of China: Volume 1, The Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 BC – AD 220 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-5212-4327-8 |editor-last=Denis Twitchett |editor-link=Denis Twitchett |page=20 |chapter=The state and empire of Ch'in |doi=10.1017/CHOL9780521243278.003 |editor-last2=Michael Loewe |editor-link2=Michael Loewe}} Alternative suggestions include the names for Yelang and the Jing or Chu state.{{Cite book |last=Yule |first=Henry |title=Cathay and the Way Thither |publisher=Asian Educational Services |year=1866 |isbn=978-8-1206-1966-1 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=SAqgAb41ifIC&pg=PA3 3–7]}}

The official name of the modern state is the "People's Republic of China" ({{lang-zh|s={{linktext|中华人民共和国}}|p=Zhōnghuá rénmín gònghéguó|t={{linktext|中華人民共和國}}}}). The shorter form is "China" ({{lang-zh|s={{linktext|中国}}|t={{linktext|中國}}|p=Zhōngguó|labels=no}}), from {{transliteration|zh|zhōng}} ('central') and {{transliteration|zh|guó}} ('state'), a term which developed under the Western Zhou dynasty in reference to its royal demesne.{{efn|Its earliest extant use is on the ritual bronze vessel He zun, where it apparently refers to only the Shang's immediate demesne conquered by the Zhou.{{Cite journal |last=Chen |first=Zhi |author-mask=Chen Zhi |date=9 November 2004 |title=From Exclusive Xia to Inclusive Zhu-Xia: The Conceptualisation of Chinese Identity in Early China |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=185–205 |doi=10.1017/S135618630400389X |jstor=25188470 |s2cid=162643600}}}}{{efn|Its meaning "Zhou's royal demesne" is attested from the 6th-century BC Classic of History, which states "Huangtian bestowed the lands and the peoples of the central state to the ancestors" ({{lang|zh|皇天既付中國民越厥疆土于先王}}).{{lang|zh|《尚書》, 梓材.}} {{in lang|zh}}}} It was used in official documents as an synonym for the state under the Qing.{{Cite book |last=Wilkinson |first=Endymion |title=Chinese History: A Manual |date=2000 |publisher=Harvard University Asia Center |isbn=978-0-6740-0249-4 |series=Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph No. 52 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ERnrQq0bsPYC&pg=PA132 132]}} The name Zhongguo is also translated as {{nowrap|'Middle Kingdom'}} in English.{{Cite book |last1=Tang |first1=Xiaoyang |title=Greater China in an Era of Globalization |last2=Guo |first2=Sujian |last3=Guo |first3=Baogang |date=2010 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |isbn=978-0-7391-3534-1 |location=Lanham, MD |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=4n8u0HG-iYEC&pg=PA52 52–53]}} China is sometimes referred to as mainland China or "the Mainland" when distinguishing it from the Republic of China or the PRC's Special Administrative Regions.{{Cite news |title=美国唐人街两面“中国”国旗之争 |trans-title=The dispute over two "Chinese" flags in Chinatown, USA |url=https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/world-49585512 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202000227/https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/world-49585512 |archive-date=2 December 2020 |access-date=5 November 2020 |work=BBC News |publisher=}}{{Cite news |title=Chou Hsi-wei on Conflict Zone |url=https://www.dw.com/en/chou-hsi-wei-on-conflict-zone/av-49624866 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416094447/https://www.dw.com/en/chou-hsi-wei-on-conflict-zone/av-49624866 |archive-date=16 April 2021 |access-date=5 November 2020 |work=Deutsche Welle |quote=So-called 'China', we call it 'Mainland', we are 'Taiwan'. Together we are 'China'.}}

{{Main|History of China}}

{{For timeline|Timeline of Chinese history}}

File:National Museum of China 2014.02.01 14-43-38.jpg culture (18000–7000 BCE)]]

Archaeological evidence suggests that early hominids inhabited China 2.25 million years ago.{{Cite web |last1=Ciochon |first1=Russell |last2=Larick |first2=Roy |date=1 January 2000 |title=Early Homo erectus Tools in China |url=https://archive.archaeology.org/0001/newsbriefs/china.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200106111404/https://archive.archaeology.org/0001/newsbriefs/china.html |archive-date=6 January 2020 |access-date=30 November 2012 |website=Archaeology}} The hominid fossils of Peking Man, a Homo erectus who used fire,{{Cite web |title=The Peking Man World Heritage Site at Zhoukoudian |url=http://www.unesco.org/ext/field/beijing/whc/pkm-site.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623160018/http://www.unesco.org/ext/field/beijing/whc/pkm-site.htm |archive-date=23 June 2016 |access-date=6 March 2013 |publisher=UNESCO}} have been dated to between 680,000 and 780,000 years ago.{{Cite journal |last1=Shen |first1=G. |last2=Gao |first2=X. |last3=Gao |first3=B. |last4=Granger |first4=De |date=March 2009 |title=Age of Zhoukoudian Homo erectus determined with (26)Al/(10)Be burial dating |journal=Nature |volume=458 |issue=7235 |pages=198–200 |doi=10.1038/nature07741 |pmid=19279636 |s2cid=19264385}} The fossilized teeth of Homo sapiens (dated to 125,000–80,000 years ago) have been discovered in Fuyan Cave.{{Cite news |last=Rincon |first=Paul |date=14 October 2015 |title=Fossil teeth place humans in Asia '20,000 years early' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34531861 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817113912/http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34531861 |archive-date=17 August 2017 |access-date=14 October 2015 |work=BBC News}} Chinese proto-writing existed in Jiahu around 6600 BCE,{{Cite news |last=Rincon |first=Paul |date=17 April 2003 |title='Earliest writing' found in China |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2956925.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320140538/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2956925.stm |archive-date=20 March 2012 |access-date=14 January 2020 |work=BBC News}} at Damaidi around 6000 BCE,Qiu Xigui (2000) Chinese Writing English translation of {{lang|zh-Hant|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|978-1-5572-9071-7}} Dadiwan from 5800 to 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.

{{Further|Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors|Xia dynasty|Shang dynasty|Zhou dynasty|Spring and Autumn period|Warring States period}}

File:甲骨文发现地 - panoramio.jpg, the ruins of the capital of the late Shang dynasty (14th century BCE)]]

According to traditional Chinese historiography, the Xia dynasty was established during the late 3rd millennium BCE, marking the beginning of the dynastic cycle that was understood to underpin China's entire political history. In the modern era, the Xia's historicity came under increasing scrutiny, in part due to the earliest known attestation of the Xia being written millennia after the date given for their collapse. In 1958, archaeologists discovered sites belonging to the Erlitou culture that existed during the early Bronze Age; they have since been characterized as the remains of the historical Xia, but this conception is often rejected.{{Cite book |last=Tanner |first=Harold M. |title=China: A History |year=2009 |publisher=Hackett |isbn=978-0-8722-0915-2 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=VIWC9wCX2c8C&pg=PA35 35–36]}}{{Cite web |title=Bronze Age China |url=http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/chbro_bron.shtm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725062916/http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/chbro_bron.shtm |archive-date=25 July 2013 |access-date=11 July 2013 |publisher=National Gallery of Art}}{{Cite book |title=China: Five Thousand Years of History and Civilization |year=2007 |publisher=City University of Hong Kong Press |isbn=978-9-6293-7140-1 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=z-fAxn_9f8wC&pg=PA25 25]}} The Shang dynasty that traditionally succeeded the Xia is the earliest for which there are both contemporary written records and undisputed archaeological evidence.{{Cite book |last=Pletcher |first=Kenneth |title=The History of China |year=2011 |publisher=Britannica Educational Publishing |isbn=978-1-6153-0181-2 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=A1nwvKNPMWkC&pg=PA35 35]}} The Shang ruled much of the Yellow River valley until the 11th century BCE, with the earliest hard evidence dated {{circa|1300 BCE}}.{{Cite book |last1=Fowler |first1=Jeaneane D. |title=Chinese Religions: Beliefs and Practices |last2=Fowler |first2=Merv |year=2008 |publisher=Sussex Academic Press |isbn=978-1-8451-9172-6 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=rpJNfIAZltoC&pg=PA17 17]}} The oracle bone script, attested from {{circa|1250 BCE|lk=no}} but generally assumed to be considerably older,{{Cite journal |last=Boltz |first=William G. |author-link=William G. Boltz |date=February 1986 |title=Early Chinese Writing |journal=World Archaeology |volume=17 |issue=3 |page=436 |doi=10.1080/00438243.1986.9979980 |jstor=124705}}{{Cite journal |last=Keightley |first=David N. |author-link=David Keightley |date=Autumn 1996 |title=Art, Ancestors, and the Origins of Writing in China |journal=Representations |volume=56 |issue=Special Issue: The New Erudition |pages=68–95 |doi=10.2307/2928708 |jstor=2928708 |s2cid=145426302}} represents the oldest known form of written Chinese,{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Zhengzhou |encyclopedia=International Dictionary of Historic Places: Asia and Oceania |publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers |last=Hollister |first=Pam |year=1996 |editor-last=Schellinger |editor-first=Paul E. |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=vWLRxJEU49EC&pg=PA904 904] |isbn=978-1-8849-6404-6 |editor2-first=Robert M. |editor2-last=Salkin}} and is the direct ancestor of modern Chinese characters.{{Cite book |last=Allan |first=Keith |title=The Oxford Handbook of the History of Linguistics |year=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-1995-8584-7 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=BzfRFmlN2ZAC&pg=PA4 4]}}

The Shang were overthrown by the Zhou, who ruled between the 11th and 5th centuries BCE, though the centralized authority of Son of Heaven was slowly eroded by fengjian lords. Some principalities eventually emerged from the weakened Zhou and continually waged war with each other during the 300-year Spring and Autumn period. By the time of the Warring States period of the 5th–3rd centuries BCE, there were seven major powerful states left.{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Warring States |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Warring-States |access-date=28 March 2024 |date=15 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240119202928/https://www.britannica.com/event/Warring-States |archive-date=19 January 2024 |url-status=live}}

{{further|Chinese Empire|History of China#Imperial China}}

The [[southward expansion of the Han dynasty during the 2nd century BCE|thumb|upright=1.1]]

The Warring States period ended in 221 BCE after the state of Qin conquered the other six states, reunited China and established the dominant order of autocracy. King Zheng of Qin proclaimed himself the Emperor of the Qin dynasty, becoming the first emperor of a unified China. He enacted Qin's legalist reforms, notably the standardization of Chinese characters, measurements, road widths, and currency. His dynasty also conquered the Yue tribes in Guangxi, Guangdong, and Northern Vietnam.{{Cite book |last=Sima |first=Qian |author-link=Sima Qian |title=Records of the Grand Historian |title-link=Shiji |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=1993 |isbn=0-231-08165-0 |location=Hong Kong |pages=11–12 |translator-last=Watson |translator-first=Burton |orig-date=c. 91 BCE |translator-link=Burton Watson}} The Qin dynasty lasted only fifteen years, falling soon after the First Emperor's death.{{Cite book |last=Bodde |first=Derk |author-link=Derk Bodde |title=The Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 BC – AD 220 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1986 |isbn=0-521-24327-0 |editor-last=Twitchett |editor-first=Denis |editor-link=Denis Twitchett |series=The Cambridge History of China |volume=1 |pages=20–102 |chapter=The State and Empire of Ch'in |editor-last2=Loewe |editor-first2=Loewe |editor-link2=Michael Loewe}}

{{Cite book |last=Lewis |first=Mark Edward |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofimperia00broo |title=The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han |date=2007 |publisher=Belknap |isbn=978-0-6740-2477-9}}

Following widespread revolts during which the imperial library was burned,{{efn|Owing to Qin Shi Huang'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.{{Cite book |last=Cotterell |first=Arthur |title=The Imperial Capitals of China |year=2011 |publisher=Pimlico |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=bZI764AEfcsC&pg=PA35 35–36]}} 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.}} the Han dynasty emerged to rule China between 206 BCE and 220 CE, creating a cultural identity among its populace still remembered in the ethnonym of the modern Han Chinese. The Han expanded the empire's territory considerably, with military campaigns reaching Central Asia, Mongolia, 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.{{Cite report |title=China and the Knowledge Economy: Seizing the 21st Century |last1=Dahlman |first1=Carl J. |last2=Aubert |first2=Jean-Eric |year=2001 |publisher=World Bank Publications |id={{ERIC|ED460052}} |series=WBI Development Studies |location=Herndon, VA}} 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.{{Cite book |last1=Goucher |first1=Candice |title=World History: Journeys from Past to Present |volume=1: From Human Origins to 1500 CE |last2=Walton |first2=Linda |year=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-1350-8822-4 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=zdwpAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA108 108]}}

After the end of the Han dynasty, a period of strife known as Three Kingdoms followed, at the end of which 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 rebelled and ruled northern China as the Sixteen States. The Xianbei unified them as the Northern Wei, whose Emperor Xiaowen reversed his predecessors' apartheid policies and enforced a drastic sinification on his subjects. 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.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

The Sui restored the Han to power through China, reformed its agriculture, economy and imperial examination system, constructed the Grand Canal, and patronized Buddhism. However, they fell quickly when their conscription for public works and a failed war in northern Korea provoked widespread unrest.{{Cite book |last=Lee |first=Ki-Baik |title=A new history of Korea |date=1984 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-6746-1576-2 |page=47}}{{Cite book |last=Graff |first=David Andrew |title=Medieval Chinese warfare, 300–900 |date=2002 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-4152-3955-9 |page=13}}

Under the succeeding Tang and Song dynasties, Chinese economy, technology, and culture entered a golden age.{{Cite book |last=Adshead |first=S. A. M. |title=T'ang China: The Rise of the East in World History |date=2004 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=9780230005518 |page=54 |doi=10.1057/9780230005518_2}} The Tang dynasty retained control of the Western Regions and the Silk Road,{{Cite book |last=Nishijima |first=Sadao |title=Cambridge History of China: Volume I: the Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C. – A.D. 220 |date=1986 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-5212-4327-8 |editor-last=Twitchett |editor-first=Denis |editor-link=Denis Twitchett |pages=545–607 |chapter=The Economic and Social History of Former Han |doi=10.1017/CHOL9780521243278.012 |editor-last2=Loewe |editor-first2=Michael |editor-link2=Michael Loewe}} which brought traders to as far as Mesopotamia and the Horn of Africa,{{Cite book |last=Bowman |first=John S. |url=https://archive.org/details/columbiachronolo00john |title=Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture |date=2000 |publisher=Columbia University Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/columbiachronolo00john/page/104 104–105] |url-access=registration}} and made the capital Chang'an a cosmopolitan urban center. However, it was devastated and weakened by the An Lushan rebellion in the 8th century.{{Cite book |title=China: Five Thousand Years of History and Civilization |date=2007 |publisher=City University of HK Press |isbn=978-9-6293-7140-1 |page=71}} 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 the Liao dynasty. The Song was the first government in world history to issue paper money and the first Chinese polity to establish a permanent navy which was supported by the developed shipbuilding industry along with the sea trade.{{Cite book |last=Paludan |first=Ann |title=Chronicle of the Chinese Emperors |date=1998 |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=0-5000-5090-2 |page=136}}

Between the 10th and 11th century CE, the population of China doubled 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,{{Cite book |last=Huang |first=Siu-Chi |title=Essentials of Neo-Confucianism: Eight Major Philosophers of the Song and Ming Periods |date=1999 |publisher=Greenwood |isbn=978-0-3132-6449-8 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=sjzPPg8eK7sC&pg=PA3 3]}} and a flourishing of philosophy and the arts, as landscape art and porcelain were brought to new levels of complexity.{{Cite web |title=Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) |date=October 2001 |url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/nsong/hd_nsong.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010152800/https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/nsong/hd_nsong.htm |archive-date=10 October 2017 |access-date=27 November 2013 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art}} However, the military weakness of the Song army was observed by the Jin dynasty. In 1127, Emperor Emeritus Huizong, Emperor Qinzong of Song and the capital Bianjing were captured during the Jin–Song wars. The remnants of the Song retreated to southern China and reestablished the Song at Jiankang.{{Cite book |last=Gernet |first=Jacques |url=https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinchina00gern/page/22 |title=Daily Life in China on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion, 1250–1276 |date=1962 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-0720-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinchina00gern/page/22 22] |oclc=1029050217}}

China's first emperor, [[Qin Shi Huang, is famed for having united the Warring States' walls to form the Great Wall of China. Most of the present structure dates to the Ming dynasty.|thumb|upright=1.1]]

The Mongol conquest of China began in 1205 with the campaigns against Western Xia by Genghis Khan,{{Cite book |last=May |first=Timothy |title=The Mongol Conquests in World History |date=2012 |publisher=Reaktion |isbn=978-1-8618-9971-2 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZRIt9sZaTREC 1211]}} who also invaded Jin territories.{{Cite book |last=Weatherford |first=Jack |title=Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World |title-link=Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World |date=2004 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-0-6098-0964-8 |page=95 |chapter=Tale of Three Rivers}} In 1271, the Mongol leader Kublai Khan established the Yuan dynasty, which 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.{{Cite journal |last=Ho |first=Ping-ti |author-link=He Bingdi |date=1970 |title=An Estimate of the Total Population of Sung-Chin China |journal=Études Song |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=33–53}} A peasant named Zhu Yuanzhang overthrew the Yuan in 1368 and founded the Ming dynasty as the Hongwu Emperor. 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 admiral Zheng He led the Ming treasure voyages throughout the Indian Ocean, reaching as far as East Africa.{{Cite news |last=Rice |first=Xan |date=25 July 2010 |title=Chinese archaeologists' African quest for sunken ship of Ming admiral |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jul/25/kenya-china |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227095720/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jul/25/kenya-china |archive-date=27 December 2016 |access-date=16 January 2020 |work=The Guardian}}

In the early Ming dynasty, China's capital was moved from Nanjing to Beijing. With the budding of capitalism, philosophers such as Wang Yangming critiqued and expanded Neo-Confucianism with concepts of individualism and equality of four occupations.{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Wang Yangming (1472–1529) |encyclopedia=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |url=https://www.iep.utm.edu/wangyang/ |access-date=9 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109100108/http://www.iep.utm.edu/wangyang/ |archive-date=9 November 2013 |url-status=dead}} The scholar-official stratum became a supporting force of industry and commerce in the tax boycott movements, which, together with the famines and defense against Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) and Later Jin incursions led to an exhausted treasury.{{Cite book |url=http://www.docin.com/p-378667223.html |date=8 April 2012 |script-title=zh:论明末士人阶层与资本主义萌芽的关系 |access-date=2 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150909195232/http://www.docin.com/p-378667223.html |archive-date=9 September 2015 |url-status=live}} In 1644, Beijing was captured by a coalition of peasant rebel forces led by Li Zicheng. The 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.{{Cite web |title=Qing dynasty |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Qing-dynasty |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180309212209/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Qing-dynasty |archive-date=9 March 2018 |access-date=10 November 2022 |website=Britannica}}

The [[Qing conquest of the Ming and expansion of the empire|thumb|upright=1.1]]

The Qing dynasty, which lasted from 1644 until 1912, was the last imperial dynasty of China. The Ming-Qing transition (1618–1683) cost 25 million lives, but the Qing appeared to have restored China's imperial power and inaugurated another flowering of the arts.{{Cite book |last=Roberts |first=John M. |title=A Short History of the World |date=1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-1951-1504-X |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3QZXvUhGwhAC 272]}} After the Southern Ming ended, the further conquest of the Dzungar Khanate added Mongolia, Tibet and Xinjiang to the empire.{{Cite book |last=Fletcher |first=Joseph |title=The Cambridge History of China |date=1978 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-1390-5477-5 |editor-last=John K. Fairbank |editor-link=John King Fairbank |volume=10, Part 1 |page=37 |chapter=Ch'ing Inner Asia c. 1800 |doi=10.1017/CHOL9780521214476.003}} Meanwhile, China's population growth resumed and shortly began to accelerate. It is commonly agreed that pre-modern China's population experienced two growth spurts, one during the Northern Song period (960–1127), and other during the Qing period (around 1700–1830).{{Cite book |last=Deng |first=Kent |url=https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/64492/1/WP219.pdf |title=China's Population Expansion and Its Causes during the Qing Period, 1644–1911 |year=2015 |pages=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240309224404/https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/64492/1/WP219.pdf |archive-date=9 March 2024 |url-status=live |access-date=28 August 2023}} By the High Qing era China was possibly the most commercialized country in the world, and imperial China experienced a second commercial revolution by the end of the 18th century.{{Cite book |last=Rowe |first=William |title=China's Last Empire – The Great Qing |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2010 |isbn=9780674054554 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=KN7Awmzx2PAC 123]}} On the other hand, the centralized autocracy was strengthened in part to suppress anti-Qing sentiment with the policy of valuing agriculture and restraining commerce, like the Haijin during the early Qing period and ideological control as represented by the literary inquisition, causing some social and technological stagnation.{{Cite book |date=2010 |publisher=九州出版社 |isbn=978-7-5108-0062-7 |pages=104–112 |script-title=zh:中国通史·明清史}}{{Cite book |date=1996 |publisher=花城出版社 |isbn=978-7-5360-2320-8 |page=71 |script-title=zh:中华通史·第十卷}}

{{Further|Century of humiliation|Opium Wars|First Sino-Japanese War|Boxer Rebellion}}

File:EightNations in1901.jpg invaded China to defeat the anti-foreign Boxers and their Qing backers. The image shows a celebration ceremony inside the Chinese imperial palace, the Forbidden City after the signing of the Boxer Protocol in 1901.]]

In the mid-19th century, the Opium Wars with Britain and France forced China to pay compensation, open treaty ports, allow extraterritoriality for foreign nationals, and cede Hong Kong to the British{{Cite book |last1=Embree |first1=Ainslie |author-link=Ainslie Embree |url=https://archive.org/details/asiainwesternwor00ains |title=Asia in Western and World History: A Guide for Teaching |last2=Gluck |first2=Carol |author-link2=Carol Gluck |date=1997 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |isbn=1-5632-4265-6 |page=597 |url-access=limited}} under the 1842 Treaty of Nanking, the first of what have been termed the unequal treaties. The First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) resulted in Qing China's loss of influence in the Korean Peninsula, as well as the cession of Taiwan to Japan.{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/546176/Sino-Japanese-War |access-date=16 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920171344/https://www.britannica.com/event/First-Sino-Japanese-War-1894-1895 |archive-date=20 September 2021 |url-status=live}} The Qing dynasty also began experiencing internal unrest in which tens of millions of people died, especially in the White Lotus Rebellion, the failed Taiping Rebellion that ravaged southern China in the 1850s and 1860s and the Dungan Revolt (1862–1877) 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.{{Cite book |last=Enhan (李恩涵) |first=Li |publisher=臺灣商務印書館 |year=2004 |isbn=978-9-5705-1891-7 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=cA8OBkr-JmMC&pg=PA78 78] |script-title=zh:近代中國外交史事新研}}

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 1876–1879, in which between 9 and 13 million people died.{{Cite web |date=1995 |title=Dimensions of need – People and populations at risk |url=http://www.fao.org/3/U8480E/U8480E05.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030150743/https://www.fao.org/3/U8480E/U8480E05.htm |archive-date=30 October 2023 |access-date=3 July 2013 |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations}} 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 known as the late Qing reforms, the Xinhai Revolution of 1911–1912 ended the Qing dynasty and established the Republic of China.{{Cite book |last=Xiaobing |first=Li |title=A History of the Modern Chinese Army |date=2007 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=978-0-8131-2438-4 |pages=13, 26–27}} Puyi, the last Emperor, abdicated in 1912.{{Cite web |date=4 June 2013 |title=The abdication decree of Emperor Puyi (1912) |url=https://alphahistory.com/chineserevolution/abdication-emperor-puyi-1912/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410202346/https://alphahistory.com/chineserevolution/abdication-emperor-puyi-1912/ |archive-date=10 April 2023 |access-date=29 May 2021 |website=Chinese Revolution}}

{{Main|Republic of China (1912–1949)}}{{Further|1911 Revolution|Second Sino-Japanese War|Chinese Civil War|Chinese Communist Revolution}}

On 1 January 1912, the Republic of China was established, and Sun Yat-sen of the Kuomintang (KMT) was proclaimed provisional president.Tamura, Eileen (1997) China: Understanding Its Past. Volume 1. University of Hawaii Press {{ISBN|0-8248-1923-3}} p.146 In March 1912, the presidency was 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 in 1916.{{Cite book |last=Haw |first=Stephen |title=Beijing: A Concise History |date=2006 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=0-4153-9906-8 |page=143}} 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.{{Cite book |last=Elleman |first=Bruce |title=Modern Chinese Warfare |date=2001 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-4152-1474-2 |page=149}}{{Cite book |last=Hutchings |first=Graham |title=Modern China: A Guide to a Century of Change |date=2003 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=0-6740-1240-2 |page=459}} During this period, China participated in World War I and saw a far-reaching popular uprising (the May Fourth Movement).{{Cite web |last=Panda |first=Ankit |date=5 May 2015 |title=The Legacy of China's May Fourth Movement |url=https://thediplomat.com/2015/05/the-legacy-of-chinas-may-fourth-movement |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240222173851/https://thediplomat.com/2015/05/the-legacy-of-chinas-may-fourth-movement |archive-date=22 February 2024 |access-date=28 March 2024 |website=The Diplomat}}

File:1945 Mao and Chiang.jpg and Mao Zedong toasting together in 1945 following the end of World War II]]In the late 1920s, the Kuomintang under Chiang Kai-shek was able to reunify the country under its own control with a series of deft military and political maneuverings known collectively as the Northern Expedition.{{Cite book |last=Zarrow |first=Peter |title=China in War and Revolution, 1895–1949 |date=2005 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-4153-6447-7 |page=230}}{{Cite book |last=Leutner |first=M. |title=The Chinese Revolution in the 1920s: Between Triumph and Disaster |date=2002 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-7007-1690-4 |page=129}} 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 Three Principles of the People program for transforming China into a modern democratic state.{{Cite book |last=Tien |first=Hung-Mao |title=Government and Politics in Kuomintang China, 1927–1937 |date=1972 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=0-8047-0812-6 |volume=53 |pages=60–72}}{{Cite book |last=Zhao |first=Suisheng |title=China and Democracy: Reconsidering the Prospects for a Democratic China |date=2000 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-4159-2694-7 |page=43}} The Kuomintang briefly allied with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during the Northern Expedition, though the alliance broke down in 1927 after Chiang violently suppressed the CCP and other leftists in Shanghai, marking the beginning of the Chinese Civil War.{{Cite book |last1=Apter |first1=David Ernest |title=Revolutionary Discourse in Mao's Republic |last2=Saich |first2=Tony |date=1994 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=0-6747-6780-2 |page=198}} The CCP declared areas of the country as the Chinese Soviet Republic (Jiangxi Soviet) in November 1931 in Ruijin, Jiangxi. The Jiangxi Soviet was wiped out by the KMT armies in 1934, leading the CCP to initiate the Long March and relocate to Yan'an in Shaanxi. It would be the base of the communists before major combat in the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949.

In 1931, Japan invaded and occupied Manchuria. Japan invaded other parts of China in 1937, precipitating the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), a theater of World War II. The war forced an uneasy alliance between the Kuomintang and the CCP. Japanese forces committed numerous war atrocities against the civilian population; as many as 20 million Chinese civilians died.{{Cite web |title=Nuclear Power: The End of the War Against Japan |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/nuclear_01.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151128194317/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/nuclear_01.shtml |archive-date=28 November 2015 |access-date=14 July 2013 |publisher=BBC}} An estimated 40,000 to 300,000 Chinese were massacred in Nanjing alone during the Japanese occupation.[http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/PTO/IMTFE/IMTFE-8.html "Judgement: International Military Tribunal for the Far East"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180804062413/http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/PTO/IMTFE/IMTFE-8.html |date=4 August 2018}}. Chapter VIII: Conventional War Crimes (Atrocities). November 1948. Retrieved 4 February 2013. China, along with the UK, the United States, and the Soviet Union, were recognized as the Allied "Big Four" in the Declaration by United Nations.{{Cite book |title=Yearbook of the United Nations 1946–1947 |date=1947 |publisher=United Nations |page=3 |chapter=The Moscow Declaration on general security |oclc=243471225 |access-date=25 April 2015 |chapter-url=http://www.unmultimedia.org/searchers/yearbook/page.jsp?volume=1946-47&page=38 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518074504/http://www.unmultimedia.org/searchers/yearbook/page.jsp?volume=1946-47&page=38 |archive-date=18 May 2015 |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |title=Declaration by United Nations |url=https://www.un.org/en/sections/history-united-nations-charter/1942-declaration-united-nations |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525120058/http://www.un.org/en/sections/history-united-nations-charter/1942-declaration-united-nations |archive-date=25 May 2017 |access-date=20 June 2015 |publisher=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.Hoopes, Townsend, and Douglas Brinkley FDR and the Creation of the U.N. (Yale University Press, 1997){{Cite book |last=Gaddis |first=John Lewis |url=https://archive.org/details/unitedstatesorig0000gadd |title=The United States and the Origins of the Cold War, 1941–1947 |date=1972 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-2311-2239-9 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/unitedstatesorig0000gadd/page/24 24]–25 |url-access=registration}} After the surrender of Japan in 1945, Taiwan, along with the Penghu, were handed over to Chinese control; however, the validity of this handover is controversial.{{Cite book |last=Tien |first=Hung-mao |title=Constitutional Reform and the Future of the Republic of China |date=1991 |publisher=M. E. Sharpe |isbn=978-0-8733-2880-7 |editor-last=Feldman |editor-first=Harvey |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=xCxMn-2msr8C&pg=PA3 3] |chapter=The Constitutional Conundrum and the Need for Reform}}

{{Main|History of the People's Republic of China (1949–1976)}}

File:Mao Proclaiming New China.JPG was held at 3:00 pm on 1 October 1949. The picture above shows Mao Zedong's announcement of the founding of the People's Republic of China in Tiananmen Square.{{Cite web |last=李丹青 |title=What's behind the founding ceremony of the PRC? |url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201909/30/WS5d9d4f5aa310cf3e3556f681.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230218080210/https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201909/30/WS5d9d4f5aa310cf3e3556f681.html |archive-date=18 February 2023 |website=www.chinadaily.com.cn}}]]

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. Afterwards, the CCP took control of most of mainland China, and the ROC government retreated offshore to Taiwan.

On 1 October 1949, CCP Chairman Mao Zedong formally proclaimed the People's Republic of China in Tiananmen Square, Beijing.{{Cite news |last1=Westcott |first1=Ben |last2=Lee |first2=Lily |date=30 September 2019 |title=They were born at the start of Communist China. 70 years later, their country is unrecognizable |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/29/asia/china-beijing-mao-october-1-70-intl-hnk/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215045839/https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/29/asia/china-beijing-mao-october-1-70-intl-hnk/index.html |archive-date=15 December 2019 |publisher=CNN}} In 1950, the PRC captured Hainan from the ROC{{Cite news |date=9 May 1950 |title=Red Capture of Hainan Island |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19500509&id=FUw_AAAAIBAJ&pg=3627,3301880 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810125935/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19500509&id=FUw_AAAAIBAJ&pg=3627,3301880 |archive-date=10 August 2023 |work=The Tuscaloosa News}} and annexed Tibet.{{Cite web |title=The Tibetans |url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/ir/cews/database/Tibet/tibet.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016102314/http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/ir/cews/database/Tibet/tibet.pdf |archive-date=16 October 2013 |access-date=20 July 2013 |publisher=University of Southern California}} However, remaining Kuomintang forces continued to wage an insurgency in western China throughout the 1950s.{{Cite book |last=Garver |first=John W. |title=The Sino-American alliance: Nationalist China and American Cold War strategy in Asia |date=1997 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |isbn=978-0-7656-0025-7 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZNCghCIbyVAC&pg=PA169 169]}} The CCP consolidated its popularity among the peasants through the Land Reform Movement, which included the state-tolerated executions of between 1 and 2 million landlords by peasants and former tenants.{{Cite book |last=Busky |first=Donald |title=Communism in History and Theory |date=2002 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-2759-7733-7 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Q6b0j1VINWgC 11]}} Though the PRC initially allied closely with the Soviet Union, the relations between the two communist nations gradually deteriorated, leading China to develop an independent industrial system and its own nuclear weapons.{{Cite web |title=A Country Study: China |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/87600493 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160612025703/https://www.loc.gov/item/87600493 |archive-date=12 June 2016 |access-date=3 October 2017 |website=loc.gov|series=Area handbook series |date=January 1988 }}

The Chinese population increased from 550 million in 1950 to 900 million in 1974.{{Cite book |last=Holmes |first=Madelyn |title=Students and teachers of the new China: thirteen interviews |date=2008 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-3288-2 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=lJK-GRriJAoC 185]}} However, the Great Leap Forward, an idealistic massive industrialization project, resulted in an estimated 15 to 55 million deaths between 1959 and 1961, mostly from starvation.{{Cite news |last=Mirsky |first=Jonathan |date=9 December 2012 |title=Unnatural Disaster |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/books/review/tombstone-the-great-chinese-famine-1958-1962-by-yang-jisheng.html?nl=books&emc=edit_bk_20121207 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121211072252/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/books/review/tombstone-the-great-chinese-famine-1958-1962-by-yang-jisheng.html?nl=books&emc=edit_bk_20121207 |archive-date=11 December 2012 |access-date=7 December 2012 |work=The New York Times}}{{Cite book |last=Holmes |first=Leslie |title=Communism: A Very Short Introduction |date=2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-1995-5154-5 |page=32 |quote=Most estimates of the number of Chinese dead are in the range of 15 to 30 million.}} In 1964, China detonated its first atomic bomb.{{Cite web |title=1964: China's first atomic bomb explodes |url=http://www.china.org.cn/english/congress/228244.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322065350/http://www.china.org.cn/english/congress/228244.htm |archive-date=22 March 2023 |access-date=18 February 2023 |website=china.org.cn}} In 1966, Mao and his allies launched the Cultural Revolution, sparking a decade of political recrimination and social upheaval that lasted until Mao's death in 1976. In October 1971, the PRC replaced the ROC in the United Nations, and took its seat as a permanent member of the Security Council.{{Cite book |last=Kao |first=Michael Y. M. |title=Taiwan in a Time of Transition |date=1988 |publisher=Paragon House |editor-last=Feldman |editor-first=Harvey |page=188 |chapter=Taiwan's and Beijing's Campaigns for Unification |editor-last2=Kao |editor-first2=Michael Y. M. |editor-last3=Kim |editor-first3=Ilpyong J.}}

{{Main|History of the People's Republic of China (1976–1989)|History of the People's Republic of China (1989–2002)|History of the People's Republic of China (2002–present)}}

File:Události na náměstí Tian an men, Čína 1989, foto Jiří Tondl.jpg was ended by a military-led massacre.]]

After Mao's death, the Gang of Four were arrested by Hua Guofeng and held responsible for the Cultural Revolution. The Cultural Revolution was rebuked, with millions rehabilitated. Deng Xiaoping took power in 1978, and instituted large-scale political and economic reforms, together with the "Eight Elders", most senior and influential members of the party. The government loosened its control and the communes were gradually disbanded.{{Cite book |last1=Hamrin |first1=Carol Lee |title=Decision-making in Deng's China: Perspectives from Insiders |last2=Zhao |first2=Suisheng |date=15 January 1995 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |isbn=978-0-7656-3694-2 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=MySp8yumuJ4C&q=boluan+fanzheng&pg=PA32 32]}} Agricultural collectivization was dismantled and farmlands privatized. While foreign trade became a major focus, special economic zones (SEZs) were created. Inefficient state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were restructured and some closed. This marked China's transition away from planned economy.{{Cite book |last1=Hart-Landsberg |first1=Martin |title=China and Socialism: Market Reforms and Class Struggle |last2=Burkett |first2=Paul |date=March 2005 |publisher=Monthly Review Press |isbn=978-1-5836-7123-8}} ({{cite journal |title=Review |journal=Monthly Review |date=28 February 2001 |url=http://www.monthlyreview.org/chinaandsocialism.htm |access-date=30 October 2008 |archive-date=5 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105220123/http://monthlyreview.org/chinaandsocialism.htm |url-status=live}}) China adopted its current constitution on 4 December 1982.{{Cite web |title=Primary Source Document with Questions (DBQs) CONSTITUTION OF THE PEOPLE ' S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (1982) |url=https://afe.easia.columbia.edu/ps/china/prc_constitution.pdf |publisher=Columbia College}}

In 1989, there were protests such those in Tiananmen Square, and then throughout the entire nation.{{Cite web |last=Harding |first=Harry |date=December 1990 |title=The Impact of Tiananmen on China's Foreign Policy |url=http://www.nbr.org/publications/element.aspx?id=73 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140404193656/http://www.nbr.org/publications/element.aspx?id=73 |archive-date=4 April 2014 |access-date=28 November 2013 |publisher=National Bureau of Asian Research}} Jiang Zemin was elevated to become the CCP general secretary, becoming the paramount leader. Jiang continued economic reforms, closing many SOEs and trimming down "iron rice bowl" (life-tenure positions).{{Cite news |date=30 November 2022 |title=Jiang Zemin, who guided China's economic rise, dies |url=https://apnews.com/article/china-beijing-hong-kong-obituaries-jiang-zemin-4ee4c5dcaf567e02efa3c5c7186af30a |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230403160544/https://apnews.com/article/china-beijing-hong-kong-obituaries-jiang-zemin-4ee4c5dcaf567e02efa3c5c7186af30a |archive-date=3 April 2023 |access-date=30 November 2022 |work=Associated Press}}{{Cite news |date=13 September 1997 |title=China Gets Down to Business at Party Congress |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-sep-13-mn-31787-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221018190108/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-sep-13-mn-31787-story.html |archive-date=18 October 2022 |access-date=12 January 2020 |work=Los Angeles Times}}{{Cite book |last=Vogel |first=Ezra |author-link=Ezra Vogel |title=Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China |date=2011 |publisher=Belknap Press |isbn=978-0-6747-2586-7 |page=682}} China's economy grew sevenfold during this time. British Hong Kong and Portuguese Macau returned to China in 1997 and 1999, respectively, as special administrative regions under the principle of one country, two systems. The country joined the World Trade Organization in 2001.File:One-belt-one-road.svg and related projects]]At the 16th CCP National Congress in 2002, Hu Jintao succeeded Jiang as the general secretary. Under Hu, China maintained its high rate of economic growth, overtaking the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan to become the world's second-largest economy.{{Cite news |last=Orlik |first=Tom |date=16 November 2012 |title=Charting China's Economy: A Decade Under Hu Jintao |url=http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/11/16/charting-chinas-economy-10-years-under-hu-jintao |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221121820/http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/11/16/charting-chinas-economy-10-years-under-hu-jintao |archive-date=21 December 2016 |access-date=16 May 2023 |work=The Wall Street Journal}} However, the growth also severely impacted the country's resources and environment,{{Cite news |last1=Carter |first1=Shan |last2=Cox |first2=Amanda |last3=Burgess |first3=Joe |last4=Aigner |first4=Erin |date=26 August 2007 |title=China's Environmental Crisis |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2007/08/26/world/asia/20070826_CHINA_GRAPHIC.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120116170904/http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2007/08/26/world/asia/20070826_CHINA_GRAPHIC.html |archive-date=16 January 2012 |access-date=16 May 2012 |work=The New York Times}}{{Cite news |last=Griffiths |first=Daniel |date=16 April 2004 |title=China worried over pace of growth |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4913622.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201118160813/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4913622.stm |archive-date=18 November 2020 |access-date=16 April 2006 |work=BBC News}} and caused major social displacement.[https://migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/more.php?id=3166 China: Migrants, Students, Taiwan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227094542/https://migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/more.php?id=3166 |date=27 December 2016}} UC Davis Migration News January 2006{{Cite news |last=Cody |first=Edward |date=28 January 2006 |title=In Face of Rural Unrest, China Rolls Out Reforms |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/27/AR2006012701588.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014065549/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/27/AR2006012701588.html |archive-date=14 October 2017 |access-date=18 January 2020 |newspaper=The Washington Post}} Xi Jinping succeeded Hu as paramount leader at the 18th CCP National Congress in 2012. Shortly after his ascension to power, Xi launched a vast anti-corruption crackdown,{{Cite news |date=20 March 2018 |title=China's anti-corruption campaign expands with new agency |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-43453769 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190924060145/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-43453769 |archive-date=24 September 2019 |access-date=13 September 2019 |publisher=BBC News}} that prosecuted more than 2 million officials by 2022.{{Cite book |last1=Marquis |first1=Christopher |author-link=Christopher Marquis |title=Mao and Markets: The Communist Roots of Chinese Enterprise |last2=Qiao |first2=Kunyuan |date=15 November 2022 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-3002-6883-6 |doi=10.2307/j.ctv3006z6k |jstor=j.ctv3006z6k |s2cid=253067190}} During his tenure, Xi has consolidated power unseen since the initiation of economic and political reforms.{{Cite news |last=Wingfield-Hayes |first=Rupert |date=23 October 2022 |title=Xi Jinping's party is just getting started |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-63225277 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317004249/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-63225277 |archive-date=17 March 2023 |access-date=23 October 2022 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}

{{Main|Geography of China}}

File:East Asia topographic map.png of China]]

China's landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from the Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts in the arid north to the 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 {{cvt|14500|km}} long and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas. China connects through the Kazakh border to the Eurasian Steppe.

The territory of China lies between latitudes 18° and 54° N, and longitudes 73° and 135° E. The geographical center of China is marked by the Center of the Country Monument at {{coord|35|50|40.9|N|103|27|7.5|E|region:CN-62_type:landmark|name=Geographical center of China}}. China's landscapes vary significantly across its vast territory. 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 (8,848 m), lies on the Sino-Nepalese border.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8608913.stm|title=Nepal and China agree on Mount Everest's height|date=8 April 2010|work=BBC News|access-date=18 January 2020|archive-date=12 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712190003/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8608913.stm|url-status=live}} The country's lowest point, and the world's third-lowest, is the dried lake bed of Ayding Lake (−154 m) in the Turpan Depression.{{cite web |date=28 February 2015 |title=Lowest Places on Earth |url=http://www.nps.gov/deva/naturescience/lowest-places-on-earth.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150207222858/http://www.nps.gov/deva/naturescience/lowest-places-on-earth.htm |archive-date=7 February 2015 |access-date=2 December 2013 |website=National Park Service |publisher=}}

{{Main|Climate of China}}

{{Further|Great Green Wall (China)}}

File:Koppen-Geiger Map CHN present.svg map for mainland China{{cite journal|last1=Beck|first1=Hylke E.|last2=Zimmermann|first2=Niklaus E.|last3=McVicar|first3=Tim R.|last4=Vergopolan|first4=Noemi|last5=Berg|first5=Alexis|author6-link=Eric Franklin Wood|last6=Wood|first6=Eric F.|title=Present and future Köppen-Geiger climate classification maps at 1-km resolution|journal=Scientific Data|date=30 October 2018|volume=5|page=180214|doi=10.1038/sdata.2018.214|pmid=30375988|pmc=6207062|bibcode=2018NatSD...580214B}}]]

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.{{cite book|title=Regional Climate Studies of China|date=2008|publisher=Springer|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=SEO_RyNDJ0gC&pg=PA1 1]|isbn=978-3-5407-9242-0}}

A major environmental issue in China is the continued expansion of its deserts, particularly the Gobi Desert.{{cite news |date=17 April 2006 |title=Beijing hit by eighth sandstorm |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4915690.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090101023529/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4915690.stm |archive-date=1 January 2009 |access-date=21 January 2020 |work=BBC News}} 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 Japan and Korea. 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.{{cite news |last=Reilly |first=Michael |date=24 November 2008 |title=Himalaya glaciers melting much faster |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna27894721 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023184210/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/27894721/ |archive-date=23 October 2020 |access-date=21 September 2011 |work=NBC News |publisher=}} According to academics, in order to limit climate change in China to {{cvt|1.5|C-change}} electricity generation from coal in China without carbon capture must be phased out by 2045.{{cite report|date=December 2020|title=China's New Growth Pathway: From the 14th Five-Year Plan to Carbon Neutrality|url=https://www.efchina.org/Attachments/Report/report-lceg-20201210/Full-Report_Synthesis-Report-2020-on-Chinas-Carbon-Neutrality_EN.pdf|page=24|publisher=Energy Foundation China|access-date=16 December 2020|archive-date=16 April 2021|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416100821/https://www.efchina.org/Attachments/Report/report-lceg-20201210/Full-Report_Synthesis-Report-2020-on-Chinas-Carbon-Neutrality_EN.pdf}} With current policies, the GHG emissions of China will probably peak in 2025, and by 2030 they will return to 2022 levels. However, such pathway still leads to three-degree temperature rise.{{cite web |last1=Lui |first1=Swithin |title=Guest post: Why China is set to significantly overachieve its 2030 climate goals |url=https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-why-china-is-set-to-significantly-overachieve-its-2030-climate-goals |website=Carbon Brief |date=19 May 2022 |access-date=24 May 2022 |archive-date=23 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523114439/https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-why-china-is-set-to-significantly-overachieve-its-2030-climate-goals |url-status=live}}

Official government statistics about Chinese agricultural productivity are considered unreliable, due to exaggeration of production at subsidiary government levels.Chow, Gregory (2006) Are Chinese Official Statistics Reliable? CESifo Economic Studies 52. 396–414. 10.1093/cesifo/ifl003.{{cite journal |vauthors=Liu G, Wang X, Baiocchi G, Casazza M, Meng F, Cai Y, Hao Y, Wu F, Yang Z |date=October 2020 |title=On the accuracy of official Chinese crop production data: Evidence from biophysical indexes of net primary production |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=117|issue=41|pages=25434–25444 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1919850117|pmc=7568317|pmid=32978301 |bibcode=2020PNAS..11725434L |doi-access=free}} Much of China has a climate very suitable for agriculture and the country has been the world's largest producer of rice, wheat, tomatoes, eggplant, grapes, watermelon, spinach, and many other crops.{{cite web|title=Countries by commodity|website=FAOSTAT|url=http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#rankings/countries_by_commodity|access-date=16 January 2020|archive-date=29 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200629173611/http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#rankings/countries_by_commodity|url-status=live}} In 2021, 12 percent of global permanent meadows and pastures belonged to China, as well as 8% of global cropland.{{Cite book |title=World Food and Agriculture – Statistical Yearbook 2023 |place=Rome |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |url=https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en?details=cc8166en |access-date=13 December 2023 |date=2023 |language=en |doi=10.4060/cc8166en |isbn=978-9-2513-8262-2 |archive-date=15 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215161116/https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en?details=cc8166en |url-status=live}}

{{Main|Wildlife of China}}

File:Giant Panda Eating.jpg, China's most famous endangered and endemic species, at the Chengdu Panda Base in Sichuan]]

China is one of 17 megadiverse countries,{{cite web |url=http://www.environment.gov.au/soe/2001/publications/theme-reports/biodiversity/biodiversity01-3.html|title=Biodiversity Theme Report|last=Williams|first=Jann|date=10 December 2009|website=Environment.gov.au|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811045957/http://www.environment.gov.au/soe/2001/publications/theme-reports/biodiversity/biodiversity01-3.html|archive-date=11 August 2011|access-date=27 April 2010}} lying in two of the world's major biogeographic realms: the Palearctic and the Indomalayan. 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.[http://rainforests.mongabay.com/03highest_biodiversity.htm Countries with the Highest Biological Diversity] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130326060253/http://rainforests.mongabay.com/03highest_biodiversity.htm|date=26 March 2013}}. Mongabay.com. 2004 data. Retrieved 24 April 2013. The country is a party to the Convention on Biological Diversity;{{cite web|url=https://www.cbd.int/countries/?country=cn|title=Country Profiles – China|website=Convention on Biological Diversity|access-date=9 December 2012|archive-date=9 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231209085157/https://www.cbd.int/countries/?country=cn|url-status=live}} its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan was received by the convention in 2010.{{cite web |url=http://www.cbd.int/doc/world/cn/cn-nbsap-v2-zh.pdf |title=translation: China Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and Action Plan. Years 2011–2030|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.cbd.int/doc/world/cn/cn-nbsap-v2-zh.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live|website=Convention on Biological Diversity|access-date=9 December 2012}}

China is home to at least 551 species of mammals (the third-highest in the world),[http://www.iucnredlist.org/initiatives/mammals/analysis/geographic-patterns IUCN Initiatives – Mammals – Analysis of Data – Geographic Patterns 2012] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512150801/http://www.iucnredlist.org/initiatives/mammals/analysis/geographic-patterns|date=12 May 2013}}. IUCN. Retrieved 24 April 2013. Data does not include species in Taiwan. 1,221 species of birds (eighth),[http://rainforests.mongabay.com/03birds.htm Countries with the most bird species] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130216152146/http://rainforests.mongabay.com/03birds.htm|date=16 February 2013}}. Mongabay.com. 2004 data. Retrieved 24 April 2013. 424 species of reptiles (seventh)[http://rainforests.mongabay.com/03reptiles.htm Countries with the most reptile species] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130216152129/http://rainforests.mongabay.com/03reptiles.htm |date=16 February 2013}}. Mongabay.com. 2004 data. Retrieved 24 April 2013. and 333 species of amphibians (seventh).[http://www.iucnredlist.org/initiatives/amphibians/analysis/geographic-patterns#diversity IUCN Initiatives – Amphibians – Analysis of Data – Geographic Patterns 2012] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512145131/http://www.iucnredlist.org/initiatives/amphibians/analysis/geographic-patterns|date=12 May 2013}}. IUCN. Retrieved 24 April 2013. Data does not include species in Taiwan. Wildlife in China shares habitat with, and bears acute pressure from, one of the world's largest population of humans. At least 840 animal species are threatened, vulnerable or in danger of local extinction, due mainly to human activity such as habitat destruction, pollution and poaching for food, fur and traditional Chinese medicine.[http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/infographic-top-20-countries-with-most-endangered-species Top 20 countries with most endangered species IUCN Red List] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130424182826/http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/infographic-top-20-countries-with-most-endangered-species|date=24 April 2013}}. 5 March 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2013. Endangered wildlife is protected by law, and {{As of|2005|lc=y}}, 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/Brief/193257.htm|title=Nature Reserves|website=China Internet Information Center |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101115063105/http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/Brief/193257.htm |archive-date=15 November 2010|access-date=2 December 2013}} Most wild animals have been eliminated from the core agricultural regions of east and central China, but they have fared better in the mountainous south and west.{{cite journal|last1=Turvey|first1=Samuel|date=2013|title=Holocene survival of Late Pleistocene megafauna in China: a critical review of the evidence|journal=Quaternary Science Reviews|volume=76|pages=156–166|doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.06.030|bibcode=2013QSRv...76..156T}}{{cite journal|last1=Lander|first1=Brian|last2=Brunson|first2=Katherine|date=2018 |title=Wild Mammals of Ancient North China|journal=The Journal of Chinese History|publisher=Cambridge University Press |volume=2|issue=2|pages=291–312|doi=10.1017/jch.2017.45|s2cid=90662935}} The Baiji was confirmed extinct on 12 December 2006.{{cite book|last1=Turvey|first1=Samuel|title=Witness to Extinction: How we failed to save the Yangtze River dolphin |date=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press}}

China has over 32,000 species of vascular plants,[http://rainforests.mongabay.com/03plants.htm Countries with the most vascular plant species] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140112001508/http://rainforests.mongabay.com/03plants.htm|date=12 January 2014}}. Mongabay.com. 2004 data. Retrieved 24 April 2013. 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 understory 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 a high density of plant species including numerous rare endemics. Tropical and seasonal rainforests, though confined to Yunnan and Hainan, contain a quarter of all the animal and plant species found in China.{{cite book|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=dA_QbQiZkB4C&pg=PA1213 1213]|title=China|publisher=Rough Guides|date=2003|isbn=978-1-8435-3019-0|edition=3}} China has over 10,000 recorded species of fungi.{{cite book|title=Conservation Biology: Voices from the Tropics|date=2013|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=OeqjKhDml6wC&pg=PA208 208] |isbn=978-1-1186-7981-4}}

{{Main|Environment of China|Environmental issues in China}}

{{See also|Renewable energy in China|Water resources of China|Energy policy of China|Climate change in China}}

File:ThreeGorgesDam-China2009.jpg is the largest hydroelectric dam in the world.]]

In the early 2000s, China has suffered from environmental deterioration and pollution due to its rapid pace of industrialization.{{Cite book |last1=Ma |first1=Xiaoying |title=Environmental Regulation in China |last2=Ortalano |first2=Leonard |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |date=2000 |isbn=978-0-8476-9399-3 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=eQTbZRWgC74C&pg=PA1 1] |language=en}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-21545868|title=China acknowledges 'cancer villages'|date=22 February 2013|publisher=BBC News|access-date=23 February 2013|archive-date=21 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240321002451/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-21545868|url-status=live}} Regulations such as the 1979 Environmental Protection Law are fairly stringent, though they are poorly enforced, frequently disregarded in favor of rapid economic development.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-20114306|title=Riot police and protesters clash over China chemical plant|last=Soekov|first=Kimberley|date=28 October 2012|publisher=BBC News|access-date=18 January 2020|archive-date=10 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410202328/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-20114306|url-status=live}} China has the second-highest death toll because of air pollution, after India, with approximately 1 million deaths.{{cite web |date=15 February 2016 |title=Is air quality in China a social problem? |url=https://chinapower.csis.org/air-quality |access-date=26 March 2020 |website=Center for Strategic and International Studies |publisher=ChinaPower Project |archive-date=26 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200326081416/https://chinapower.csis.org/air-quality |url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.who.int/phe/publications/air-pollution-global-assessment/en/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160928165031/http://www.who.int/phe/publications/air-pollution-global-assessment/en/|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 September 2016|title=Ambient air pollution: A global assessment of exposure and burden of disease|website=World Health Organization|access-date=28 April 2018}} Although China ranks as the highest List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions country,{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iea-emissions-idUSBRE95908S20130610|title=Global carbon emissions hit record high in 2012 |last=Chestney|first=Nina|date=10 June 2013|work=Reuters|access-date=3 November 2013|archive-date=19 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131119111939/http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/10/us-iea-emissions-idUSBRE95908S20130610 |url-status=live}} it only emits 8 tons of List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita, significantly lower than developed countries such as the United States (16.1), Australia (16.8) and South Korea (13.6).{{cite web|date=August 2020|title=Each Country's Share of CO2 Emissions|url=https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/each-countrys-share-co2-emissions|access-date=30 October 2020|website=Union of Concerned Scientists|archive-date=15 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191015184639/https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/each-countrys-share-co2-emissions|url-status=live}} Greenhouse gas emissions by China are the world's largest. The country has significant water pollution problems; only 89.4% of China's national surface water was graded suitable for human consumption by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment in 2023.{{Cite web |date=25 June 2024 |title=2023 State of Ecology & Environment Report Review |url=https://chinawaterrisk.org/resources/analysis-reviews/2023-state-of-ecology-environment-report-review/ |access-date=18 October 2024 |website=China Water Risk}}

China has prioritized clamping down on pollution, bringing a significant decrease in air pollution in the 2010s.{{Cite news |last1=Jayaram |first1=Kripa |last2=Kay |first2=Chris |last3=Murtaugh |first3=Dan |date=14 June 2022 |title=China Reduced Air Pollution in 7 Years as Much as US Did in Three Decades |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-14/china-s-clean-air-campaign-is-bringing-down-global-pollution |access-date=13 January 2024 |work=Bloomberg News |archive-date=7 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107054008/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-14/china-s-clean-air-campaign-is-bringing-down-global-pollution |url-status=live}} In 2020, the Chinese government announced its aims for the country to reach its peak emissions levels before 2030, and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 in line with the Paris Agreement,{{cite web |date=23 September 2020 |title=China going carbon neutral before 2060 would lower warming projections by around 0.2 to 0.3 degrees C |url=https://climateactiontracker.org/press/china-carbon-neutral-before-2060-would-lower-warming-projections-by-around-2-to-3-tenths-of-a-degree |access-date=27 September 2020 |website=Climate Action Tracker |archive-date=11 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240211205338/https://climateactiontracker.org/press/china-carbon-neutral-before-2060-would-lower-warming-projections-by-around-2-to-3-tenths-of-a-degree |url-status=live}} which, according to Climate Action Tracker, would lower the expected rise in global temperature by 0.2–0.3 degrees – "the biggest single reduction ever estimated by the Climate Action Tracker". According to China's government, the forest coverage of the country grew from 10% of the overall territory in 1949 to 25% in 2024.{{cite news |date=29 November 2024 |title=China completes 3,000-km green belt around its biggest desert, state media says |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/china-completes-3-000-km-112549261.html |access-date=8 December 2024 |work=Reuters |publisher= |agency=Yahoo}}

China is the world's leading investor in renewable energy and its commercialization, with $546 billion invested in 2022;{{Cite news |last=Schonhardt |first=Sara |date=30 January 2023 |title=China Invests $546 Billion in Clean Energy, Far Surpassing the U.S. |work=Scientific American |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/china-invests-546-billion-in-clean-energy-far-surpassing-the-u-s/#:~:text=The%20country%20spent%20%24546%20billion,billion%20in%20clean%20energy%20investments. |access-date=19 May 2023 |archive-date=19 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230519125528/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/china-invests-546-billion-in-clean-energy-far-surpassing-the-u-s/#:~:text=The%20country%20spent%20%24546%20billion,billion%20in%20clean%20energy%20investments. |url-status=live}} it is a major manufacturer of renewable energy technologies and invests heavily in local-scale renewable energy projects.{{cite news |last=Meng |first=Meng |date=5 January 2017 |title=China to plow $361 billion into renewable fuel by 2020 |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-energy-renewables/china-to-plow-361-billion-into-renewable-fuel-by-2020-idUSKBN14P06P |access-date=28 May 2018 |archive-date=27 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727074912/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-energy-renewables/china-to-plow-361-billion-into-renewable-fuel-by-2020-idUSKBN14P06P |url-status=live}} Long heavily relying on non-renewable energy sources such as coal, China's adaptation of renewable energy has increased significantly in recent years, with their share increasing from 26.3 percent in 2016 to 31.9 percent in 2022.{{Cite news |last=Maguire |first=Gavin |date=23 November 2022 |title=Column: China on track to hit new clean & dirty power records in 2022 |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/china-track-hit-new-clean-dirty-power-records-2022-maguire-2022-11-23 |access-date=15 May 2023 |work=Reuters |archive-date=16 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230416175101/https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/china-track-hit-new-clean-dirty-power-records-2022-maguire-2022-11-23 |url-status=live}} In 2023, 60.5% of China's electricity came from coal (largest producer in the world), 13.2% from hydroelectric power (largest), 9.4% from wind (largest), 6.2% from solar energy (largest), 4.6% from nuclear energy (second-largest), 3.3% from natural gas (fifth-largest), and 2.2% from bioenergy (largest); in total, 31% of China's energy came from renewable energy sources.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=8 May 2024 |title=Global Electricity Review 2024: Analysis of key power sector emitters in 2023 |url=https://ember-climate.org/insights/research/global-electricity-review-2024/major-countries-and-regions |access-date=21 May 2024 |website=Ember}} Despite its emphasis on renewables, China remains deeply connected to global oil markets and next to India, has been the largest importer of Russian crude oil in 2022.{{Cite web |last=Perkins |first=Robert |date=7 October 2022 |title=Russian seaborne crude exports slide to 12-month low as EU ban, price caps loom |url=https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en/market-insights/latest-news/oil/072022-russian-seaborne-crude-exports-retreat-from-three-year-highs-shipping-data |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221014053951/https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en/market-insights/latest-news/oil/072022-russian-seaborne-crude-exports-retreat-from-three-year-highs-shipping-data |archive-date=14 October 2022 |website=S&P Global}}{{cite web |last=International Energy Agency |author-link=International Energy Agency |date=24 February 2022 |title=Oil Market and Russian Supply – Russian supplies to global energy markets |url=https://www.iea.org/reports/russian-supplies-to-global-energy-markets/oil-market-and-russian-supply-2 |access-date=27 April 2022 |publisher=IEA |archive-date=16 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116162235/https://www.iea.org/reports/russian-supplies-to-global-energy-markets/oil-market-and-russian-supply-2 |url-status=live}}

{{Main|Borders of China|Coastline of China|Territorial changes of the People's Republic of China}}China is the third-largest country in the world by land area after Russia, and the third- or fourth-largest country in the world by total area.{{efn|According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, the total area of the United States, at {{convert|9522055|km2|sqmi|abbr=on|sp=us}}, 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 {{convert|9372610|km2|sqmi|abbr=on|sp=us}} (land area plus inland water only). The listed total area changed to {{convert|9629091|km2|sqmi|abbr=on|sp=us}} in 1997 (with the Great Lakes areas and the coastal waters added), to {{convert|9631418|km2|sqmi|abbr=on|sp=us}} in 2004, to {{convert|9631420|km2|sqmi|abbr=on|sp=us}} in 2006, and to {{convert|9826630|km2|sqmi|abbr=on|sp=us}} in 2007 (territorial waters added).}} China's total area is generally stated as being approximately {{convert|9600000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on|sp=us}}.{{cite journal|last1=Ma|first1=Jin Shuang|last2=Liu|first2=Quan Riu|title=The Present Situation and Prospects of Plant Taxonomy in China|journal=Taxon|volume=47|number=1|date=February 1998|pages=67–74|publisher=Wiley|doi=10.2307/1224020|jstor=1224020|bibcode=1998Taxon..47...67M }} Specific area figures range from {{convert|9572900|km2|sqmi|abbr=on|sp=us}} according to the Encyclopædia Britannica, to {{convert|9596961|km2|sqmi|abbr=on|sp=us}} according to the UN Demographic Yearbook, and The World Factbook.{{Cite CIA World Factbook|country=China|access-date=23 November 2013}}File:China administrative.png.]]China has the longest combined land border in the world, measuring {{convert|22117|km|mi|abbr=on|sp=us}} and its coastline covers approximately {{convert|14500|km|mi|abbr=on|sp=us}} from the mouth of the Yalu River (Amnok River) to the Gulf of Tonkin. China borders 14 nations and covers the bulk of East Asia, bordering Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar in Southeast Asia; India, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan{{efn|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.}} and Afghanistan in South Asia; Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in Central Asia; and Russia, Mongolia, and North Korea in Inner Asia and Northeast Asia. It is narrowly separated from Bangladesh and Thailand to the southwest and south, and has several maritime neighbors such as Japan, Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia.{{cite journal|last=Wei|first=Yuwa|title=China and ITS Neighbors |volume=22|number=1|date=2014|pages=105–136|publisher=Willamette University College of Law|journal=Willamette Journal of International Law and Dispute Resolution|jstor=26210500}}

China has resolved its land borders with 12 out of 14 neighboring countries, having pursued substantial compromises in most of them.{{cite web |title=Groundless to view China as expansionist, says Beijing after PM Modi's Ladakh visit |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/groundless-to-view-china-as-expansionist-says-beijing-after-pm-modi-s-ladakh-visit-1696727-2020-07-03 |access-date=13 August 2020 |website=India Today |date=3 July 2020 |archive-date=10 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810133156/https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/groundless-to-view-china-as-expansionist-says-beijing-after-pm-modi-s-ladakh-visit-1696727-2020-07-03 |url-status=live}}{{Cite journal |last=Fravel |first=M. Taylor |author-link=Taylor Fravel |date=1 October 2005 |title=Regime Insecurity and International Cooperation: Explaining China's Compromises in Territorial Disputes |journal=International Security |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=46–83 |doi=10.1162/016228805775124534 |s2cid=56347789}}{{Cite book |last=Fravel |first=M. Taylor |title=Strong Borders, Secure Nation: Cooperation and Conflict in China's Territorial Disputes |publisher=Princeton University Press |date=2008 |isbn=978-0-6911-3609-7 |author-link=Taylor Fravel}} China currently has a disputed land border with India{{Cite news |date=14 December 2022 |title=India-China dispute: The border row explained in 400 words |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-53062484 |access-date=16 May 2023 |publisher=BBC News |archive-date=20 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220420180958/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-53062484 |url-status=live}} and Bhutan.{{Cite news |date=26 April 2023 |title=Bhutan wants a border deal with China: Will India accept? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-65396384 |access-date=16 May 2023 |publisher=BBC News |archive-date=15 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230515174751/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-65396384 |url-status=live}} China is additionally involved in maritime disputes with multiple countries over territory in the East and South China Seas, such as the Senkaku Islands and the entirety of South China Sea Islands.{{Cite news |date=12 May 2012 |title=China denies preparing war over South China Sea shoal |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-18045383 |access-date=16 January 2020 |publisher=BBC News |archive-date=7 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200207111212/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-18045383 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |date=27 November 2013 |title=How uninhabited islands soured China-Japan ties |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11341139 |access-date=16 January 2020 |publisher=BBC News |archive-date=10 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180710120934/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11341139 |url-status=live}}

{{Main|Politics of China}}

{{See also|List of current Chinese provincial leaders}}

{{multiple image

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| caption1 = The Great Hall of the People
where the National People's Congress convenes

| image2 = Lascar Xinhua Gate (Xinhuamen) (4497575335).jpg

| caption2 = The Zhongnanhai, headquarters of the Chinese government and Chinese Communist Party

}}

The People's Republic of China is a one-party state governed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The CCP describes itself as guided by socialism with Chinese characteristics, which is Marxism adapted to Chinese circumstances.{{Cite news |date=5 January 2013 |title=Xi reiterates adherence to socialism with Chinese characteristics |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-01/05/c_132082389.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201174945/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-01/05/c_132082389.htm |archive-date=1 February 2016 |access-date=14 January 2020 |agency=Xinhua News Agency}} The Chinese constitution states that the PRC "is a socialist state governed by a people's democratic dictatorship that is led by the working class and based on an alliance of workers and peasants", that the state institutions "shall practice the principle of democratic centralism",{{Cite web |date=20 November 2019 |title=Constitution of the People's Republic of China |url=http://www.npc.gov.cn/englishnpc/constitution2019/201911/1f65146fb6104dd3a2793875d19b5b29.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230702212731/http://www.npc.gov.cn/englishnpc/constitution2019/201911/1f65146fb6104dd3a2793875d19b5b29.shtml |archive-date=2 July 2023 |access-date=20 March 2021 |website=National People's Congress}} and that "the defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party."{{Cite web |last=Wei |first=Changhao |date=11 March 2018 |title=Annotated Translation: 2018 Amendment to the P.R.C. Constitution (Version 2.0) |url=https://npcobserver.com/2018/03/11/translation-2018-amendment-to-the-p-r-c-constitution |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181222125439/https://npcobserver.com/2018/03/11/translation-2018-amendment-to-the-p-r-c-constitution |archive-date=22 December 2018 |access-date=22 August 2019 |website=NPC Observer}}

The PRC officially terms itself as a democracy, using terms such as whole-process people's democracy. However, the country is commonly described as an authoritarian one-party state and a dictatorship,{{Cite book |last=Ringen |first=Stein |author-link=Stein Ringen |title=The Perfect Dictatorship: China in the 21st Century |date=2016 |publisher=Hong Kong University Press |isbn=978-9-8882-0893-7 |page=3}}{{Cite news |last1=Qian |first1=Isabelle |last2=Xiao |first2=Muyi |last3=Mozur |first3=Paul |last4=Cardia |first4=Alexander |date=21 June 2022 |title=Four Takeaways From a Times Investigation Into China's Expanding Surveillance State |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/21/world/asia/china-surveillance-investigation.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116110333/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/21/world/asia/china-surveillance-investigation.html |archive-date=16 January 2023 |access-date=23 July 2022 |work=The New York Times}} with among the heaviest restrictions worldwide in many areas, most notably against freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, free formation of social organizations, freedom of religion and free access to the Internet.{{Cite news |date=2024 |title=Freedom in the World 2024: China |url=https://freedomhouse.org/country/china/freedom-world/2024 |access-date=5 April 2024 |work=Freedom House}} China has consistently been ranked amongst the lowest as an "authoritarian regime" by the Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index, ranking at 145th out of 167 countries in 2024.{{Cite news |date=27 February 2025 |title=The global democracy index: how did countries perform in 2024? |url=https://www.economist.com/interactive/democracy-index-2024 |access-date=27 February 2025 |newspaper=The Economist}} Other sources suggest that terming China as "authoritarian" does not sufficiently account for the multiple consultation mechanisms that exist in Chinese government.{{Cite book |last=Laikwan |first=Pang |title=One and All: The Logic of Chinese Sovereignty |date=2024 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-1-5036-3881-5 |location=Stanford, CA |pages=1}}

{{Main|Chinese Communist Party}}

File:18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.jpg is the founding and governing political party of the People's Republic of China.]]

According to the CCP constitution, its highest body is the National Congress held every five years.{{Cite news |last=Ruwitch |first=John |date=13 October 2022 |title=China's major party congress is set to grant Xi Jinping a 3rd term. And that's not all |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/10/13/1124553497/china-communist-party-congress-xi-jinping |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221014193045/https://www.npr.org/2022/10/13/1124553497/china-communist-party-congress-xi-jinping |archive-date=14 October 2022 |access-date=15 October 2022 |work=NPR}} The National Congress elects the Central Committee, who then elects the party's Politburo, Politburo Standing Committee and the general secretary (party leader), the top leadership of the country. The general secretary holds ultimate power and authority over party and state and serves as the informal paramount leader.{{Cite news |last=Hernández |first=Javier C. |date=25 October 2017 |title=China's 'Chairman of Everything': Behind Xi Jinping's Many Titles |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/25/world/asia/china-xi-jinping-titles-chairman.html |url-access=limited |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171025074641/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/25/world/asia/china-xi-jinping-titles-chairman.html |archive-date=25 October 2017 |access-date=14 January 2020 |work=The New York Times |quote=Mr. Xi's most important title is general secretary, the most powerful position in the Communist Party. In China's one party system, this ranking gives him virtually unchecked authority over the government.}} The current general secretary is Xi Jinping, who took office on 15 November 2012.{{Cite news |last=Phillips |first=Tom |date=24 October 2017 |title=Xi Jinping becomes most powerful leader since Mao with China's change to constitution |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/24/xi-jinping-mao-thought-on-socialism-china-constitution |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024053607/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/24/xi-jinping-mao-thought-on-socialism-china-constitution |archive-date=24 October 2017 |access-date=24 October 2017 |work=The Guardian}} At the local level, the secretary of the CCP committee of a subdivision outranks the local government level; CCP committee secretary of a provincial division outranks the governor while the CCP committee secretary of a city outranks the mayor.{{Cite web |last1=Lawrence |first1=Susan V. |last2=Lee |first2=Mari Y. |date=24 November 2021 |title=China's Political System in Charts: A Snapshot Before the 20th Party Congress |url=https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46977 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616104006/https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46977 |archive-date=16 June 2022 |access-date=20 December 2022 |website=Congressional Research Service}}

{{Main|Government of China}}

{{See also|List of national leaders of the People's Republic of China}}

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| caption1 = Xi Jinping
CCP General Secretary

and President

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| image2 = 李强 Li Qiang 20221023.jpg

| caption2 = Li Qiang
Premier

| width2 = 120

| image3 = 赵乐际 Zhao Leji 20221023.jpg

| caption3 = Zhao Leji
Congress Chairman

| width3 = 122

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| image4 = 王沪宁 Wang Huning 20221023.jpg

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| caption4 = Wang Huning
CPPCC Chairman

}}

The government in China is under the sole control of the CCP.{{Cite news |last=Ma |first=Josephine |date=17 May 2021 |title=Party-state relations under China's Communist Party: separation of powers, control over government and reforms |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3133672/why-chinas-communist-party-inseparable-state |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528070726/https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3133672/why-chinas-communist-party-inseparable-state |archive-date=28 May 2023 |access-date=23 June 2023 |work=South China Morning Post}} The CCP controls appointments in government bodies, with most senior government officials being CCP members.

The National People's Congress (NPC), with nearly 3,000-members, is constitutionally the "highest organ of state power", though it has been also described as a "rubber stamp" body.{{Cite news |title=How China is Ruled: National People's Congress |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/china_politics/government/html/7.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200413113056/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/china_politics/government/html/7.stm |archive-date=13 April 2020 |access-date=14 July 2009 |publisher=BBC News}} The NPC meets annually, while the NPC Standing Committee, around 150 members elected from NPC delegates, meets every couple of months. Elections are indirect and not pluralistic, with nominations at all levels being controlled by the CCP.{{Cite web |date=4 February 2021 |title=Democracy |url=https://decodingchina.eu/democracy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816041118/https://decodingchina.eu/democracy |archive-date=16 August 2022 |access-date=22 August 2022 |website=Decoding China |publisher=Heidelberg University}} The NPC is dominated by the CCP, with another eight minor parties having nominal representation under the condition of upholding CCP leadership.{{Cite web |title=China: Nipped In The Bud – Background |url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/china/china009-01.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416135228/https://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/china/china009-01.htm |archive-date=16 April 2021 |access-date=18 March 2021 |website=Human Rights Watch}}

The president is elected by the NPC. The presidency is the ceremonial state representative, but not the constitutional head of state. The incumbent president is Xi Jinping, who is also the general secretary of the CCP and the chairman of the Central Military Commission, making him China's paramount leader and supreme commander of the Armed Forces. The premier is the head of government, with Li Qiang being the incumbent. The premier is officially nominated by the president and then elected by the NPC, and has generally been either the second- or third-ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC). The premier presides over the State Council, China's cabinet, composed of four vice premiers, state councilors, and the heads of ministries and commissions. The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is a political advisory body that is critical in China's "united front" system, which aims to gather non-CCP voices to support the CCP. Similar to the people's congresses, CPPCC's exist at various division, with the National Committee of the CPPCC being chaired by Wang Huning, fourth-ranking member of the PSC.{{Cite news |last=Tiezzi |first=Shannon |date=4 March 2021 |title=What Is the CPPCC Anyway? |url=https://thediplomat.com/2021/03/what-is-the-cppcc-anyway |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328020922/https://thediplomat.com/2021/03/what-is-the-cppcc-anyway |archive-date=28 March 2024 |access-date=21 August 2022 |work=The Diplomat}}

The governance of China is characterized by a high degree of political centralization but significant economic decentralization.{{Cite book |last=Jin |first=Keyu |author-link=Keyu Jin |title=The New China Playbook: Beyond Socialism and Capitalism |date=2023 |publisher=Viking |isbn=978-1-9848-7828-1}}{{Rp|page=7}} Policy instruments or processes are often tested locally before being applied more widely, resulting in a policy that involves experimentation and feedback.{{Cite book |last=Heilmann |first=Sebastian |author-link=Sebastian Heilmann |title=Red Swan: How Unorthodox Policy-Making Facilitated China's Rise |date=2018 |publisher=The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press |isbn=978-9-6299-6827-4}}{{Rp|page=14}} Generally, central government leadership refrains from drafting specific policies, instead using the informal networks and site visits to affirm or suggest changes to the direction of local policy experiments or pilot programs.{{Cite book |last=Brussee |first=Vincent |title=Social Credit: The Warring States of China's Emerging Data Empire |date=2023 |publisher=Palgrave MacMillan |isbn=978-9-8199-2188-1}}{{Rp|page=71}} The typical approach is that central government leadership begins drafting formal policies, law, or regulations after policy has been developed at local levels.{{Rp|page=71}}

{{Main|Administrative divisions of China|Districts of Hong Kong|Municipalities and parishes of Macau}}

The PRC is constitutionally a unitary state divided into 23 provinces,{{efn|The People's Republic of China claims the islands of Taiwan and Penghu, which it does not control, as its disputed 23rd province, i.e. Taiwan Province; along with Kinmen and Matsu Islands as part of Fujian Province. These are controlled by the Taipei-based Republic of China (ROC). See {{section link||Administrative divisions}} for more details.|name=TaiwanClaim}} five autonomous regions (each with a designated minority group), and four direct-administered municipalities—collectively referred to as "mainland China"—as well as the special administrative regions (SARs) of Hong Kong and Macau.{{Cite web |date=26 August 2014 |title=Administrative Division |url=http://english.www.gov.cn/archive/china_abc/2014/08/27/content_281474983873401.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220709144054/http://english.www.gov.cn/archive/china_abc/2014/08/27/content_281474983873401.htm |archive-date=9 July 2022 |access-date=19 December 2022 |website=State Council of the People's Republic of China}} The PRC 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, although all these territories are governed by the Republic of China (ROC).{{Cite book |last=Chang |first=Bi-yu |title=Place, Identity, and National Imagination in Post-war Taiwan |date=2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-3176-5812-2 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=hgaUBwAAQBAJ&q=9781317658122&pg=PA58 35–40, 46–60]}}{{Cite news |date=6 November 2015 |title=What's behind China-Taiwan tensions? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34729538 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151107103125/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34729538 |archive-date=7 November 2015 |access-date=10 November 2022 |work=BBC News |publisher=}} Geographically, all 31 provincial divisions of mainland China can be grouped into six regions: North China, East China, Southwestern China, Northwestern China, South Central China, and Northeast China.{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Kerry |title=Contemporary China |date=2013 |publisher=Macmillan International Higher Education – University of Sydney |isbn=978-1-1372-8159-3 |page=7}}

{{PRC provinces big imagemap alt}}

{{PRC provinces small imagemap/province list}}

{{Main|Foreign relations of China}}

File:Diplomatic relations of the People's Republic of China.svg

The PRC has diplomatic relations with 179 United Nation members states and maintains embassies in 174. {{As of|2024}}, China has one of the largest diplomatic networks of any country in the world.{{Cite web |title=Global Diplomacy Index – Country Rank |url=https://globaldiplomacyindex.lowyinstitute.org/country_ranking |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225223052/https://globaldiplomacyindex.lowyinstitute.org/country_ranking |archive-date=25 February 2024 |access-date=26 February 2024 |website=Lowy Institute}} In 1971, the PRC replaced the Republic of China (ROC) as the sole representative of China in the United Nations and as one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.{{Cite news |last=Chang |first=Eddy |date=22 August 2004 |title=Perseverance will pay off at the UN |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2004/08/22/2003199768 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070806100002/http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2004/08/22/2003199768 |archive-date=6 August 2007 |work=The Taipei Times}} It is a member of intergovernmental organizations including the G20,{{Cite web |title=About G20 |url=https://www.g20.org/en/about-g20 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230825160730/https://www.g20.org/en/about-g20 |archive-date=25 August 2023 |access-date=4 July 2023 |website=G20}} the SCO,{{Cite news |date=29 March 2023 |title=Riyadh joins Shanghai Cooperation Organization as ties with Beijing grow |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/riyadh-joins-shanghai-cooperation-organization-ties-with-beijing-grow-2023-03-29 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231011070851/https://www.reuters.com/world/riyadh-joins-shanghai-cooperation-organization-ties-with-beijing-grow-2023-03-29 |archive-date=11 October 2023 |access-date=22 November 2023 |work=Reuters}} the BRICS,{{Cite news |date=14 April 2011 |title=Bric summit ends in China with plea for more influence |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13076229 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225211238/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13076229 |archive-date=25 February 2024 |access-date=24 October 2011 |publisher=BBC News}} the East Asia Summit,{{Cite web |title=EAS Participating Countries |url=https://eastasiasummit.asean.org/eas-participating-country |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923192301/https://eastasiasummit.asean.org/eas-participating-country |archive-date=23 September 2023 |access-date=4 July 2023 |website=East Asia Summit}} and the APEC.{{Cite web |date=September 2021 |title=About APEC |url=https://www.apec.org/about-us/about-apec |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240321185610/https://www.apec.org/about-us/about-apec |archive-date=21 March 2024 |access-date=4 July 2023 |website=Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation}} China was also a former member and leader of the Non-Aligned Movement, and still considers itself an advocate for developing countries.{{Cite news |date=21 December 2009 |title=China says communication with other developing countries at Copenhagen summit transparent |url=http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/6847341.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091222225359/http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/6847341.html |archive-date=22 December 2009 |access-date=31 January 2019 |work=People's Daily}}

The PRC officially maintains the one-China principle, which holds the view that there is only one sovereign state in the name of China, represented by the PRC, and that Taiwan is part of that China.{{Cite web |last=Drun |first=Jessica |date=28 December 2017 |title=One China, Multiple Interpretations |url=https://www.ccpwatch.org/single-post/2017/12/29/one-china-multiple-interpretations |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200309224301/https://www.ccpwatch.org/single-post/2017/12/29/One-China-Multiple-Interpretations |archive-date=9 March 2020 |access-date=11 January 2023 |website=Center for Advanced China Research}} The unique status of Taiwan has led to countries recognizing the PRC to maintain unique "one-China policies" that differ from each other; some countries explicitly recognize the PRC's claim over Taiwan, while others, including the U.S. and Japan, only acknowledge the claim. Chinese officials have protested on numerous occasions when foreign countries have made diplomatic overtures to Taiwan,{{Cite news |date=12 January 2010 |title=Taiwan's Ma to stopover in US: report |url=http://www.mysinchew.com/node/33834 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150909170723/http://www.mysinchew.com/node/33834 |archive-date=9 September 2015 |agency=Agence France-Presse}} especially in the matter of armament sales.{{Cite news |last=Macartney |first=Jane |date=1 February 2010 |title=China says US arms sales to Taiwan could threaten wider relations |url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/china-says-us-arms-sales-to-taiwan-could-threaten-wider-relations-pl2j2pdn667 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230712030509/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/china-says-us-arms-sales-to-taiwan-could-threaten-wider-relations-pl2j2pdn667 |archive-date=12 July 2023 |access-date=18 January 2020 |work=The Times}} Most countries have switched recognition from the ROC to the PRC since the latter replaced the former in the UN in 1971.{{Cite news |last=Hale |first=Erin |date=25 October 2021 |title=Taiwan taps on United Nations' door, 50 years after departure |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/25/chinas-un-seat-50-years-on |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129190345/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/25/chinas-un-seat-50-years-on |archive-date=29 January 2023 |access-date=11 January 2023 |work=Al Jazeera}}

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.{{Cite book |last=Keith |first=Ronald C. |title=China from the inside out – fitting the People's republic into the world |publisher=PlutoPress |pages=135–136}} This policy may have led China to support or maintain close ties with states that are regarded as dangerous and repressive by Western nations, such as Sudan,{{Cite web |last=Timothy Webster |date=17 May 2013 |title=China's Human Rights Footprint in Africa |url=https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1619&context=faculty_publications |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229040705/https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1619&context=faculty_publications |archive-date=29 February 2024 |access-date=28 March 2024 |website=Case Western Reserve University School of Law |pages=628 and 638}} North Korea and Iran.{{Cite news |last=Martel |first=William C. |date=29 June 2012 |title=An Authoritarian Axis Rising? |url=https://thediplomat.com/2012/06/an-authoritarian-axis-rising |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216045110/https://thediplomat.com/2012/06/an-authoritarian-axis-rising |archive-date=16 December 2013 |work=The Diplomat}} China's close relationship with Myanmar has involved support for its ruling governments as well as for its ethnic rebel groups,{{Cite web |last=Maria Siow |date=27 March 2021 |title=Could Myanmar's ethnic armed groups turn the tide against the junta, with a little help from Beijing? |url=https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3127236/could-myanmars-ethnic-armed-groups-turn-tide-against-junta |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231127152703/https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3127236/could-myanmars-ethnic-armed-groups-turn-tide-against-junta |archive-date=27 November 2023 |access-date=27 November 2023 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en}} including the Arakan Army.{{Cite web |last=DAVID BREWSTER |date=8 November 2022 |title=How China, India and Bangladesh could be drawn into Myanmar's conflict |url=https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/how-china-india-bangladesh-could-be-drawn-myanmar-s-conflict |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240224140842/https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/how-china-india-bangladesh-could-be-drawn-myanmar-s-conflict |archive-date=24 February 2024 |access-date=28 March 2024 |website=Lowy Institute |language=en}} China has a close political, economic and military relationship with Russia,{{Cite news |last=Davidson |first=Helen |date=16 March 2022 |title=How close are China and Russia and where does Beijing stand on Ukraine? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/16/how-close-are-china-and-russia-and-where-does-beijing-stand-on-ukraine |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220322172321/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/16/how-close-are-china-and-russia-and-where-does-beijing-stand-on-ukraine |archive-date=22 March 2022 |access-date=11 January 2023 |work=The Guardian}} and the two states often vote in unison in the UN Security Council.{{Cite news |date=5 June 2012 |title=Energy to dominate Russia President Putin's China visit |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-18327632 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214152040/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-18327632 |archive-date=14 February 2024 |access-date=16 January 2020 |publisher=BBC News}}{{Cite news |last=Gladstone |first=Rick |date=19 July 2012 |title=Friction at the U.N. as Russia and China Veto Another Resolution on Syria Sanctions |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/20/world/middleeast/russia-and-china-veto-un-sanctions-against-syria.html |url-access=limited |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/20/world/middleeast/russia-and-china-veto-un-sanctions-against-syria.html |archive-date=1 January 2022 |access-date=15 November 2012 |work=The New York Times}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite news |date=23 March 2013 |title=Xi Jinping: Russia-China ties 'guarantee world peace' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-21911842 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120144520/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-21911842 |archive-date=20 January 2024 |access-date=23 March 2013 |publisher=BBC News}} China's relationship with the United States is complex, and includes deep trade ties but significant political differences.{{Cite news |last1=Martin |first1=Eric |last2=Monteiro |first2=Ana |date=7 February 2023 |title=US-China Goods Trade Hits Record Even as Political Split Widens |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-07/us-china-trade-climbs-to-record-in-2022-despite-efforts-to-split |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502105302/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-07/us-china-trade-climbs-to-record-in-2022-despite-efforts-to-split |archive-date=2 May 2023 |access-date=16 May 2023 |work=Bloomberg News}}

Since the early 2000s, China has followed a policy of engaging with African nations for trade and bilateral co-operation.{{Cite news |last=McLaughlin |first=Abraham |date=30 March 2005 |title=A rising China counters US clout in Africa |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0330/p01s01-woaf.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070816123236/http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0330/p01s01-woaf.html |archive-date=16 August 2007 |access-date=18 January 2020 |work=The Christian Science Monitor}}{{Cite web |last=Lyman |first=Princeton |date=21 July 2005 |title=China's Rising Role in Africa |url=http://www.cfr.org/publication/8436 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070715183929/http://www.cfr.org/publication/8436 |archive-date=15 July 2007 |access-date=26 June 2007 |website=Council on Foreign Relations}}{{Cite web |last=Politzer |first=Malia |date=6 August 2008 |title=China and Africa: Stronger Economic Ties Mean More Migration |url=https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/china-and-africa-stronger-economic-ties-mean-more-migration |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231202014823/https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/china-and-africa-stronger-economic-ties-mean-more-migration |archive-date=2 December 2023 |access-date=26 January 2013 |website=Migration Policy Institute}} It maintains extensive and highly diversified trade links with the European Union, and became its largest trading partner for goods.{{Cite news |last=Timsit |first=Annabelle |date=15 February 2021 |title=China dethroned the US as Europe's top trade partner in 2020 |url=https://qz.com/1973067/china-dethroned-the-us-as-europes-top-trade-partner-in-2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002082249/https://qz.com/1973067/china-dethroned-the-us-as-europes-top-trade-partner-in-2020 |archive-date=2 October 2023 |access-date=18 March 2021 |work=Quartz}} China is increasing its influence in Central Asia{{Cite web |last=Wolff |first=Stefan |date=24 May 2023 |title=How China is increasing its influence in central Asia as part of global plans to offer an alternative to the west |url=https://theconversation.com/how-china-is-increasing-its-influence-in-central-asia-as-part-of-global-plans-to-offer-an-alternative-to-the-west-206035 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303040833/http://theconversation.com/how-china-is-increasing-its-influence-in-central-asia-as-part-of-global-plans-to-offer-an-alternative-to-the-west-206035 |archive-date=3 March 2024 |access-date=28 March 2024 |website=The Conversation}} and South Pacific.{{Cite web |last1=Owen Greene |last2=Christoph Bluth |date=9 February 2024 |title=China's increasing political influence in the south Pacific has sparked an international response |url=https://theconversation.com/chinas-increasing-political-influence-in-the-south-pacific-has-sparked-an-international-response-222105 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303175200/https://theconversation.com/chinas-increasing-political-influence-in-the-south-pacific-has-sparked-an-international-response-222105 |archive-date=3 March 2024 |access-date=28 March 2024 |website=The Conversation}} The country has strong trade ties with ASEAN countries{{Cite web |date=December 2022 |title=ASEAN Statistical Yearbook 2022 |url=https://www.aseanstats.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ASYB_2022_423.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230516144951/https://www.aseanstats.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ASYB_2022_423.pdf |archive-date=16 May 2023 |access-date=16 May 2023 |website=ASEAN}} and major South American economies,{{Cite magazine |date=4 February 2021 |title=The U.S. and China Are Battling for Influence in Latin America, and the Pandemic Has Raised the Stakes |url=https://time.com/5936037/us-china-latin-america-influence |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240323123844/https://time.com/5936037/us-china-latin-america-influence |archive-date=23 March 2024 |access-date=28 March 2021 |magazine=Time}} and is the largest trading partner of Brazil, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Argentina, and several others.{{Cite news |last=Garrison |first=Cassandra |date=14 December 2020 |title=In Latin America, a Biden White House faces a rising China |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-latam-usa-china-insight/in-latin-america-a-biden-white-house-faces-a-rising-china-idUSKBN28O18R |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231108025932/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-latam-usa-china-insight/in-latin-america-a-biden-white-house-faces-a-rising-china-idUSKBN28O18R |archive-date=8 November 2023 |access-date=28 March 2021 |work=Reuters}}

In 2013, China initiated the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a large global infrastructure building initiative with funding on the order of $50–100 billion per year.{{Cite web |last=Dollar |first=David |date=October 2020 |title=Seven years into China's Belt and Road |url=https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2020/10/01/seven-years-into-chinas-belt-and-road |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530150820/https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2020/10/01/seven-years-into-chinas-belt-and-road |archive-date=30 May 2023 |access-date=1 December 2020 |website=Brookings}} BRI could be one of the largest development plans in modern history.{{Cite web |last=Cai |first=Peter |title=Understanding China's Belt and Road Initiative |url=https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/understanding-belt-and-road-initiative |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220901063800/http://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/understanding-belt-and-road-initiative |archive-date=1 September 2022 |access-date=30 November 2020 |website=Lowy Institute}} It expanded significantly over the next six years and, {{As of|2020|April|lc=y}}, included 138 countries and 30 international organizations. In addition to intensifying foreign policy relations, the focus is particularly on building efficient transport routes, especially the maritime Silk Road with its connections to East Africa and Europe. However many loans made under the program are unsustainable and China has faced a number of calls for debt relief from debtor nations.{{Cite news |last1=Kynge |first1=James |author-link=James Kynge |last2=Sun |first2=Yu |date=30 April 2020 |title=China faces wave of calls for debt relief on 'Belt and Road' projects |url=https://www.ft.com/content/5a3192be-27c6-4fe7-87e7-78d4158bd39b |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/5a3192be-27c6-4fe7-87e7-78d4158bd39b |archive-date=10 December 2022 |access-date=28 October 2022 |work=Financial Times}}{{Cite book |last=Broadman |first=Harry G. |url=http://hdl.handle.net/10986/7186 |title=Africa's Silk Road: China and India's New Economic Frontier |date=2007 |publisher=World Bank |isbn=978-0-8213-6835-0 |hdl=10986/7186 |access-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328160049/https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/ba2454cc-7c86-58e3-b0ad-c9b0968b70eb |archive-date=28 March 2024 |url-status=live}}

• {{Cite book |author1=Wolf D. Hartmann |title=Chinas neue Seidenstraße Kooperation statt Isolation – der Rollentausch im Welthandel |author2=Wolfgang Maennig |author3=Run Wang |publisher=Frankfurter Allgemeine Buch |date=2017 |isbn=978-3-9560-1224-2 |page=59}}
• {{Cite book |first=Marcus |last=Hernig |title=Die Renaissance der Seidenstrasse : der Weg des chinesischen Drachens ins Herz Europas |publisher=FinanzBuch Verlag (FBV) |date=2018 |isbn=978-3-9597-2138-7 |page=112}}
• {{Cite journal |first=Harry |last=de Wilt |date=17 December 2019 |title=Is 'One Belt, One Road' a China Crisis for North Sea Main Ports? |url=https://www.worldcargonews.com/news/news/is-one-belt-one-road-a-china-crisis-for-north-sea-main-ports-63544 |journal=World Cargo News |volume=17 |url-access=registration |access-date=16 October 2023 |archive-date=18 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231018024445/https://www.worldcargonews.com/news/news/is-one-belt-one-road-a-china-crisis-for-north-sea-main-ports-63544 |url-status=dead}}
• {{Cite journal |first=Guido |last=Santevecchi |date=November 2019 |title=Di Maio e la Via della Seta: «Faremo i conti nel 2020», siglato accordo su Trieste |url=https://www.informazione.it/a/F44F3D8B-F9F0-4058-B30F-8799E0A22A01/Di-Maio-e-la-Via-della-Seta-Faremo-i-conti-nel-2020-siglato-accordo-su-Trieste |journal=Corriere della Sera |volume=5 |access-date=28 March 2024 |archive-date=18 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231018024550/https://www.informazione.it/a/F44F3D8B-F9F0-4058-B30F-8799E0A22A01/Di-Maio-e-la-Via-della-Seta-Faremo-i-conti-nel-2020-siglato-accordo-su-Trieste |url-status=live}}

{{Main|People's Liberation Army|Paramilitary forces of China}}

File:J-20 at Airshow China 2016.jpg 5th generation stealth fighter]]

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is considered one of the world's most powerful militaries and has rapidly modernized in the recent decades.{{Cite web |last=Maizland |first=Lindsay |date=5 February 2020 |title=China's Modernizing Military |url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-modernizing-military |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814144248/https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-modernizing-military |archive-date=14 August 2022 |access-date=14 August 2022 |website=Council on Foreign Relations}} Since 2024, it consists of four services: the Ground Force (PLAGF), the Navy (PLAN), the Air Force (PLAAF) and the Rocket Force (PLARF). It also has four independent arms: the Aerospace Force, the Cyberspace Force, the Information Support Force, and the Joint Logistics Support Force, the first three of which were split from the disbanded Strategic Support Force (PLASSF).{{Cite web |title=Chinese PLA embraces a new system of services and arms: Defense spokesperson – China Military |url=http://eng.chinamil.com.cn/CHINA_209163/TopStories_209189/16302105.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240420125715/http://eng.chinamil.com.cn/CHINA_209163/TopStories_209189/16302105.html |archive-date=20 April 2024 |access-date=20 April 2024 |website=eng.chinamil.com.cn}} Its nearly 2.2 million active duty personnel is the largest in the world. The PLA holds the world's third-largest stockpile of nuclear weapons,{{Cite web |date=30 September 2021 |title=Which Countries Have the Most Nuclear Weapons? |url=https://www.visualcapitalist.com/which-countries-have-the-most-nuclear-weapons/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810145116/https://www.visualcapitalist.com/which-countries-have-the-most-nuclear-weapons/ |archive-date=10 August 2023 |access-date=27 November 2021 |publisher=Visual Capitalist}}{{Cite news |date=19 July 2018 |title=Chinese Nuclear Program |url=https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/chinese-nuclear-program |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806132531/https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/chinese-nuclear-program |archive-date=6 August 2020 |access-date=28 March 2024 |work=Atomic Heritage Foundation}} and the world's second-largest navy by tonnage.{{Cite news |last=Lendon |first=Brad |date=6 March 2021 |title=Analysis: China has built the world's largest navy. Now what's Beijing going to do with it? |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/05/china/china-world-biggest-navy-intl-hnk-ml-dst/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220810040902/https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/05/china/china-world-biggest-navy-intl-hnk-ml-dst/index.html |archive-date=10 August 2022 |access-date=14 August 2022 |work=CNN}} China's official military budget for 2023 totalled US$224 billion (1.55 trillion Yuan), the second-largest in the world, though SIPRI estimates that its real expenditure that year was US$296 billion, making up 12% of global military spending and accounting for 1.7% of the country's GDP.{{Cite web |date=April 2024 |title=Trends in Military Expenditure 2023 |url=https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2024-04/2404_fs_milex_2023.pdf#page=2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240515230851/https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2024-04/2404_fs_milex_2023.pdf#page=2 |archive-date=15 May 2024 |access-date=22 April 2024 |publisher=Stockholm International Peace Research Institute}} According to SIPRI, its military spending from 2012 to 2021 averaged US$215 billion per year or 1.7 per cent of GDP, behind only the United States at US$734 billion per year or 3.6 per cent of GDP.{{Cite web |title=SIPRI Military Expenditure Database |url=https://milex.sipri.org/sipri |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108022107/https://milex.sipri.org/sipri |archive-date=8 November 2022 |access-date=28 March 2024 |publisher=Stockholm International Peace Research Institute}} The PLA is commanded by the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the party and the state; though officially two separate organizations, the two CMCs have identical membership except during leadership transition periods and effectively function as one organization. The chairman of the CMC is the commander-in-chief of the PLA.{{Cite web |title=What China's New Central Military Commission Tells Us About Xi's Military Strategy |url=https://asiasociety.org/policy-institute/what-chinas-new-central-military-commission-tells-us-about-xis-military-strategy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221221094427/https://asiasociety.org/policy-institute/what-chinas-new-central-military-commission-tells-us-about-xis-military-strategy |archive-date=21 December 2022 |access-date=21 December 2022 |website=Asia Society|date=27 October 2022 }}

{{See also|Human rights in China|Hukou|Social welfare in China|Elections in China|Censorship in China|Persecution of Uyghurs in China}}The situation of human rights in China has attracted significant criticism from foreign governments, foreign press agencies, and non-governmental organizations, alleging widespread civil rights violations such as detention without trial, forced confessions, torture, restrictions of fundamental rights, and excessive use of the death penalty.{{Cite web |title=China |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/asia-and-the-pacific/east-asia/china |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230515180810/https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/asia-and-the-pacific/east-asia/china |archive-date=15 May 2023 |access-date=15 May 2023 |publisher=Amnesty International}} Since its inception, Freedom House has ranked China as "not free" in its Freedom in the World survey, while Amnesty International has documented significant human rights abuses. The Chinese constitution 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.{{Cite book |last=Sorman |first=Guy |title=Empire of Lies: The Truth About China in the Twenty-First Century |date=2008 |publisher=Encounter Books |isbn=978-1-5940-3284-4 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=aRaLevXMZf4C&pg=PA46 46, 152]}}{{Cite book |title=World Report 2022: China |date=2 December 2021 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |chapter=China: Events of 2021 |access-date=15 May 2023 |chapter-url=https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2022/country-chapters/china-and-tibet |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517074437/https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2022/country-chapters/china-and-tibet |archive-date=17 May 2023 |url-status=live}} China has limited protections regarding LGBT rights.{{Cite web |date=13 June 2023 |title=For China's LGBTQ community, safe spaces are becoming harder to find |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/china-beijing-lgbt-center-rcna85528 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240119214528/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/china-beijing-lgbt-center-rcna85528 |archive-date=19 January 2024 |access-date=8 August 2023 |publisher=NBC News}}

File:Xinjiang Internment Map, US-Aus Gov Assessment.jpg, China has been accused of committing genocide against Uyghurs and detaining more than one million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in camps.{{Cite news |date=8 February 2021 |title=Uighurs: 'Credible case' China carrying out genocide |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55973215 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210208184814/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55973215 |archive-date=8 February 2021 |access-date=8 February 2021 |publisher=BBC News}}]]Although some criticisms of government policies and the ruling CCP are tolerated, censorship of political speech and information are amongst the harshest in the world and routinely used to prevent collective action.{{Cite journal |last1=King |first1=Gary |last2=Pan |first2=Jennifer |last3=Roberts |first3=Margaret E. |date=May 2013 |title=How Censorship in China Allows Government Criticism but Silences Collective Expression |url=http://gking.harvard.edu/files/gking/files/censored.pdf |url-status=live |journal=American Political Science Review |volume=107 |issue=2 |pages=326–343 |doi=10.1017/S0003055413000014 |s2cid=53577293 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://gking.harvard.edu/files/gking/files/censored.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |access-date=6 March 2015 |quote=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.}} China also has the most comprehensive and sophisticated Internet censorship regime in the world, with numerous websites being blocked.{{Cite web |date=2022 |title=Freedom on the Net: 2022 |url=https://freedomhouse.org/country/china/freedom-net/2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123114002/https://freedomhouse.org/country/china/freedom-net/2022 |archive-date=23 January 2023 |access-date=15 May 2023 |website=Freedom House}} The government suppresses popular protests and demonstrations that it considers a potential threat to "social stability".Christian Göbel and Lynette H. Ong, [https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/public/Research/Asia/1012ecran_gobelong.pdf "Social unrest in China." Long Briefing, Europe China Research and Academic Network (ECRAN) (2012) p 18] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116150236/https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/public/Research/Asia/1012ecran_gobelong.pdf |date=16 January 2021}}. Chatham House China additionally uses a massive surveillance network of cameras, facial recognition software, sensors, and surveillance of personal technology as a means of social control of persons living in the country.

File:Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protest (48108594957).jpg]]

China is regularly accused of large-scale repression and human rights abuses in Tibet and Xinjiang,{{Cite journal |last=Anna Morcom |date=June 2018 |title=The Political Potency of Tibetan Identity in Pop Music and Dunglen |url=https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2348&context=himalaya |url-status=live |journal=Himalaya |publisher=Royal Holloway, University of London |volume=38 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002090307/https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2348&context=himalaya |archive-date=2 October 2021 |access-date=18 October 2021}}{{Cite news |date=7 November 2011 |title=Dalai Lama hits out over burnings |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-15617026 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191103141911/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-15617026 |archive-date=3 November 2019 |access-date=28 March 2024 |work=BBC}}{{Cite web |last1=Asat |first1=Rayhan |last2=Yonah Diamond |date=15 July 2020 |title=The World's Most Technologically Sophisticated Genocide Is Happening in Xinjiang |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/07/15/uighur-genocide-xinjiang-china-surveillance-sterilization |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328004458/https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/07/15/uighur-genocide-xinjiang-china-surveillance-sterilization |archive-date=28 March 2024 |access-date=28 March 2024 |website=Foreign Policy}} where significant numbers of ethnic minorities reside, including violent police crackdowns and religious suppression.{{Cite news |last=Hatton |first=Celia |date=27 June 2013 |title=China 'moves two million Tibetans' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-23081653 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229053404/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-23081653 |archive-date=29 February 2024 |access-date=27 June 2013 |publisher=BBC News}}{{Cite news |date=29 June 2013 |title=Fresh unrest hits China's Xinjiang |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-23112177 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120125125/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-23112177 |archive-date=20 January 2024 |access-date=29 June 2013 |publisher=BBC News}} Since 2017, the Chinese government has been engaged in a harsh crackdown in Xinjiang, with around one million Uyghurs and other ethnic and religion minorities being detained in internment camps aimed at changing the political thinking of detainees, their identities, and their religious beliefs.{{Cite news |last1=Graham-Harrison |first1=Emma |last2=Garside |first2=Juliette |date=24 November 2019 |title='Allow no escapes': leak exposes reality of China's vast prison camp network |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/24/china-cables-leak-no-escapes-reality-china-uighur-prison-camp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240314114513/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/24/china-cables-leak-no-escapes-reality-china-uighur-prison-camp |archive-date=14 March 2024 |access-date=18 January 2020 |work=The Guardian}} According to Western reports, political indoctrination, torture, physical and psychological abuse, forced sterilization, sexual abuse, and forced labor are common in these facilities.{{Cite magazine |last=Khatchadourian |first=Raffi |date=5 April 2021 |title=Surviving the Crackdown in Xinjiang |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/04/12/surviving-the-crackdown-in-xinjiang |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210410193233/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/04/12/surviving-the-crackdown-in-xinjiang |archive-date=10 April 2021 |access-date=19 March 2023 |magazine=The New Yorker}} According to a 2020 Foreign Policy report, China's treatment of Uyghurs meets the UN definition of genocide,{{Cite news |date=4 July 2020 |title=China Suppression Of Uighur Minorities Meets U.N. Definition Of Genocide, Report Says |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/07/04/887239225/china-suppression-of-uighur-minorities-meets-u-n-definition-of-genocide-report-s |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019141640/https://www.npr.org/2020/07/04/887239225/china-suppression-of-uighur-minorities-meets-u-n-definition-of-genocide-report-s |archive-date=19 October 2020 |access-date=28 September 2020 |publisher=NPR}} while a separate UN Human Rights Office report said they could potentially meet the definitions for crimes against humanity.{{Cite news |last1=Cumming-Bruce |first1=Nick |last2=Ramzy |first2=Austin |date=31 August 2022 |title=U.N. Says China May Have Committed 'Crimes Against Humanity' in Xinjiang |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/31/world/asia/un-china-xinjiang-uyghurs.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220901014137/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/31/world/asia/un-china-xinjiang-uyghurs.html |archive-date=1 September 2022 |access-date=1 September 2022 |work=The New York Times}} The Chinese authorities have also cracked down on dissent in Hong Kong, especially after the passage of a national security law in 2020.{{Cite news |date=28 June 2022 |title=Hong Kong national security law: What is it and is it worrying? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-52765838 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200528153554/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-52765838 |archive-date=28 May 2020 |access-date=12 August 2022 |publisher=BBC News}}

In 2017 and 2020, the Pew Research Center ranked the severity of Chinese government restrictions on religion as being among the world's highest, despite ranking religious-related social hostilities in China as low in severity.{{Cite web |date=15 July 2019 |title=3. Middle East still home to highest levels of restrictions on religion, although levels have declined since 2016 |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2019/07/15/middle-east-still-home-to-highest-levels-of-restrictions-on-religion-although-levels-have-declined-since-2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240106181144/https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2019/07/15/middle-east-still-home-to-highest-levels-of-restrictions-on-religion-although-levels-have-declined-since-2016 |archive-date=6 January 2024 |access-date=6 January 2024 |website=Pew Research Center |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=29 November 2022 |title=3. Small changes in median scores for government restrictions, social hostilities involving religion in 2020 |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/11/29/small-changes-in-median-scores-for-government-restrictions-social-hostilities-involving-religion-in-2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240106181143/https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/11/29/small-changes-in-median-scores-for-government-restrictions-social-hostilities-involving-religion-in-2020 |archive-date=6 January 2024 |access-date=2 January 2024 |website=Pew Research Center |language=en-US}} The Global Slavery Index estimated that in 2016 more than 3.8 million people (0.25% of the population) were living in "conditions of modern slavery", including victims of human trafficking, forced labor, forced marriage, child labor, and state-imposed forced labor. The state-imposed re-education through labor (laojiao) system was formally abolished in 2013, but it is not clear to what extent its practices have stopped.{{Cite web |date=2016 |title=China |url=https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/country/china/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160706152456/https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/country/china/ |archive-date=6 July 2016 |access-date=13 March 2018 |website=Global Slavery Index}} The much larger reform through labor (laogai) system includes labor prison factories, detention centers, and re-education camps; the Laogai Research Foundation has estimated in June 2008 that there were nearly 1,422 of these facilities, though it cautioned that this number was likely an underestimate.{{Cite web |date=2008 |title=Laogai Handbook: 2007–2008 |url=https://laogairesearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/33-Laogai-Handbook-2007-08.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231225055906/https://laogairesearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/33-Laogai-Handbook-2007-08.pdf |archive-date=25 December 2023 |access-date=28 March 2024 |website=Laogai Research Foundation}}

Political concerns in China include the growing gap between rich and poor and government corruption.{{Cite news |date=11 May 2002 |title=China sounds alarm over fast growing gap between rich and poor |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-52919430.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140610060248/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-52919430.html |archive-date=10 June 2014 |access-date=1 February 2013 |agency=Associated Press}} Nonetheless, international surveys show the Chinese public have a high level of satisfaction with their government.{{Rp|page=137}} These views are generally attributed to the material comforts and security available to large segments of the Chinese populace as well as the government's attentiveness and responsiveness. {{Rp|page=136}} According to the World Values Survey (2022), 91% of Chinese respondents have significant confidence in their government.{{Rp|page=13}} A Harvard University survey published in July 2020 found that citizen satisfaction with the government had increased since 2003, also rating China's government as more effective and capable than ever in the survey's history.{{Cite book |last=Zhao |first=Suisheng |title=The dragon roars back: transformational leaders and dynamics of Chinese foreign policy |date=2023 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-1-5036-3088-8 |page=163}}

{{Main|Economy of China}}

{{For|Economic history of China|Economic history of China before 1912|Economic history of China (1912–1949)|Economic history of China (1949–present)}}

China has the world's second-largest economy in terms of nominal GDP,{{Cite news |last=Kollewe |first=Justin McCurry Julia |date=14 February 2011 |title=China overtakes Japan as world's second-largest economy |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/feb/14/china-second-largest-economy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719223048/https://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/feb/14/china-second-largest-economy |archive-date=19 July 2019 |access-date=8 July 2019 |work=The Guardian}} and the world's largest in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP).{{Cite web |date=2018 |title=GDP PPP (World Bank) |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.PP.CD?locations=CN-US&start=2000&year_high_desc=true |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190219072932/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.PP.CD?locations=CN-US&start=2000&year_high_desc=true |archive-date=19 February 2019 |access-date=18 February 2019 |publisher=World Bank}} {{As of|2022}}, China accounts for around 18% of the global economy by nominal GDP.{{Cite web |date=April 2023 |title=World Economic Outlook Database, April 2023 |url=https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2023/April |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230413194731/https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2023/April |archive-date=13 April 2023 |access-date=16 May 2023 |website=International Monetary Fund}} China is one of the world's fastest-growing major economies,{{Cite web |title=Overview |url=https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/china/overview |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930014300/https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/china/overview |archive-date=30 September 2020 |access-date=13 September 2020 |publisher=World Bank}} with its economic growth having been almost consistently above 6 percent since the introduction of the reform and opening up policy in 1978.{{Cite web |title=GDP growth (annual %) – China |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG?end=2016&locations=CN&start=1961&year_high_desc=true |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531173009/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG?end=2016&locations=CN&start=1961&year_high_desc=true |archive-date=31 May 2022 |access-date=25 May 2018 |publisher=World Bank}} According to the World Bank, China's GDP grew from $150 billion in 1978 to $17.96 trillion by 2022.{{Cite web |title=GDP (current US$) – China |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=CN |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190906052638/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=CN |archive-date=6 September 2019 |access-date=7 July 2023 |publisher=World Bank}} It ranks 64th by nominal GDP per capita, making it an upper-middle income country.{{Cite web |date=2018 |title=GDP PPP (World Bank) |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.PP.CD?locations=CN-US&start=2000&year_high_desc=true |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190902074129/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.PP.CD?locations=CN-US&start=2000&year_high_desc=true |archive-date=2 September 2019 |access-date=18 February 2019 |publisher=World Bank}} Of the world's 500 largest companies, 135 are headquartered in China.{{Cite web |title=Global 500 |url=https://fortune.com/ranking/global500 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116163740/https://fortune.com/ranking/global500 |archive-date=16 January 2023 |access-date=3 August 2023 |website=Fortune Global 500}} As of at least 2024, China has the world's second-largest equity markets and futures markets, as well as the third-largest bond market.{{Cite book |last1=Curtis |first1=Simon |title=The Belt and Road City: Geopolitics, Urbanization, and China's Search for a New International Order |last2=Klaus |first2=Ian |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-3002-6690-0 |location=New Haven and London |publication-date=2024 |doi=10.2307/jj.11589102 |jstor=jj.11589102}}{{Rp|page=153}}

China was one of the world's foremost economic powers throughout the arc of East Asian and global history. The country had one of the largest economies in the world for most of the past two millennia,{{Cite book |last=Maddison |first=Angus |author-link=Angus Maddison |title=Contours of the World Economy 1–2030 AD: Essays in Macro-Economic History |date=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-1916-4758-1 |page=379}} during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline.{{Cite web |title=Angus Maddison. Chinese Economic Performance in the Long Run. Development Centre Studies. |url=http://piketty.pse.ens.fr/files/Maddison98.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://piketty.pse.ens.fr/files/Maddison98.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |access-date=15 September 2017 |page=29}} Since economic reforms began in 1978, China has developed into a highly diversified economy and one of the most consequential players in international trade. Major sectors of competitive strength include manufacturing, retail, mining, steel, textiles, automobiles, energy generation, green energy, banking, electronics, telecommunications, real estate, e-commerce, and tourism. China has three out of the ten largest stock exchanges in the world{{Cite web |date=19 February 2019 |title=Top 10 Largest Stock Exchanges in the World By Market Capitalization |url=https://www.valuewalk.com/2019/02/top-10-largest-stock-exchanges/ |access-date=28 November 2019 |website=ValueWalk}}—Shanghai, Hong Kong and Shenzhen—that together have a market capitalization of over $15.9 trillion, {{As of|2020|October|lc=y}}.{{Cite news |date=13 October 2020 |title=China's Stock Market Tops $10 Trillion First Time Since 2015 |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-13/china-s-stock-market-tops-10-trillion-for-first-time-since-2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031042855/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-13/china-s-stock-market-tops-10-trillion-for-first-time-since-2015 |archive-date=31 October 2020 |access-date=28 October 2020 |publisher=Bloomberg L.P.}} China has three out of the world's ten most competitive financial centers according to the 2024 Global Financial Centres Index—Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Shenzhen.{{Cite web |title=GFCI 36 Rank – Long Finance |url=https://www.longfinance.net/programmes/financial-centre-futures/global-financial-centres-index/gfci-36-explore-the-data/gfci-36-rank/ |access-date=2024-09-24 |website=www.longfinance.net}}

File:Graph of Major Developing Economies by Real GDP per capita at PPP 1990-2013.png, 1990–2013. The rapid economic growth of China (blue) is readily apparent.{{Cite web |title=World Bank World Development Indicators |url=http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-development-indicators |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220032256/http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-development-indicators |archive-date=20 December 2014 |access-date=8 December 2014 |publisher=World Bank}}]]

Modern-day China is often described as an example of state capitalism or party-state capitalism.{{Cite journal |last1=Pearson |first1=Margaret |last2=Rithmire |first2=Meg |last3=Tsai |first3=Kellee S. |date=1 September 2021 |title=Party-State Capitalism in China |journal=Current History |volume=120 |issue=827 |pages=207–213 |doi=10.1525/curh.2021.120.827.207 |doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal |last1=Pearson |first1=Margaret M. |last2=Rithmire |first2=Meg |last3=Tsai |first3=Kellee S. |date=1 October 2022 |title=China's Party-State Capitalism and International Backlash: From Interdependence to Insecurity |journal=International Security |volume=47 |issue=2 |pages=135–176 |doi=10.1162/isec_a_00447 |doi-access=free}} The state 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.John Lee. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080726102845/http://www.cis.org.au/issue_analysis/IA95/ia95.html "Putting Democracy in China on Hold"]. The Center for Independent Studies. 26 July 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2013.{{Cite web |date=22 August 2005 |title=China Is a Private-Sector Economy |url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_34/b3948478.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080213222740/http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_34/b3948478.htm |archive-date=13 February 2008 |access-date=27 April 2010 |website=Bloomberg Businessweek}}{{Cite web |title=Microsoft Word – China2bandes.doc |url=http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/16/3/36174313.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010154017/http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/16/3/36174313.pdf |archive-date=10 October 2008 |access-date=27 April 2010 |publisher=OECD}} According to official statistics, privately owned companies constitute more than 60% of China's GDP.{{Cite news |last=Hancock |first=Tom |date=30 March 2022 |title=China Crackdowns Shrink Private Sector's Slice of Big Business |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-29/china-crackdowns-shrink-private-sector-s-slice-of-big-business?leadSource=uverify%20wall |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328161405/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-29/china-crackdowns-shrink-private-sector-s-slice-of-big-business?leadSource=uverify%20wall |archive-date=28 March 2024 |access-date=13 April 2023 |work=Bloomberg News}}

China has been the world's largest manufacturing nation since 2010, after overtaking the U.S., which had been the largest for the previous hundred years.{{Cite news |last=Marsh |first=Peter |date=13 March 2011 |title=China noses ahead as top goods producer |url=https://www.ft.com/content/002fd8f0-4d96-11e0-85e4-00144feab49a |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/002fd8f0-4d96-11e0-85e4-00144feab49a |archive-date=10 December 2022 |access-date=18 January 2020 |work=Financial Times}}{{Cite web |last=Levinson |first=Marc |date=21 February 2018 |title=U.S. Manufacturing in International Perspective |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42135.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42135.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |website=Federation of American Scientists}} China has also been the second-largest in high-tech manufacturing country since 2012, according to US National Science Foundation.{{Cite web |title=Report – S&E Indicators 2018 |url=https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2018/nsb20181/report/sections/industry-technology-and-the-global-marketplace/patterns-and-trends-of-knowledge--and-technology-intensive-industries#medium-high-technology-industries-in-china |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923083925/https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2018/nsb20181/report/sections/industry-technology-and-the-global-marketplace/patterns-and-trends-of-knowledge--and-technology-intensive-industries#medium-high-technology-industries-in-china |archive-date=23 September 2023 |access-date=8 July 2019 |website=nsf.gov}} China is the second-largest retail market after the United States.{{Cite news |last=Shane |first=Daniel |date=23 January 2019 |title=China will overtake the US as the world's biggest retail market this year |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/23/business/china-retail-sales-us/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240425193226/https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/23/business/china-retail-sales-us/index.html |archive-date=25 April 2024 |access-date=18 February 2019 |work=CNN}} China leads the world in e-commerce, accounting for over 37% of the global market share in 2021.{{Cite news |last=Cameron |first=Isabel |date=9 August 2022 |title=China continues to lead global ecommerce market with over $2 trillion sales in 2022 |url=https://www.chargedretail.co.uk/2022/08/09/china-continues-to-lead-global-ecommerce-market-with-over-2-trillion-sales-in-2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231202091337/https://www.chargedretail.co.uk/2022/08/09/china-continues-to-lead-global-ecommerce-market-with-over-2-trillion-sales-in-2022 |archive-date=2 December 2023 |access-date=19 May 2023 |work=Charged}} China is the world's leader in electric vehicle consumption and production, manufacturing and buying half of all the plug-in electric cars (BEV and PHEV) in the world {{As of|2022|lc=y}}.{{Cite news |last=Baraniuk |first=Chris |date=11 October 2022 |title=China's electric car market is booming but can it last? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-62825830 |access-date=13 April 2023 |publisher=BBC News}} China is also the leading producer of batteries for electric vehicles as well as several key raw materials for batteries.{{Cite web |date=9 September 2020 |title=China Dominates the Global Lithium Battery Market |url=https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/renewable/china-dominates-the-global-lithium-battery-market/ |access-date=28 March 2021 |website=Institute for Energy Research}}

{{Main|Tourism in China|3 = List of World Heritage Sites in China}}

File:Gate of Supreme Harmony at the Forbidden City.jpg is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world]]

China received 65.7 million international visitors in 2019,{{Cite journal |date=18 December 2020 |title=UNWTO World Tourism Barometer and Statistical Annex, December 2020 {{!}} World Tourism Organization |journal=UNWTO World Tourism Barometer (English Version) |volume=18 |issue=7 |pages=1–36 |doi=10.18111/wtobarometereng.2020.18.1.7 |doi-access=free}} and in 2018 was the fourth-most-visited country in the world. It also experiences an enormous volume of domestic tourism; Chinese tourists made an estimated 6 billion travels within the country in 2019.{{Cite news |last=Liang |first=Xinlu |date=19 August 2021 |title=How has China's travel industry been hurt by the coronavirus pandemic, and when will tourism recover? |url=https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3145468/how-has-chinas-travel-industry-been-hurt-coronavirus-pandemic |access-date=16 May 2023 |work=South China Morning Post}} China hosts the world's second-largest number of World Heritage Sites (56) after Italy, and is one of the most popular tourist destinations (first in the Asia-Pacific).

{{See also|Income inequality in China}}

File:20045-Shanghai-Pano (cropped).jpg in Shanghai]]

China accounted for 18.6% of the world's total wealth in 2022, second highest in the world after the U.S.{{Cite book |last1=Shorrocks |first1=Anthony |author-link1=Anthony Shorrocks |url=https://www.ubs.com/global/en/family-office-uhnw/reports/global-wealth-report-2023.html |title=Global Wealth Databook 2023 |last2=Davies |first2=James |last3=Lluberas |first3=Rodrigo |publisher=UBS and Credit Suisse Research Institute |year=2023}} China brought more people out of extreme poverty than any other country in history{{Cite news |date=13 October 2017 |title=China lifting 800 million people out of poverty is historic: World Bank |url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/china-lifting-800-million-people-out-of-poverty-is-historic-world-bank-117101300027_1.html |access-date=22 February 2019 |work=Business Standard India |agency=Press Trust of India}}{{Cite book |last= |title=Four Decades of Poverty Reduction in China: Drivers, Insights for the World, and the Way Ahead |date=2022 |publisher=World Bank Publications |isbn=978-1-4648-1878-3 |page=ix |quote=By any measure, the speed and scale of China's poverty reduction is historically unprecedented.}}—between 1978 and 2018, China reduced extreme poverty by 800 million.{{Rp|page=23}} From 1990 to 2018, the proportion of the Chinese population living with an income of less than $1.90 per day (2011 PPP) decreased from 66.3% to 0.3%, the share living with an income of less than $3.20 per day from 90.0% to 2.9%, and the share living with an income of less than $5.50 per day decreased from 98.3% to 17.0%.{{Cite web |date=23 October 2020 |title=Is China Succeeding at Eradicating Poverty? |url=https://chinapower.csis.org/poverty |access-date=28 March 2021 |website=Center for Strategic and International Studies}}

From 1978 to 2018, the average standard of living multiplied by a factor of twenty-six.{{Cite book |last=Bergsten |first=C. Fred |title=The United States vs. China: The Quest for Global Economic Leadership |date=2022 |publisher=Polity Press |isbn=978-1-5095-4735-7}} Wages in China have grown significantly in the last 40 years—real (inflation-adjusted) wages grew seven-fold from 1978 to 2007.{{Cite web |title=Rising Wages: Has China Lost Its Global Labor Advantage? |url=https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/5008/rising-wages-has-china-lost-its-global-labor-advantage |access-date=21 February 2019 |website=iza.org}} Per capita incomes have also risen significantly – when the PRC was founded in 1949, per capita income in China was one-fifth of the world average; per capita incomes now equal the world average itself. China's development is highly uneven; its major cities and coastal areas are far more prosperous than its rural and interior regions.{{Cite news |last=King |first=Stephen |date=2 February 2016 |title=China's path to tackling regional inequality |url=https://www.ft.com/content/9c6203d8-e1d9-3ca3-818a-e55b409ece94 |work=Financial Times}} It has a high level of economic inequality,{{Cite news |last=Duggan |first=Jennifer |date=12 January 2013 |title=Income inequality on the rise in China |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/12/2012122311167503363.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130722192442/http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/12/2012122311167503363.html |archive-date=22 July 2013 |access-date=14 January 2020 |publisher=Al Jazeera}} which has increased quickly since the economic reforms.{{Cite news |last=Tobin |first=Damian |date=29 June 2011 |title=Inequality in China: Rural poverty persists as urban wealth balloons |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13945072 |access-date=14 January 2020 |work=BBC News}} Income inequality decreased in the 2010s,{{Cite news |date=2 October 2021 |title=Just how Dickensian is China? |url=https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2021/10/02/just-how-dickensian-is-china |access-date=15 May 2023 |newspaper=The Economist}} and China's Gini coefficient was 0.357 in 2021.

In March 2024, China ranked second in the world, after the U.S., in total number of billionaires and total number of millionaires, with 473 Chinese billionaires{{Cite web |title=Forbes World's Billionaires List: The Richest People in the World 2023 |url=https://www.forbes.com/billionaires |access-date=15 May 2023 |website=Forbes}} and 6.2 million millionaires. In 2019, China overtook the U.S. as the home to the highest number of people who have a net personal wealth of at least $110,000, according to the global wealth report by Credit Suisse.{{Cite news |last=Khan |first=Yusuf |date=22 October 2019 |title=China has overtaken the US to have the most wealthy people in the world {{!}} Markets Insider |url=http://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/china-has-overtaken-the-us-to-have-the-most-wealthy-people-in-the-world-1028618107 |access-date=12 November 2019 |work=Business Insider}}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}{{Cite news |last=Dawkins |first=David |date=21 October 2019 |title=China Overtakes U.S. In Global Household Wealth Rankings 'Despite' Trade Tensions – Report |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddawkins/2019/10/21/china-overtakes-us-in-global-household-wealth-rankings-despite-trade-tensionsreport/ |access-date=12 November 2019 |work=Forbes}} China had 85 female billionaires {{As of|2021|January|lc=y}}, two-thirds of the global total.{{Cite news |last=Chen |first=Qin |date=27 March 2021 |title=China is now home to two-thirds of the world's top women billionaires, four times more than the US, Hurun research institute reveals |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/article/3127254/china-now-home-two-thirds-worlds-top-women-billionaires-four |access-date=28 March 2021 |work=South China Morning Post}} China has had the world's largest middle-class population since 2015;{{Cite news |last=Zheping |first=Huang |date=14 October 2015 |title=China's middle class has overtaken the US's to become the world's largest |url=https://qz.com/523626/chinas-middle-class-has-overtaken-the-uss-to-become-the-worlds-largest |access-date=22 June 2019 |work=Quartz}} the middle-class grew to 500 million by 2024.{{Cite news |last=Zuo |first=Mandy |date=3 March 2024 |title=China's middle-income population passes 500 million mark, state-owned newspaper says |url=https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3253995/chinas-middle-income-population-passes-500-million-mark-says-state-owned-newspaper |access-date=21 May 2024 |work=South China Morning Post}}

China has been a member of the WTO since 2001 and is the world's largest trading power.{{Cite news |last=He |first=Laura |date=13 January 2023 |title=China's exports plunge as global demand weakens, but trade with Russia hits record high |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/13/economy/china-exports-struggle-reopening-2022-intl-hnk/index.html |access-date=19 May 2023 |work=CNN}} By 2016, China was the largest trading partner of 124 countries.{{Cite web |last=Desjardins |first=Jeff |date=27 April 2016 |title=Four Maps Showing China's Rising Dominance in Trade |url=https://www.visualcapitalist.com/four-maps-showing-chinas-rising-dominance-trade |access-date=4 December 2019 |website=Visual Capitalist}} China became the world's largest trading nation in 2013 by the sum of imports and exports, as well as the world's largest commodity importer, accounting for roughly 45% of maritime's dry-bulk market.{{Cite news |last=Monaghan |first=Angela |date=10 January 2014 |title=China surpasses US as world's largest trading nation |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/jan/10/china-surpasses-us-world-largest-trading-nation |access-date=4 December 2019 |work=The Guardian}}{{Cite news |last=Paris |first=Costas |date=27 April 2021 |title=China's Imports of Commodities Drive a Boom in Dry-Bulk Shipping |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-imports-of-commodities-drive-a-boom-in-dry-bulk-shipping-11619541574 |access-date=29 April 2021 |work=The Wall Street Journal}}

China's foreign exchange reserves reached US$3.246 trillion {{As of|2024|March|lc=y}}, making its reserves by far the world's largest.{{Cite news |date=7 April 2024 |title=China forex reserves rise to $3.246 trln in March |url=https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/china-forex-reserves-rise-3246-trln-march-2024-04-07 |access-date=21 May 2024 |work=Reuters}} In 2022, China was amongst the world's largest recipient of inward foreign direct investment (FDI), attracting $180 billion, though most of these were speculated to be from Hong Kong.{{Cite news |date=19 January 2023 |title=China Foreign Investment Posts Record Slump as Covid Zero Ended |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-19/china-foreign-investment-posts-record-slump-as-covid-zero-ended |access-date=15 May 2023 |work=Bloomberg News}} In 2021, China's foreign exchange remittances were $US53 billion making it the second-largest recipient of remittances in the world.{{Cite news |date=21 July 2022 |title=With $87 billion, India beats China as top remittance recipient in 2021 |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/business/story/india-china-top-remittance-recipient-2021-un-report-1978008-2022-07-20 |access-date=15 May 2023 |work=India Today}} China also invests abroad, with a total outward FDI of $147.9 billion in 2023,{{Cite web |last=Chow |first=Loletta |date=5 February 2024 |title=Overview of China outbound investment of 2023 |url=https://www.ey.com/en_cn/china-overseas-investment-network/overview-of-china-outbound-investment-of-2023 |access-date=21 May 2024 |website=Ernst & Young |language=en-CN}} and a number of major takeovers of foreign firms by Chinese companies.{{Cite news |date=11 November 2010 |title=Being eaten by the dragon |url=http://www.economist.com/node/17460954 |newspaper=The Economist}}

Economists have argued that the renminbi is undervalued, due to currency intervention from the Chinese government, giving China an unfair trade advantage.{{Cite web |last=He |first=Laura |date=4 June 2021 |title=China's stronger currency means difficult choices for Beijing |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/04/investing/china-yuan-financial-risks-intl-hnk/index.html |access-date=27 July 2022 |website=CNN Business |publisher=CNN}} China has also been widely criticized for manufacturing large quantities of counterfeit goods.{{Cite web |date=September 2005 |title=Intellectual Property Rights |url=http://www.asiabusinesscouncil.org/docs/IntellectualPropertyRights.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100326093314/http://www.asiabusinesscouncil.org/docs/IntellectualPropertyRights.pdf |archive-date=26 March 2010 |access-date=13 January 2012 |website=Asia Business Council |publisher=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace}}{{Cite web |title=MIT CIS: Publications: Foreign Policy Index |url=http://web.mit.edu/cis/fpi_china.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070214212158/http://web.mit.edu/CIS/fpi_china.html |archive-date=14 February 2007 |access-date=15 May 2010 |website=MIT Center for International Studies}} The U.S. government has also alleged that China does not respect intellectual property (IP) rights and steals IP through espionage operations.{{Cite news |date=6 February 2020 |title=China theft of technology is biggest law enforcement threat to US, FBI says |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/06/china-technology-theft-fbi-biggest-threat |access-date=19 December 2022 |work=The Guardian}} In 2020, Harvard University's Economic Complexity Index ranked complexity of China's exports 17th in the world, up from 24th in 2010.{{Cite news |last=Hancock |first=Tom |date=26 January 2023 |title=The US Hasn't Noticed That China-Made Cars Are Taking Over the World |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-26/how-china-is-quietly-dominating-the-global-car-market |access-date=16 May 2023 |work=Bloomberg News}}

The Chinese government has promoted the internationalization of the renminbi in order to wean itself off its dependence on the U.S. dollar as a result of perceived weaknesses of the international monetary system.{{Cite journal |last=Huang |first=Yukon |date=Fall 2013 |title=Does Internationalizing the RMB Make Sense for China? |url=http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2013/9/cjv33n3-18.pdf |journal=Cato Journal |access-date=28 July 2014}} The renminbi is a component of the IMF's special drawing rights and the world's fourth-most traded currency {{As of|2023|lc=y}}.{{Cite news |last=Kawate |first=Iori |date=23 December 2023 |title=China's yuan rises to 4th most used currency in global settlements |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Markets/Currencies/China-s-yuan-rises-to-4th-most-used-currency-in-global-settlements |access-date=21 May 2024 |work=Nikkei Asia}} However, partly due to capital controls that make the renminbi fall short of being a fully convertible currency, it remains far behind the Euro, the U.S. Dollar and the Japanese Yen in international trade volumes.{{Cite web |title=RMB now 8th most widely traded currency in the world |url=http://www.swift.com/about_swift/shownews?param_dcr=news.data%2Fen%2Fswift_com%2F2013%2FPR_RMB_september.xml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151105223715/http://www.swift.com/about_swift/shownews?param_dcr=news.data%2Fen%2Fswift_com%2F2013%2FPR_RMB_september.xml |archive-date=5 November 2015 |access-date=10 October 2013 |publisher=Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication}}

{{Main|Science and technology in China|List of Chinese discoveries|List of Chinese inventions}}

{{Main|History of science and technology in China}}

File:Chinese Gunpowder Formula.JPG, from the Wujing Zongyao of 1044 CE]]

China was a world leader in science and technology until the Ming dynasty.Tom (1989), 99; Day & McNeil (1996), 122; Needham (1986e), 1–2, 40–41, 122–123, 228. Ancient and medieval Chinese discoveries and inventions, such as papermaking, printing, the compass, and gunpowder (the Four Great Inventions), became widespread across East Asia, the Middle East and later Europe. Chinese mathematicians were the first to use negative numbers.{{Cite news |date=9 March 2006 |title=In Our Time: Negative Numbers |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p003hyd9 |access-date=19 June 2013 |work=BBC News}}Struik, Dirk J. (1987). A Concise History of Mathematics. New York: Dover Publications. pp. 32–33. "In these matrices we find negative numbers, which appear here for the first time in history." By the 17th century, the Western World surpassed China in scientific and technological advancement.{{Cite book |title=Chinese Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology |date=1996 |publisher=Kluwer Academic Publishers |isbn=978-0-7923-3463-7 |volume=179 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=jaQH6_8Ju-MC&pg=PA137 137–138]}} The causes of this early modern Great Divergence continue to be debated by scholars.{{Cite journal |last=Frank |first=Andre |author-link=Andre Gunder Frank |date=2001 |title=Review of The Great Divergence |url=http://www.rrojasdatabank.info/agfrank/pomeranz.html |journal=Journal of Asian Studies |volume=60 |issue=1 |pages=180–182 |doi=10.2307/2659525 |jstor=2659525}}

After repeated military defeats by the European colonial powers and Imperial Japan 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.{{Cite book |last=Yu |first=Q. Y. |title=The Implementation of China's Science and Technology Policy |date=1999 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-1-5672-0332-5 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=IluWYKmTCN0C&pg=PA2 2]}} After Mao's death in 1976, science and technology were promoted as one of the Four Modernizations,{{Cite book |last=Vogel |first=Ezra F. |title=Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China |date=2011 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-6740-5544-5 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3IaR-FxlA6AC&pg=PA129 129]}} and the Soviet-inspired academic system was gradually reformed.{{Cite book |last=DeGlopper |first=Donald D. |title=China: a country study |date=1987 |publisher=Library of Congress |chapter=Soviet Influence in the 1950s |chapter-url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cntoc.html}}

Since the end of the Cultural Revolution, China has made significant investments in scientific research{{Cite web |last=Jia |first=Hepeng |date=9 September 2014 |title=R&D share for basic research in China dwindles |url=http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2014/09/research-development-rd-share-basic-research-china-dwindles |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150219044130/http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2014/09/research-development-rd-share-basic-research-china-dwindles |archive-date=19 February 2015 |access-date=21 January 2020 |website=Chemistry World}} and is quickly catching up with the U.S. in R&D spending.{{Cite news |last=Normile |first=Dennis |date=10 October 2018 |title=Surging R&D spending in China narrows gap with United States |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/surging-rd-spending-china-narrows-gap-united-states |access-date=20 February 2019 |work=Science}}{{Cite web |title=China Has Surpassed the U.S. in R&D Spending, According to New National Academy of Arts and Sciences Report – ASME |url=https://www.asme.org/government-relations/capitol-update/china-has-surpassed-the-u-s-in-r-d-spending,-according-to-new-national-academy-of-arts-and-sciences-report |access-date=26 October 2020 |website=asme.org}} China officially spent around 2.7% of its GDP on R&D in 2024, totaling to around $496 billion.{{Cite news |last=Bela |first=Victoria |date=24 January 2025 |title=China's R&D growth passes US$496 billion in steady rise to hi-tech dominance |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3296098/chinas-rd-growth-passes-us496-billion-steady-rise-hi-tech-dominance |access-date=24 January 2025 |work=South China Morning Post}} According to the World Intellectual Property Indicators, China received more applications than the U.S. did in 2018 and 2019 and ranked first globally in patents, utility models, trademarks, industrial designs, and creative goods exports in 2021.{{Cite book |last1=Dutta |first1=Soumitra |url=https://www.wipo.int/publications/en/details.jsp?id=4560 |title=Global Innovation Index 2021: Tracking Innovation Through the COVID-19 Crisis |last2=Lanvin |first2=Bruno |last3=Wunsch-Vincent |first3=Sacha |last4=León |first4=Lorena Rivera |last5=World Intellectual Property Organization |date=2021 |publisher=World Intellectual Property Organization |isbn=978-9-2805-3249-4 |edition=14th |doi=10.34667/tind.44315}}{{Cite web |title=World Intellectual Property Indicators: Filings for Patents, Trademarks, Industrial Designs Reach Record Heights in 2018 |url=https://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2019/article_0012.html |access-date=10 May 2020 |website=wipo.int}}{{Cite web |title=China Becomes Top Filer of International Patents in 2019 |url=https://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2020/article_0005.html |access-date=26 October 2020 |website=wipo.int}} It was ranked 11th in the Global Innovation Index in 2024, a considerable improvement from its rank of 35th in 2013.{{Cite web |title=Global Innovation Index 2024 : Unlocking the Promise of Social Entrepreneurship |url=https://www.wipo.int/web-publications/global-innovation-index-2024/en/ |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=www.wipo.int |language=en}}{{Cite book |last1=Dutta |first1=Soumitra |url=https://www.wipo.int/global_innovation_index/en/2022/index.html |title=Global Innovation Index 2022: What Is the Future of Innovation Driven Growth? |last2=Lanvin |first2=Bruno |last3=Wunsch-Vincent |first3=Sacha |last4=León |first4=Lorena Rivera |last5=World Intellectual Property Organization |date=2022 |publisher=World Intellectual Property Organization |isbn=978-9-2805-3432-0 |edition=15th |series=Global Innovation Index |doi=10.34667/tind.46596 |access-date=29 September 2022}}{{Cite web |date=28 October 2013 |title=Global Innovation Index |url=https://knowledge.insead.edu/entrepreneurship-innovation/global-innovation-index-2930 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210902101622/https://knowledge.insead.edu/entrepreneurship-innovation/global-innovation-index-2930 |archive-date=2 September 2021 |access-date=2 September 2021 |website=INSEAD Knowledge}} Chinese supercomputers ranked among the fastest in the world.{{Cite news |date=17 June 2013 |title=China retakes supercomputer crown |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22936989 |access-date=18 June 2013 |publisher=BBC News}}{{efn|Some of the chips used were not domestically developed until Sunway TaihuLight in 2016. China has not submitted newer entries to TOP500 amid tensions with the United States.}} Its efforts to develop the most advanced semiconductors and jet engines have seen delays and setbacks.{{Cite news |last=Zhu |first=Julie |date=14 December 2022 |title=Exclusive: China readying $143 billion package for its chip firms in face of U.S. curbs |url=https://www.reuters.com/technology/china-plans-over-143-bln-push-boost-domestic-chips-compete-with-us-sources-2022-12-13 |access-date=23 December 2022 |work=Reuters}}{{Cite web |last=Day |first=Lewin |date=28 July 2020 |title=80 Years From Invention, China Is Struggling With Jet Engines |url=https://hackaday.com/2020/07/28/80-years-from-invention-china-is-struggling-with-jet-engines |publisher=HackADay Insider}}

China is developing its education system with an emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).{{Cite news |last=Colvin |first=Geoff |date=29 July 2010 |title=Desperately seeking math and science majors |url=https://money.cnn.com/2010/07/29/news/international/china_engineering_grads.fortune/index.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101017232727/https://money.cnn.com/2010/07/29/news/international/china_engineering_grads.fortune/index.htm |archive-date=17 October 2010 |access-date=9 April 2012 |work=CNN Business}} Its academic publication apparatus became the world's largest publisher of scientific papers in 2016.{{Cite news |last=Orszag |first=Peter R. |date=12 September 2018 |title=China is Overtaking the U.S. in Scientific Research |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/opinion/articles/2018-09-12/chinese-researchers-are-outperforming-americans-in-science |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220183147/https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/opinion/articles/2018-09-12/chinese-researchers-are-outperforming-americans-in-science |archive-date=20 February 2019 |access-date=19 February 2019 |work=Bloomberg News}}{{Cite journal |last=Tollefson |first=Jeff |date=18 January 2018 |title=China declared world's largest producer of scientific articles |journal=Nature |volume=553 |issue=7689 |page=390 |bibcode=2018Natur.553..390T |doi=10.1038/d41586-018-00927-4 |doi-access=free}}{{Cite news |last=Koshikawa |first=Noriaki |date=8 August 2020 |title=China passes US as world's top researcher, showing its R&D might |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Science/China-passes-US-as-world-s-top-researcher-showing-its-R-D-might |access-date=8 June 2022 |work=Nikkei Asia}} In 2022, China overtook the US in the Nature Index, which measures the share of published articles in leading scientific journals.{{Cite journal |last=Baker |first=Simon |date=19 May 2023 |title=China overtakes United States on contribution to research in Nature Index |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01705-7 |journal=Nature |language=en |doi=10.1038/d41586-023-01705-7 |pmid=37208516}}{{Cite news |last=Hawkins |first=Amy |date=24 May 2023 |title=China overtakes US in contributions to nature and science journals |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/24/china-overtakes-us-in-contributions-to-nature-and-science-journals |access-date=23 September 2024 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

{{Main|Chinese space program}}

File:Launch of Shenzhou 13.jpg by a Long March 2F rocket. China is one of the only three countries with independent human spaceflight capability.]]

The Chinese space program started in 1958 with some technology transfers from the Soviet Union. However, it did not launch the nation's first satellite until 1970 with the Dong Fang Hong I, which made China the fifth country to do so independently.{{Cite web |last=Long |first=Wei |date=25 April 2000 |title=China Celebrates 30th Anniversary of First Satellite Launch |url=http://www.spacedaily.com/news/china-00u.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160515110247/http%3A//www.spacedaily.com/news/china%2D00u.html |archive-date=15 May 2016 |publisher=Space daily}}

In 2003, China became the third country in the world to independently send humans into space with Yang Liwei's spaceflight aboard Shenzhou 5. As of 2023, eighteen Chinese nationals have journeyed into space, including two women. In 2011, China launched its first space station testbed, Tiangong-1.{{Cite news |last=Amos |first=Jonathan |date=29 September 2011 |title=Rocket launches Chinese space lab |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15112760 |access-date=20 May 2012 |publisher=BBC News}} In 2013, a Chinese robotic rover Yutu successfully touched down on the lunar surface as part of the Chang'e 3 mission.{{Cite news |last=Rincon |first=Paul |date=14 December 2013 |title=China lands Jade Rabbit robot rover on Moon |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-25356603 |access-date=26 July 2014 |publisher=BBC News}}

In 2019, China became the first country to land a probe—Chang'e 4—on the far side of the Moon.{{Cite news |last=Lyons |first=Kate |title=Chang'e 4 landing: China probe makes historic touchdown on far side of the moon |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jan/03/china-probe-change-4-land-far-side-moon-basin-crater |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190103043232/https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jan/03/china-probe-change-4-land-far-side-moon-basin-crater |archive-date=3 January 2019 |access-date=3 January 2019 |work=The Guardian}} In 2020, Chang'e 5 successfully returned Moon samples to the Earth, making China the third country to do so independently.{{Cite news |date=17 December 2020 |title=Moon rock samples brought to Earth for first time in 44 years |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/Science/Spacebound/2020/1217/Moon-rock-samples-brought-to-Earth-for-first-time-in-44-years |access-date=23 February 2021 |work=The Christian Science Monitor}} In 2021, China became the third country to land a spacecraft on Mars and the second one to deploy a rover (Zhurong) on Mars.{{Cite web |date=15 May 2021 |title=China succeeds on country's first Mars landing attempt with Tianwen-1 |url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2021/05/china-first-mars-landing-attempt-tianwen-1 |access-date=15 May 2021 |website=NASASpaceFlight.com}} China completed its own modular space station, the Tiangong, in low Earth orbit on 3 November 2022.{{Cite tweet |number=1587984835808665600 |user=CNSpaceflight |title=Official completion time of #Mengtian relocation is 01:32UTC |author=China 'N Asia Spaceflight |date=3 November 2022 |access-date=3 November 2022}}{{Cite magazine |last=Skibba |first=Ramin |title=China Is Now a Major Space Power |url=https://www.wired.com/story/china-is-now-a-major-space-power-tiangong-space-station/ |access-date=4 November 2022 |magazine=Wired}}{{Cite news |title=Celestial second fiddle no more, China completes its space station |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/05/china-space-station-tiangong/ |access-date=24 November 2022 |newspaper=Washington Post}} On 29 November 2022, China performed its first in-orbit crew handover aboard the Tiangong.{{Cite web |title=Chinese astronauts meet in space for historic crew handover |url=https://spaceflightnow.com/2022/11/29/chinese-astronauts-meet-in-space-for-historic-crew-handover |access-date=16 December 2022 |publisher=Spaceflight Now}}{{Cite news |last1=Woo |first1=Ryan |last2=Liangping |first2=Gao |date=30 November 2022 |title=Chinese astronauts board space station in historic mission |url=https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/science/china-launches-crewed-spacecraft-chinese-space-station-state-television-2022-11-29/#:~:text=Shenzhou%2D15%20was%20the%20last,was%20launched%20in%20April%202021. |access-date=16 December 2022 |work=Reuters}}

In May 2023, China announced a plan to land humans on the Moon by 2030.{{Cite news |last=Wang |first=Vivian |date=29 May 2023 |title=China Announces Plan to Land Astronauts on Moon by 2030 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/29/world/asia/china-space-moon-2030.html |work=The New York Times}} To that end, China has been developing a lunar-capable super-heavy launcher, the Long March 10, a new crewed spacecraft, and a crewed lunar lander.{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Andrew |date=6 March 2022 |title=China wants its new rocket for astronaut launches to be reusable |url=https://www.space.com/china-reusable-rockets-for-astronaut-launches |access-date=5 October 2023 |website=Space.com}}{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Andrew |date=17 July 2023 |title=China sets out preliminary crewed lunar landing plan |url=https://spacenews.com/china-sets-out-preliminary-crewed-lunar-landing-plan |access-date=24 July 2023 |work=spacenews.com}}

China sent Chang'e 6 on 3 May 2024, which conducted the first lunar sample return from Apollo Basin on the far side of the Moon.{{Cite tweet |number=1650832520978526208 |user=AJ_FI |title=China's Chang'e-6 sample return mission (a first ever lunar far side sample-return) is scheduled to launch in May 2024, and expected to take 53 days from launch to return module touchdown. Targeting southern area of Apollo basin (~43º S, 154º W) |first=Andrew |last=Jones |date=25 April 2023}} This is China's second lunar sample return mission, the first was achieved by Chang'e 5 from the lunar near side 4 years ago.{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Andrew |date=10 January 2024 |title=China's Chang'e-6 probe arrives at spaceport for first-ever lunar far side sample mission |url=https://spacenews.com/chinas-change-6-probe-arrives-at-spaceport-for-first-ever-lunar-far-side-sample-mission |access-date=10 January 2024 |website=SpaceNews}} It also carried a Chinese rover called Jinchan to conduct infrared spectroscopy of lunar surface and imaged Chang'e 6 lander on lunar surface.{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Andrew |date=6 May 2024 |title=China's Chang'e-6 is carrying a surprise rover to the moon |url=https://spacenews.com/chinas-change-6-is-carrying-a-surprise-rover-to-the-moon |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240508193233/https://spacenews.com/chinas-change-6-is-carrying-a-surprise-rover-to-the-moon |archive-date=8 May 2024 |access-date=8 May 2024 |website=SpaceNews}} The lander-ascender-rover combination was separated with the orbiter and returner before landing on 1 June 2024, at 22:23 UTC. It landed on the Moon's surface on 1 June 2024.{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Andrew |date=1 June 2024 |title=Chang'e-6 lands on far side of the moon to collect unique lunar samples |url=https://spacenews.com/change-6-lands-on-far-side-of-the-moon-to-collect-unique-lunar-samples |access-date=1 June 2024 |website=SpaceNews}}{{Cite tweet |number=1797042217804337307 |user=SegerYu |title=落月时刻 2024-06-02 06:23:15.861 |first=Seger |last=Yu |language=zh}} The ascender was launched back to lunar orbit on 3 June 2024, at 23:38 UTC, carrying samples collected by the lander, which later completed another robotic rendezvous, before docking in lunar orbit. The sample container was then transferred to the returner, which landed on Inner Mongolia in June 2024, completing China's far side extraterrestrial sample return mission.

After a decades-long infrastructural boom,{{Cite web |last=Qu |first=Hongbin |title=China's infrastructure builds foundation for growth |url=https://www.gbm.hsbc.com/insights/global-research/china-infrastructure-builds-foundation-for-growth |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220528202857/https://www.gbm.hsbc.com/insights/global-research/china-infrastructure-builds-foundation-for-growth |archive-date=28 May 2022 |access-date=1 December 2020 |website=HSBC}} China has produced numerous world-leading infrastructural projects: it has the largest high-speed rail network,{{Cite news |date=13 January 2017 |title=China has built the world's largest bullet-train network |url=https://www.economist.com/china/2017/01/13/china-has-built-the-worlds-largest-bullet-train-network |access-date=13 September 2020 |newspaper=The Economist}} the most supertall skyscrapers,{{Cite web |title=Countries or Jurisdictions Ranked by Number of 150m+ Completed Buildings |url=https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/countries |access-date=30 November 2020 |website=The Skyscraper Center}} the largest power plant (the Three Gorges Dam),{{Cite web |title=Three Gorges Dam: The World's Largest Hydroelectric Plant |url=https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/three-gorges-dam-worlds-largest-hydroelectric-plant?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects |access-date=1 December 2020 |website=United States Geological Survey| date=30 August 2018 }} the most extensive ultra-high-voltage transmission network and innovation infrastructure,{{cite web | last=Vara | first=Vasanthi | title=Who are the leading innovators in HVDC transmission systems for the power industry? | website=Power Technology | date=November 18, 2022 | url=https://www.power-technology.com/data-insights/innovators-hvdc-transmission-systems-power/ | access-date=January 3, 2025}}{{cite web | last=You | first=Xiaoying | title='A bullet train for power': China's ultra-high-voltage electricity grid | website=BBC Future | date=November 15, 2024 | url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20241113-will-chinas-ultra-high-voltage-grid-pay-off-for-renewable-power | access-date=January 3, 2025}} and a global satellite navigation system with the largest number of satellites.{{Cite news |last=Gao |first=Ryan Woo |date=12 June 2020 |title=China set to complete Beidou network rivalling GPS in global navigation |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-space-exploration-china-satellite-idUSKBN23J0I9 |access-date=1 December 2020 |work=Reuters}}

{{Main|Telecommunications in China}}

File:P1994-2011.gif and Southeast Asia, 1995–2012]]

China is the largest telecom market in the world and currently has the largest number of active cellphones of any country, with over 1.7 billion subscribers, {{As of|2023|February|lc=y}}. It has the largest number of internet and broadband users, with over 1.1 billion Internet users {{As of|2024|December|df=US|lc=y}}—equivalent to around 78.6% of its population.{{Cite web |date=18 January 2025 |title=China's internet users surpass 1.1 billion, powering digital economy and innovation |url=https://english.www.gov.cn/archive/statistics/202501/18/content_WS678ae7f6c6d0868f4e8eef08.html |access-date=18 January 2025 |publisher=State Council of China}} By 2018, China had more than 1 billion 4G users, accounting for 40% of world's total.{{Cite web |date=22 January 2018 |title=China breaks 1B 4G subscriber mark |url=https://www.mobileworldlive.com/featured-content/home-banner/china-breaks-1b-4g-subscriber-mark/ |access-date=23 February 2019 |website=Mobile World Live}} China is making rapid advances in 5G—by late 2018, China had started large-scale and commercial 5G trials.{{Cite web |last=Woyke |first=Elizabeth |title=China is racing ahead in 5G. Here's what that means. |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612617/china-is-racing-ahead-in-5g-heres-what-it-means/ |access-date=21 February 2019 |website=MIT Technology Review}} {{As of|2023|December}}, China had over 810 million 5G users and 3.38 million base stations installed.{{Cite news |last=Zuo |first=Mandy |date=29 March 2024 |title=China's 5G market set to expand, fuel economic growth as tech solidifies status as pillar industry |url=https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3257119/chinas-5g-market-set-expand-fuel-economic-growth-tech-solidifies-status-pillar-industry |access-date=21 May 2024 |work=South China Morning Post}}

China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, are the three large providers of mobile and internet in China. China Telecom alone served more than 145 million broadband subscribers and 300 million mobile users; China Unicom had about 300 million subscribers; and China Mobile, the largest of them all, had 925 million users, {{As of|2018|lc=y}}.{{Cite web |date=21 August 2018 |title=Blog: China operator H1 2018 scorecard |url=https://www.mobileworldlive.com/blog/blog-china-operator-h1-2018-scorecard/ |access-date=23 February 2019 |website=Mobile World Live}} Combined, the three operators had over 3.4 million 4G base-stations in China.{{Cite web |date=8 November 2018 |title=China ranked in top 5 for 4G penetration |url=https://technode.com/2018/11/08/china-ranked-in-top-5-for-4g-penetration/ |access-date=23 February 2019 |website=TechNode}} Several Chinese telecommunications companies, most notably Huawei and ZTE, have been accused of spying for the Chinese military.{{Cite news |last=Engleman |first=Eric |date=8 October 2012 |title=Huawei, ZTE Provide Opening for China Spying, Report Says |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-07/huawei-zte-provide-opening-for-china-spying-report-says.html |access-date=26 October 2012 |work=Bloomberg News}}

China has developed its own satellite navigation system, dubbed BeiDou, which began offering commercial navigation services across Asia in 2012{{Cite news |date=27 December 2012 |title=China's Beidou GPS-substitute opens to public in Asia |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20852150 |access-date=27 December 2012 |publisher=BBC News}} as well as global services by the end of 2018.{{Cite news |date=26 November 2018 |title=China Is Building a $9 Billion Rival to the American-Run GPS |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-25/china-s-big-dipper-satellites-challenge-the-dominance-of-gps |access-date=21 February 2019 |work=Bloomberg News}} Beidou followed GPS and GLONASS as the third completed global navigation satellite.{{Cite news |last=Elmer |first=Keegan |date=3 August 2020 |title=China promises state support to keep BeiDou satellite system at cutting edge |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3095794/china-promises-state-support-keep-beidou-satellite-system |access-date=22 August 2020 |work=South China Morning Post}}

{{Main|Transport in China}}

File:Duge Bridge.jpg is the highest bridge in the world.]]

File:CR400BF-Z-0312@BJI (20231009152047).jpg high-speed train running near the Beijing CBD]]

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 2022, China's highways had reached a total length of {{convert|177000|km|mi|abbr=on|sp=us}}, making it the longest highway system in the world.{{Cite web |date=23 November 2023 |title=多我国高速公路通车里程稳居世界第一 |trans-title=China's expressway mileage ranks first in the world |url=https://www.gov.cn/lianbo/bumen/202311/content_6916724.htm#:~:text=%E6%96%B0%E5%8D%8E%E7%A4%BE%E5%8C%97%E4%BA%AC11%E6%9C%88,%E7%A8%B3%E5%B1%85%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8C%E7%AC%AC%E4%B8%80%E3%80%82 |access-date=21 May 2024 |website=State Council of the People's Republic of China}} China has the world's largest market for automobiles,{{Cite news |date=8 January 2010 |title=China overtakes US as world's biggest car market |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/jan/08/china-us-car-sales-overtakes |access-date=7 June 2023 |work=The Guardian}}{{Cite news |last=Ho |first=Patricia Jiayi |date=12 January 2010 |title=China Overtakes U.S. to Become Largest Auto Market |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703652104574651833126548364 |access-date=6 June 2023 |work=The Wall Street Journal}} having surpassed the United States in both auto sales and production. The country is the world's largest exporter of cars by number as of 2023.{{Cite web |last=Harley |first=Michael |title=China Overtakes Japan As The World's Biggest Exporter Of Passenger Cars |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelharley/2023/05/22/china-overtakes-japan-as-the-worlds-biggest-exporter-of-passenger-cars |access-date=6 June 2023 |website=Forbes}}{{Cite news |date=19 May 2023 |title=China overtakes Japan as world's top car exporter |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65643064 |access-date=6 June 2023 |work=BBC News}} A side-effect of the rapid growth of China's road network has been a significant rise in traffic accidents.{{Cite web |title=Road Traffic Accidents Increase Dramatically Worldwide |url=http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2006/RoadTrafficAccidentsIncreaseDramaticallyWorldwide.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010151203/http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2006/RoadTrafficAccidentsIncreaseDramaticallyWorldwide.aspx |archive-date=10 October 2017 |access-date=16 November 2013 |publisher=Population Reference Bureau}} In urban areas, bicycles remain a common mode of transport, despite the increasing prevalence of automobiles – {{As of|2023|lc=y}}, there are approximately 200 million bicycles in China.{{Cite news |date=17 September 2023 |title=China has 200 million bicycles in use: industry association |url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202309/17/WS6506c419a310d2dce4bb6262.html |access-date=21 May 2024 |work=China Daily}}

China's railways, which are operated by the state-owned China State Railway Group Company, 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.{{Cite web |date=21 June 2007 |title=Chinese Railways Carry Record Passengers, Freight |url=http://www.china.org.cn/english/travel/214698.htm |website=Xinhua}} {{As of|2023}}, the country had {{convert|159000|km|mi|0|abbr=on|sp=us}} of railways, the second-longest network in the world.{{Cite news |date=1 March 2024 |title=中国国家铁路集团有限公司2023年统计公报 |trans-title=China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. Statistical Bulletin 2023 |url=http://www.china-railway.com.cn/xwzx/zhxw/202403/t20240315_134819.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240408045401/http://www.china-railway.com.cn/xwzx/zhxw/202403/t20240315_134819.html |archive-date=8 April 2024 |access-date=8 April 2024 |language=Chinese}} The railways strain to meet enormous demand particularly during the Chinese New Year holiday, when the world's largest annual human migration takes place.{{Cite news |date=22 January 2009 |title=China's trains desperately overcrowded for Lunar New Year |url=http://seattletimes.com/html/travel/2008659473_webchinatrains22.html |work=The Seattle Times}} China's high-speed rail (HSR) system started construction in the early 2000s. By the end of 2023, high speed rail in China had reached {{convert|45000|km|mi|0|abbr=off|sp=us}} of dedicated lines alone, making it the longest HSR network in the world.{{Cite news |date=9 April 2024 |title=China's operating high-speed railway hits 45,000 km |url=http://en.people.cn/n3/2024/0109/c90000-20119756.html |access-date=22 April 2024 |work=People's Daily}} Services on the Beijing–Shanghai, Beijing–Tianjin, and Chengdu–Chongqing lines reach up to {{convert|350|km/h|0|abbr=on|sp=us}}, making them the fastest conventional high speed railway services in the world. With an annual ridership of over 2.3 billion passengers in 2019, it is the world's busiest.{{Cite web |last=陈子琰 |title=China's railways report 3.57b passenger trips in 2019 |url=http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202001/03/WS5e0eada7a310cf3e355824c4.html |access-date=10 March 2021 |website=China Daily}} The network includes the Beijing–Guangzhou 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.{{Cite news |date=26 December 2012 |title=China opens world's longest high-speed rail route |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-20842836 |access-date=26 December 2012 |publisher=BBC}} The Shanghai maglev train, which reaches {{convert|431|km/h|0|abbr=on|sp=us}}, is the fastest commercial train service in the world.{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Ben |date=7 December 2022 |title=Flying without wings: The world's fastest trains |url=https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/worlds-fastest-trains-cmd/index.html |access-date=16 May 2023 |work=CNN Travel}} Since 2000, the growth of rapid transit systems in Chinese cities has accelerated.{{Cite news |last=Areddy |first=James T. |date=10 November 2013 |title=China's Building Push Goes Underground |url=https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303482504579177830819719254 |access-date=16 November 2013 |work=The Wall Street Journal}} {{As of|2023|December}}, 55 Chinese cities have urban mass transit systems in operation.{{Cite web |date=13 January 2024 |title=China's urban rail transit trips skyrocket 130% in December 2023 |url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202401/13/WS65a2590fa3105f21a507c216.html |access-date=21 May 2024 |website=China Daily}} {{As of|2020}}, China boasts the five longest metro systems in the world with the networks in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Shenzhen being the largest.

The civil aviation industry in China is mostly state-dominated, with the Chinese government retaining a majority stake in the majority of Chinese airlines. The top three airlines in China are Air China, China Southern Airlines, and China Eastern Airlines,{{Cite web |title=China's big three state airlines lag behind profitable private peers |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Transportation/China-s-big-three-state-airlines-lag-behind-profitable-private-peers |access-date=2025-02-23 |website=Nikkei Asia |language=en}} which collectively made up 71% of the market in 2018, are all state-owned. Air travel has expanded rapidly in the last decades, with the number of passengers increasing from 16.6 million in 1990 to 551.2 million in 2017.{{Cite web |last=Du |first=Harry |date=26 September 2018 |title=How is Commercial Aviation Propelling China's Economic Development? |url=https://chinapower.csis.org/china-commercial-aviation |access-date=17 December 2023 |website=ChinaPower Project |language=en-US}} China had approximately 259 airports in 2024.{{Cite web |date=18 February 2021 |title=China adds 43 civil transport airports in 5 years |url=http://english.www.gov.cn/news/photos/202102/18/content_WS602de0adc6d0719374af8fdd.html |access-date=16 May 2023 |publisher=State Council of the People's Republic of China}}

China has over 2,000 river and seaports, about 130 of which are open to foreign shipping.{{Cite web |date=13 September 2021 |title=China's Global Network of Shipping Ports Reveal Beijing's Strategy |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/6224958.html |access-date=15 September 2022 |website=VOA}} Of the fifty busiest container ports, 15 are located in China, of which the busiest is the Port of Shanghai, also the busiest port in the world.{{Cite web |title=The Top 50 Container Ports |url=https://www.worldshipping.org/top-50-ports |access-date=14 July 2022 |website=World Shipping Council |location=Washington, D.C.}} The country's inland waterways are the world's sixth-longest, and total {{convert|27700|km|0|abbr=on}}.{{Cite web |title=Waterways – The World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/waterways/country-comparison |access-date=14 July 2022 |website=The World Factbook |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency}}

{{Main|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.{{Cite news |last=Hook |first=Leslie |date=14 May 2013 |title=China: High and dry: Water shortages put a brake on economic growth |url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/7d6f69ea-bc73-11e2-b344-00144feab7de.html |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/7d6f69ea-bc73-11e2-b344-00144feab7de.html |archive-date=10 December 2022 |access-date=15 May 2013 |work=Financial Times}} According to the Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation, 93% of rural households had access to basic sanitation in 2022 (up from 77% in 2015).{{Cite book |title=Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000–2022 |date=2023 |isbn=978-92-806-5476-9 |pages=124}} The ongoing South–North Water Transfer Project intends to abate water shortage in the north.{{Cite web |last=Freeman |first=Carla |title=Quenching the Dragon's Thirst: The South-North Water Transfer Project—Old Plumbing for New China? |url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/publication/Quenching%20the%20Dragon%25E2%2580%2599s%20Thirst.pdf |access-date=16 May 2023 |website=Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars}}

{{Main|Demographics of China}}

File:China Population Density, 2000 (6171905307).jpg

The 2020 Chinese census recorded the population as approximately 1,411,778,724. About 17.95% were 14 years old or younger, 63.35% were between 15 and 59 years old, and 18.7% were over 60 years old.{{Cite web |date=11 May 2021 |title=Communiqué of the Seventh National Population Census (No. 2) |url=http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/PressRelease/202105/t20210510_1817187.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511104840/http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/PressRelease/202105/t20210510_1817187.html |archive-date=11 May 2021 |access-date=11 May 2021 |website=National Bureau of Statistics of China}} Between 2010 and 2020, the average population growth rate was 0.53%.

Given concerns about population growth, China implemented a two-child limit during the 1970s, and, in 1979, began to advocate for an even stricter limit of one child per family. Beginning in the mid-1980s, however, given the unpopularity of the strict limits, China began to allow some major exemptions, particularly in rural areas, resulting in what was actually a "1.5"-child policy from the mid-1980s to 2015; ethnic minorities were also exempt from one-child limits.{{Cite web |last=Kızlak |first=Kamuran |date=21 June 2021 |title=Çin'de üç çocuk: Siz yapın, biz bakalım |trans-title=Three children in China: You do it, we'll see |url=https://www.birgun.net/haber/cin-de-uc-cocuk-siz-yapin-biz-bakalim-349097 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816120012/https://www.birgun.net/haber/cin-de-uc-cocuk-siz-yapin-biz-bakalim-349097 |archive-date=16 August 2022 |website=BirGün |language=Turkish}} The next major loosening of the policy was enacted in December 2013, allowing families to have two children if one parent is an only child.{{Cite news |date=28 December 2013 |title=China formalizes easing of one-child policy |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/12/28/china-one-child-policy/4230785 |access-date=16 May 2023 |work=USA Today}} In 2016, the one-child policy was replaced in favor of a two-child policy.{{Cite news |last=Birtles |first=Bill |author-link=Bill Birtles |date=31 May 2021 |title=China introduces three-child policy to alleviate problem of ageing population |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-31/china-introduces-three-child-policy/100179832 |access-date=31 May 2021 |work=ABC News}} A three-child policy was announced on 31 May 2021, due to population aging, and in July 2021, all family size limits as well as penalties for exceeding them were removed.{{Cite news |last=Cheng |first=Evelyn |date=21 July 2021 |title=China scraps fines, will let families have as many children as they'd like |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/21/china-scraps-fines-for-families-violating-childbirth-limits.html |access-date=29 April 2022 |work=CNBC}} In 2023, the total fertility rate was reported to be 1.09, ranking among the lowest in the world.{{Cite web |last=Qi |first=Liyan |date=19 August 2023 |title=China's Fertility Rate Dropped Sharply, Study Shows |url=https://www.wsj.com/world/china/chinas-fertility-rate-dropped-sharply-study-shows-e97e647f |url-access=subscription |access-date=12 December 2023 |website=The Wall Street Journal |language=en-US}} In 2023, National Bureau of Statistics estimated that the population fell 850,000 from 2021 to 2022, the first decline since 1961.{{Cite news |last=Ng |first=Kelly |date=17 January 2023 |title=China's population falls for first time since 1961 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-64300190 |access-date=17 January 2023 |publisher=BBC News}}

According to one group of scholars, one-child limits had little effect on population growth{{Cite journal |last1=Feng |first1=Wang |last2=Yong |first2=Cai |last3=Gu |first3=Baochang |date=2012 |title=Population, Policy, and Politics: How Will History Judge China's One-Child Policy? |url=http://dragonreport.com/Dragon_Report/Challenges_files/Wang_pp115-129.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Population and Development Review |volume=38 |pages=115–129 |doi=10.1111/j.1728-4457.2013.00555.x |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190606203524/http://dragonreport.com/Dragon_Report/Challenges_files/Wang_pp115-129.pdf |archive-date=6 June 2019 |access-date=16 May 2018}} or total population size.{{Cite journal |last1=Whyte |first1=Martin K. |last2=Wang |first2=Feng |last3=Cai |first3=Yong |date=2015 |title=Challenging Myths about China's One-Child Policy |url=http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/martinwhyte/files/challenging_myths_published_version.pdf |url-status=live |journal=The China Journal |volume=74 |pages=144–159 |doi=10.1086/681664 |pmc=6701844 |pmid=31431804 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/martinwhyte/files/challenging_myths_published_version.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022}} However, these scholars have been challenged.{{Cite journal |last=Goodkind |first=Daniel |date=2017 |title=The Astonishing Population Averted by China's Birth Restrictions: Estimates, Nightmares, and Reprogrammed Ambitions |journal=Demography |volume=54 |issue=4 |pages=1375–1400 |doi=10.1007/s13524-017-0595-x |pmid=28762036 |s2cid=13656899 |doi-access=free}} The policy, along with traditional preference for boys, may have contributed to an imbalance in the sex ratio at birth.{{Cite news |last=Parry |first=Simon |date=9 January 2005 |title=Shortage of girls forces China to criminalize selective abortion |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/1480778/Shortage-of-girls-forces-China-to-criminalise-selective-abortion.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/1480778/Shortage-of-girls-forces-China-to-criminalise-selective-abortion.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |access-date=22 October 2012 |work=The Daily Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite news |date=12 January 2007 |title=Chinese facing shortage of wives |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6254763.stm |access-date=23 March 2009 |work=BBC News}} The 2020 census found that males accounted for 51.2% of the total population.{{Cite web |date=11 May 2021 |title=Communiqué of the Seventh National Population Census (No. 4) |url=http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/PressRelease/202105/t20210510_1817189.html |access-date=16 May 2023 |website=National Bureau of Statistics of China}} However, China's sex ratio is more balanced than it was in 1953, when males accounted for 51.8% of the population.{{Cite news |date=20 October 2011 |title=Chinese mainland gender ratios most balanced since 1950s: census data |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-04/28/c_13850191.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110911115321/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-04/28/c_13850191.htm |archive-date=11 September 2011 |access-date=19 May 2023 |work=Xinhua News Agency}}

{{See also|List of cities in China|List of cities in China by population|Megalopolises in China}}

File:China Top 10 Biggest Cities.png 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 67% in 2024.{{Cite web |title=Urban population (% of total) |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS?locations=CN |access-date=28 May 2018 |website=World Bank}}{{Cite news |date=16 April 2014 |title=Where China's future will happen |url=https://www.economist.com/leaders/2014/04/16/where-chinas-future-will-happen |access-date=18 February 2023 |newspaper=The Economist}}{{Cite news |date=17 January 2025 |title=中国人口连续三年下降 去年减少139万人 |trans-title=China's population has declined for three consecutive years, with a decrease of 1.39 million people last year |url=https://www.zaobao.com.sg/realtime/china/story20250117-5747402 |access-date=18 January 2025 |work=Lianhe Zaobao}} China has over 160 cities with a population of over one million,{{Cite news |last=FlorCruz |first=Jaime A. |date=20 January 2012 |title=China's urban explosion: A 21st century challenge |url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/20/world/asia/china-florcruz-urban-growth/index.html |access-date=18 February 2015 |work=CNN}} including the 18 megacities {{As of|2024|lc=y}}{{Cite news |last=Wong |first=Maggie Hiufu |title=Megacities and more: A guide to China's most impressive urban centers |url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/china-top-megacities/index.html |access-date=26 October 2020 |publisher=CNN}}{{Cite web |last=张洁 |title=Chongqing, Chengdu top new first-tier cities by population |url=http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202106/15/WS60c84b56a31024ad0bac6db4.html |access-date=3 November 2021 |website=China Daily}} (cities with a population of over 10 million) of Chongqing, Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Xi'an, Suzhou, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Hangzhou, Linyi, Shijiazhuang, Dongguan, Qingdao, Changsha and Hefei.{{Cite web |title=17 Chinese cities have a population of over 10 million in 2021 |url=https://www.ecns.cn/news/cns-wire/2022-05-26/detail-ihaytawr8118445.shtml |access-date=31 May 2022 |website=www.ecns.cn}}{{Cite web |title=China's Hefei Is Fourth City in Yangtze River Delta Region With Over 10 Million Residents |url=https://www.yicaiglobal.com/news/hefei-becomes-the-18th-city-in-china-with-a-population-of-10-million |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=www.yicaiglobal.com |language=en}} The total permanent population of Chongqing, Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu is above 20 million.{{Cite web |last=孙迟 |title=China's inland rides waves of innovation, new opportunities |url=https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202205/27/WS62902a26a310fd2b29e5f516.html |access-date=31 May 2022 |website=global.chinadaily.com.cn |quote=Chengdu and Chongqing are now two of the only four cities (the other two are Beijing and Shanghai) in China with populations of more than 20 million.}} Shanghai is China's most populous urban area{{Cite book |last=Demographia |url=http://www.demographia.com/db-worldua.pdf |title=Demographia World Urban Areas |date=March 2013 |edition=9th |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501024602/http://demographia.com/db-worldua.pdf |archive-date=1 May 2013}}{{Cite book |url=http://www.keepeek.com/Digital-Asset-Management/oecd/urban-rural-and-regional-development/oecd-urban-policy-reviews-china-2015_9789264230040-en#page39 |title=OECD Urban Policy Reviews: China 2015 |date=18 April 2015 |publisher=OECD |isbn=978-9-2642-3003-3 |page=37 |doi=10.1787/9789264230040-en |archive-date=2017-03-27 |access-date=2019-09-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170327210032/http://www.keepeek.com/Digital-Asset-Management/oecd/urban-rural-and-regional-development/oecd-urban-policy-reviews-china-2015_9789264230040-en#page39 |url-status=dead }} while Chongqing is its largest city proper, the only city in China with a permanent population of over 30 million.{{Cite web |date=28 January 2016 |script-title=zh:2015年重庆常住人口3016.55万人 继续保持增长态势 |url=http://cq.cqnews.net/html/2016-01/28/content_36292655.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160129083111/http://cq.cqnews.net/html/2016-01/28/content_36292655.htm |archive-date=29 January 2016 |access-date=13 February 2016 |publisher=Chongqing News |language=zh |df=dmy-all}} The figures in the table below are from the 2020 census, and are only estimates of the urban populations within administrative city limits; a different ranking exists for total municipal populations. The large "floating populations" of migrant workers make conducting censuses in urban areas difficult;Francesco Sisci. "China's floating population a headache for census". The Straits Times. 22 September 2000. the figures below include only long-term residents.

{{Most populous cities in the People's Republic of China|class=info}}

{{Main|List of ethnic groups in China|Ethnic minorities in China|Ethnic groups in Chinese history}}

File:China ethnolinguistic 1967.jpg

China legally recognizes 56 distinct ethnic groups, who comprise the Zhonghua minzu. The largest of these nationalities are the Han Chinese, who constitute more than 91% of the total population. The Han Chinese – the world's largest single ethnic group{{Cite news |last=Lilly |first=Amanda |date=7 July 2009 |title=A Guide to China's Ethnic Groups |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/08/AR2009070802718.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131209112957/http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2009-07-07/world/36836997_1_muslim-uighurs-chinese-government-xinjiang-province |archive-date=9 December 2013 |access-date=19 May 2023 |newspaper=The Washington Post}} – outnumber other ethnic groups in every place excluding Tibet, Xinjiang,{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/chinasgeographyg0000unse |title=China's Geography: Globalization and the Dynamics of Political, Economic, and Social Change |date=2011 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |isbn=978-0-7425-6784-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/chinasgeographyg0000unse/page/102 102] |url-access=registration}} Linxia,{{Cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Bo |last2=Druijven |first2=Peter |last3=Strijker |first3=Dirk |date=17 September 2017 |title=A tale of three cities: negotiating ethnic identity and acculturation in northwest China |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08873631.2017.1375779 |journal=Journal of Cultural Geography |language=en |publication-place=University of Groningen |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=44–74 |doi=10.1080/08873631.2017.1375779 |issn=0887-3631 |quote=The major Muslim groups in Linxia are the Hui and the Dongxiang, accounting for 31.6% and 26.0% of the population, respectively, while the Han group makes up 39.7% (The Sixth National Census).}} and autonomous prefectures like Xishuangbanna.{{Cite web |title=Ecosystem services and management of Long Forest created by Dai Indigenous People in Xishuangbanna, China |url=https://cases.open.ubc.ca/ecosystem-services-and-management-of-long-forest-created-by-dai-indigenous-people-in-xishuangbanna-china |access-date=23 February 2024 |website=Open Case Studies |publication-place=University of British Columbia}} Ethnic minorities account for less than 10% of the population of China, according to the 2020 census. Compared with the 2010 population census, the Han population increased by 60,378,693 persons, or 4.93%, while the population of the 55 national minorities combined increased by 11,675,179 persons, or 10.26%. The 2020 census recorded a total of 845,697 foreign nationals living in mainland China.{{Cite web |date=11 May 2021 |title=Communiqué of the Seventh National Population Census (No. 8) |url=http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/PressRelease/202105/t20210510_1817193.html |access-date=22 April 2023 |website=National Bureau of Statistics of China}}

{{Main|Languages of China|List of endangered languages in China}}

File:Lihaozhai High School - P1360829.JPG, Yunnan, written in Hani using the Latin alphabet, Nisu using the Yi script, and Chinese.]]

There are as many as 292 living languages in China.[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=CN Languages of China] – from Lewis, M. Paul (ed.), 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition. Dallas, TX: SIL International. The languages most commonly spoken belong to the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family, which contains Mandarin (spoken by 80% of the population),{{Cite news |title=Over 80 percent of Chinese population speak Mandarin |last1=Zhao |first1=E'nuo |last2=Wu |first2=Yue |date=16 October 2020 |url=http://en.people.cn/n3/2020/1016/c90000-9769716.html |access-date=15 September 2023 |work=People's Daily}}{{Cite book |last1=Kaplan |first1=Robert B. |title=Language Planning and Policy in Asia: Japan, Nepal, Taiwan and Chinese characters |last2=Baldauf |first2=Richard B. |year=2008 |publisher=Multilingual Matters |isbn=978-1-8476-9095-1 |page=42}} and other varieties of Chinese language: Jin, Wu, Min, Hakka, Yue, Xiang, Gan, Hui, Ping and unclassified Tuhua (Shaozhou Tuhua and Xiangnan Tuhua).{{Cite book |publisher=Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, City University of Hong Kong |page=8 |year=2012 |trans-title=Language Atlas of China |edition=2nd |title-link=Language Atlas of China |orig-date=1987 |script-title=zh:中国语言地图集 |place=Beijing |volume=1: Dialects |isbn=978-7-100-07054-6}} 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 southwestern 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, local ethnic groups speak Altaic languages including Manchu, Mongolian and several Turkic languages: Uyghur, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Salar and Western Yugur.{{Cite news |last=Li Yang |date=17 November 2015 |title=Yugur people and Sunan Yugur autonomous county |url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/m/gansu/2015-11/17/content_22479011.htm |access-date=23 February 2024 |work=China Daily}} Korean is spoken natively along the border with North Korea. Sarikoli, the language of Tajiks in western Xinjiang, is an Indo-European language.{{Cite journal |last1=Joo |first1=Ian |last2=Hsu |first2=Yu-Yin |date=September 2021 |title=A Preliminary Survey of Linguistic Areas in East Asia Based on Phonological Features |url=https://kb.osu.edu/items/a24b1342-748d-44da-a314-faa4d24ca8cb |journal=Buckeye East Asian Linguistics |language=en-US |publication-place=Hong Kong Polytechnic University |volume=5 |pages=58 |issn=2378-9387 |quote=Sarikoli, an Indo-European language spoken in northwestern China, shows some connection to Turkic languages (Kazakh and Uyghur) spoken nearby. |via=Ohio State University Knowledge Bank}} Taiwanese indigenous peoples, including a small population on the mainland, speak Austronesian languages.[https://web.archive.org/web/20130725061022/http://english.gov.cn/2005-08/16/content_23691.htm "Languages"]. 2005. Government of China. Retrieved 31 May 2015.

Standard Chinese, a variety based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin, is the national language of China, having de facto official status. It is used as a lingua franca between people of different linguistic backgrounds.{{Cite law |date=31 October 2000 |title=Law of the People's Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language (Order of the President No. 37) |url=http://www.gov.cn/english/laws/2005-09/19/content_64906.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724204951/http://www.gov.cn/english/laws/2005-09/19/content_64906.htm |archive-date=24 July 2013 |access-date=21 June 2013 |publisher=Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China |quote=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.}} In the autonomous regions of China, other languages may also serve as a lingua franca, such as Uyghur in Xinjiang, where governmental services in Uyghur are constitutionally guaranteed.{{Cite book |last=Dwyer |first=Arienne M. |title=The Xinjiang Conflict: Uyghur Identity, Language Policy, and Political Discourse |year=2005 |publisher=East-West Center Washington |isbn=978-1-9327-2828-6 |pages=43–44}}

{{Main|Religion in China}}

File:Distribution of religions in China.png (including Confucianism, Taoism, and groups of Chinese Buddhism)
{{colorbull|#FFFF00}} Buddhism tout court
{{colorbull|#008000}} Islam
{{colorbull|#FF00FF}} Ethnic minorities' indigenous religions
{{colorbull|#00CCFF}} Mongolian folk religion
{{colorbull|#00FF00}} Northeast China folk religion influenced by Tungus and Manchu shamanism; widespread Shanrendao]]

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 country is officially atheist. Religious affairs and issues in the country are overseen by the National Religious Affairs Administration, under the United Front Work Department.{{Cite web |script-title=zh:国家宗教事务局 |trans-title=National Religious Affairs Administration |url=https://www.sara.gov.cn/ |publisher=Chinese Government |language=zh}}

Over the millennia, the Chinese civilization has been influenced by various religious movements. The "three doctrines" of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism have historically shaped Chinese culture,{{Cite book |last=Yao |first=Xinzhong |title=Chinese Religion: A Contextual Approach |publisher=A&C Black |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-8470-6475-2 |location=London |pages=9–11 |author-link=Xinzhong Yao}}{{Cite book |last=Miller |first=James |title=Chinese Religions in Contemporary Societies |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-8510-9626-8 |page=57}} enriching a theological and spiritual framework of traditional religion which harks back to the early Shang and Zhou dynasty. Chinese folk religion, which is framed by the three doctrines and by other traditions,Tam Wai Lun, "Local Religion in Contemporary China", in {{Cite book |last=Xie |first=Zhibin |title=Religious Diversity and Public Religion in China |publisher=Ashgate |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7546-5648-7 |page=73}} consists in allegiance to the shen, who can be deities of the surrounding nature or ancestral principles of human groups, concepts of civility, culture heroes, many of whom feature in Chinese mythology and history.{{Cite book |last=Teiser |first=Stephen F. |title=Religions of China in Practice |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1996 |editor-last=Lopez |editor-first=Donald S. Jr. |chapter=The Spirits of Chinese Religion |chapter-url=http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/cosmos/main/spirits_of_chinese_religion.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/cosmos/main/spirits_of_chinese_religion.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live |via=Asia for Educators Online, Columbia University}}. Extracts in [http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/cosmos/bgov/cosmos.htm The Chinese Cosmos: Basic Concepts]. Amongst the most popular cults of folk religion are those of the Yellow Emperor, embodiment of the God of Heaven and one of the two divine patriarchs of the Chinese people,{{Cite journal |last=Laliberté |first=André |year=2011 |title=Religion and the State in China: The Limits of Institutionalization |url=http://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/giga/jcca/article/view/415/413 |journal=Journal of Current Chinese Affairs |volume=40 |issue=2 |page=7 |doi=10.1177/186810261104000201 |s2cid=30608910 |doi-access=free}}{{Cite book |last=Sautman |first=Barry |author-link=Barry Sautman |title=The Construction of Racial Identities in China and Japan: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives |publisher=University of Hawaiʻi Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-9-6220-9443-7 |editor-last=Dikötter |editor-first=Frank |pages=80–81 |chapter=Myths of Descent, Racial Nationalism and Ethnic Minorities in the People's Republic of China}} of Mazu (goddess of the seas), Guandi (god of war and business), Caishen (god of prosperity and richness), Pangu and many others. In the early decades of the 21st century, the Chinese government has been engaged in a rehabilitation of folk cults—formally recognizing them as "folk beliefs" as distinguished from doctrinal religions,{{Cite encyclopedia |year=2019 |title=The Secular in South, East, and Southeast Asia. Global Diversities |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |last=Wang |first=Xiaoxuan |editor-last=Dean |editor-first=Kenneth |pages=137–164 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-89369-3_7 |isbn=978-3-0300-7751-8 |contribution='Folk Belief', Cultural Turn of Secular Governance and Shifting Religious Landscape in Contemporary China |editor-last2=Van der Veer |editor-first2=Peter |s2cid=158975292 |contribution-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325765161}} and often reconstructing them into forms of "highly curated" civil religion{{Cite news |last=Johnson |first=Ian |author-link=Ian Johnson (writer) |date=21 December 2019 |title=China's New Civil Religion |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/21/opinion/sunday/chinas-religion-xi.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200419190905/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/21/opinion/sunday/chinas-religion-xi.html |archive-date=19 April 2020 |work=The New York Times}}—as well as in a national and international promotion of Buddhism.{{Cite report |url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/berkley-center/201111TheChineseStatesGlobalPromotionOfBuddhism.pdf |title=The Chinese State's Global Promotion of Buddhism |last1=Ashiwa |first1=Yoshiko |last2=Wank |first2=David L. |publisher=Berkley Center, Georgetown University |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210216051017/https://s3.amazonaws.com/berkley-center/201111TheChineseStatesGlobalPromotionOfBuddhism.pdf |archive-date=16 February 2021 |url-status=live |year=2020 |series=The Geopolitics of Religious Soft Power |number=4}} China is home to many of the world's tallest religious statues, representing either deities of Chinese folk religion or enlightened beings of Buddhism; the tallest of all is the Spring Temple Buddha in Henan.

File:中国道教 拜章昇疏 01.jpg

Statistics on religious affiliation in China are difficult to gather due to complex and varying definitions of religion and the diffusive nature of Chinese religious traditions. Scholars note that in China there is no clear boundary between the three doctrines and local folk religious practices. Chinese religions or some of their currents are also definable as non-theistic and humanistic, since they do not hold that divine creativity is completely transcendent, but that it is inherent in the world and in particular in the human being.{{Cite conference |last=Adler |first=Joseph A. |year=2011 |title=The Heritage of Non-Theistic Belief in China |url=http://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/Religion/Fac/Adler/Writings/Non-theistic.pdf |conference=Toward a Reasonable World: The Heritage of Western Humanism, Skepticism, and Freethought |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/Religion/Fac/Adler/Writings/Non-theistic.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live}} According to studies published in 2023, compiling demographic analyses conducted throughout the 2010s and the early 2020s, 70% of the Chinese population believed in or practiced Chinese folk religion—among them, with an approach of non-exclusivity, 33.4% may be identified as Buddhists, 19.6% as Taoists, and 17.7% as adherents of other types of folk religion. Of the remaining population, 25.2% are fully non-believers or atheists, 2.5% are adherents of Christianity, and 1.6% are adherents of Islam. Chinese folk religion also comprises a variety of salvationist doctrinal organized movements which emerged since the Song dynasty.{{Cite journal |last=Broy |first=Nikolas |year=2015 |title=Syncretic Sects and Redemptive Societies. Toward a New Understanding of 'Sectarianism' in the Study of Chinese Religions |url=http://www.nikolas-broy.de/res/Broy%202015%20-%20syncretic%20sects%20and%20redemptive%20societies.pdf |journal=Review of Religion and Chinese Society |volume=2 |issue=4 |page=158 |doi=10.2307/2059958 |jstor=2059958 |s2cid=162946271}} There are also ethnic minorities in China who maintain their own indigenous religions, while major religions characteristic of specific ethnic groups include Tibetan Buddhism among Tibetans, Mongols and Yugurs,{{Cite news |date=10 June 2021 |title=Menjumpai etnis Yugur di atas ketinggian 3.830 mdpl puncak Bars Snow |url=https://www.antaranews.com/berita/2202994/menjumpai-etnis-yugur-di-atas-ketinggian-3830-mdpl-puncak-bars-snow |access-date=23 February 2024 |work=Antara News |language=id |quote=Bedanya lagi, Yugur memeluk agama Buddha Tibet, sedangkan Uighur beragama Islam. Konon, Yugur merupakan orang-orang Uighur yang beragama Buddha yang melarikan diri ke Gansu sejak Kerajaan Khaganate Uighur tumbang pada tahun 840 Masehi.}} and Islam among the Hui, Uyghur, Kazakh,{{Cite news |last=:nl:Lode Vanoost |date=10 March 2024 |title=Op bezoek bij de Oeigoeren in Xinjiang |trans-title=Visiting the Uyghurs in Xinjiang |url=https://www.dewereldmorgen.be/artikel/2024/03/10/op-bezoek-bij-de-oeigoeren-in-xinjiang |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240404054333/https://www.dewereldmorgen.be/artikel/2024/03/10/op-bezoek-bij-de-oeigoeren-in-xinjiang |archive-date=4 April 2024 |work=DeWereldMorgen}} and Kyrgyz peoples, and other ethnicities in the northern and northwestern regions of the country.

{{Main|Education in China|Higher education in China}}

File:13 Peking University.jpg, one of the top-ranked universities in China{{Cite web |date=18 September 2020 |title=Peking University |url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/peking-university |access-date=9 December 2020 |website=Times Higher Education (THE)}}{{Cite web |title=Overall Ranking, Best Chinese Universities Rankings – 2019 |url=http://www.shanghairanking.com/Chinese_Universities_Rankings/Overall-Ranking-2019.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200330045254/http://www.shanghairanking.com/Chinese_Universities_Rankings/Overall-Ranking-2019.html |archive-date=30 March 2020 |access-date=9 December 2020 |website=shanghairanking.com}}]]

Compulsory education in China comprises primary and junior secondary school, which together last for nine years from the age of 6 and 15.{{Cite web |date=23 July 2009 |title=Compulsory Education Law of the People's Republic of China |url=http://en.moe.gov.cn/documents/laws_policies/201506/t20150626_191391.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319045258/https://en.moe.gov.cn/documents/laws_policies/201506/t20150626_191391.html |archive-date=19 March 2022 |access-date=3 November 2021 |website=Ministry of Education}} The Gaokao, China's national university entrance exam, is a prerequisite for entrance into most higher education institutions. Vocational education is available to students at the secondary and tertiary level.{{Cite web |date=3 April 2023 |title=Statistical report on China's educational achievements in 2022 |url=http://en.moe.gov.cn/documents/reports/202304/t20230403_1054100.html |access-date=17 December 2023 |website=Ministry of Education}} More than 10 million Chinese students graduated from vocational colleges every year.{{Cite web |date=23 March 2021 |title=Zheng Yali: vocational education entering a new development stage |url=http://en.moe.gov.cn/features/2021TwoSessions/Voices/VocationalEducation/202103/t20210323_522096.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230128011150/http://en.moe.gov.cn/features/2021TwoSessions/Voices/VocationalEducation/202103/t20210323_522096.html |archive-date=28 January 2023 |access-date=3 November 2021 |website=Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China}} In 2023, about 91.8 percent of students continued their education at a three-year senior secondary school, while 60.2 percent of secondary school graduates were enrolled in higher education.{{Cite web |date=4 March 2024 |title=MOE press conference presents China's educational achievements in 2023 |url=http://en.moe.gov.cn/news/press_releases/202403/t20240311_1119782.html |access-date=23 March 2024 |website=Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China}}

China has the largest education system in the world,{{Cite web |date=August 2021 |title=China Case Study: Situation Analysis of the Effect of and Response to COVID-19 in Asia |url=https://www.unicef.org/eap/media/9321/file/Sit%20An%20-%20China%20Case%20Study.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.unicef.org/eap/media/9321/file/Sit%20An%20-%20China%20Case%20Study.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |access-date=3 November 2021 |website=UNICEF |page=21}} with about 291 million students and 18.92 million full-time teachers in over 498,300 schools in 2023. Annual education investment went from less than US$50 billion in 2003 to more than US$817 billion in 2020.{{Cite news |date=16 January 2013 |title=In Education, China Takes the Lead |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/01/16/business/In-Education-China-Takes-the-Lead.html |access-date=17 June 2023 |work=The New York Times}}{{Cite web |date=7 May 2021 |title=MOE releases 2020 Statistical Bulletin on Educational Spending |url=http://en.moe.gov.cn/news/press_releases/202105/t20210512_531041.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321225632/http://en.moe.gov.cn/news/press_releases/202105/t20210512_531041.html |archive-date=21 March 2023 |access-date=3 November 2021 |website=Ministry of Education}} 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, it only totalled ¥3,204.{{Cite news |last=Roberts |first=Dexter |date=4 April 2013 |title=Chinese Education: The Truth Behind the Boasts |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-04-04/chinese-education-the-truth-behind-the-boasts |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130406202405/http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-04-04/chinese-education-the-truth-behind-the-boasts |archive-date=6 April 2013 |access-date=17 June 2023 |work=Bloomberg News}} China's literacy rate has grown dramatically, from only 20% in 1949 and 65.5% in 1979,{{Cite book |last1=Galtung |first1=Marte Kjær |title=49 Myths about China |last2=Stenslie |first2=Stig |date=2014 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-3622-6 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=qqqDBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA189 189]}} to 97% of the population over age 15 in 2020.{{Cite web |title=Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) - China |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS?end=2020&locations=CN&most_recent_value_desc=true&start=1982 |access-date=4 October 2022 |website=World Bank}}

{{As of|2023}}, China has over 3,074 universities, with over 47.6 million students enrolled in mainland China, giving China the largest higher education system in the world.{{Cite news |last=Zou |first=Shuo |date=3 December 2020 |title=China's higher education system is world's largest, officials say |url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202012/03/WS5fc86ab2a31024ad0ba9999e.html |access-date=3 November 2021 |work=China Daily}} {{As of|2023}}, China had the world's highest number of top universities.{{Cite web |date=15 August 2023 |title=ShanghaiRanking's Academic Ranking of World Universities 2023 Press Release |url=http://www.shanghairanking.com/news/arwu/2023 |access-date=26 December 2023 |website=ShanghaiRanking}}{{Cite web |date=25 October 2022 |title=U.S. News Unveils 2022–2023 Best Global Universities Rankings |url=https://www.usnews.com/info/blogs/press-room/articles/2022-10-25/u-s-news-unveils-2022-2023-best-global-universities-rankings |access-date=26 December 2023 |website=U.S. News & World Report}} Currently, China trails only the United States and the United Kingdom in terms of representation on lists of the top 200 universities according to the 2023 Aggregate Ranking of Top Universities, a composite ranking system of three world-most followed university rankings (ARWU+QS+THE).{{Cite web |title=Country Analysis {{!}} Aggregate Ranking of Top Universities 2023 |url=https://research.unsw.edu.au/artu/indicator |access-date=26 December 2023 |website=UNSW Research}} China is home to two of the highest-ranking universities (Tsinghua University and Peking University) in Asia and emerging economies, according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings{{Cite web |date=2024-10-04 |title=World University Rankings |url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/latest/world-ranking |access-date=2024-11-30 |website=Times Higher Education (THE) |language=en}} and the Academic Ranking of World Universities.{{Cite web |title=ShanghaiRanking's Academic Ranking of World Universities |url=https://www.shanghairanking.com/rankings/arwu/2024 |access-date=2024-11-30 |website=www.shanghairanking.com}} These universities are members of the C9 League, an alliance of elite Chinese universities offering comprehensive and leading education.{{Cite web |date=17 February 2011 |title=Eastern stars: Universities of China's C9 League excel in select fields |url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/eastern-stars-universities-of-chinas-c9-league-excel-in-select-fields/415193.article |access-date=16 May 2023 |website=Times Higher Education World University Rankings}}

{{Main|Health in China}}

{{See also|Medicine in China|Pharmaceutical industry in China}}

File:China, Trends in the Human Development Index 1970-2010.png from 1970 to 2010]]

The National Health Commission, together with its counterparts in the local commissions, oversees the health needs of the population.{{Cite web |title=What we do |url=http://en.nhc.gov.cn/2018-09/22/c_74499.htm |access-date=17 December 2023 |website=National Health Commission}} An emphasis on public health and preventive medicine has characterized Chinese health policy since the early 1950s. 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.{{Cite web |date=14 December 2015 |title=Peking University of Health Sciences |url=https://liemgthailand.com/en/peking-university-of-health-sciences |access-date=9 June 2023 |archive-date=2024-08-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240829063439/https://liemgthailand.com/en/peking-university-of-health-sciences/ |url-status=dead }}

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. Healthcare in China became mostly privatized, and experienced a significant rise in quality. In 2009, the government began a three-year large-scale healthcare provision initiative worth US$124 billion.{{Cite news |last1=Lawrence |first1=Dune |last2=Liu |first2=John |date=22 January 2009 |title=China's $124 Billion Health-Care Plan Aims to Boost Consumption |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aXFagkr3Dr6s |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029211403/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aXFagkr3Dr6s |archive-date=29 October 2013 |access-date=16 January 2020 |work=Bloomberg News}} By 2011, the campaign resulted in 95% of China's population having basic health insurance coverage.{{Cite news |last=Liu |first=Yuanli |date=1 November 2011 |title=China's Health Care Reform: Far From Sufficient |url=https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/11/01/is-china-facing-a-health-care-crisis/chinas-health-care-reform-far-from-sufficient |access-date=16 May 2023 |work=The New York Times}} By 2022, China had established itself as a key producer and exporter of pharmaceuticals, producing around 40 percent of active pharmaceutical ingredients in 2017.{{Cite news |date=5 April 2022 |title=The great medicines migration |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/static/vdata/infographics/chinavaccine-3 |access-date=16 May 2023 |work=Nikkei Asia |archive-date=2024-09-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240929063530/https://asia.nikkei.com/static/vdata/infographics/chinavaccine-3/ |url-status=dead }}

{{As of|2023||df=US}}, the life expectancy at birth exceeds 78 years.{{Cite book |last=Li |first=David Daokui |author-link=David Daokui Li |title=China's World View: Demystifying China to Prevent Global Conflict |date=2024 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0-3932-9239-8 |location=New York, NY}}{{Rp|page=163}} {{As of|2021||df=US}}, the infant mortality rate is 5 per thousand.{{Cite web |title=Mortality rate, infant (per 1,000 live births) – China |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN?locations=CN |access-date=28 October 2013 |publisher=World Bank}} Both have improved significantly since the 1950s.{{efn|The national life expectancy at birth rose from about 31 years in 1949 to 75 years in 2008,{{Cite news |date=4 October 2009 |title=Life expectancy increases by 44 years from 1949 in China's economic powerhouse Guangdong |url=http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90882/6776688.html |work=People's Daily}} and infant mortality decreased from 300 per thousand in the 1950s to around 33 per thousand in 2001.[http://www.china.org.cn/english/19012.htm "China's Infant Mortality Rate Down"]. 11 September 2001. China.org.cn. Retrieved 3 May 2006.}} Rates of stunting, a condition caused by malnutrition, have declined from 33.1% in 1990 to 9.9% in 2010.{{Cite journal |last=Stone |first=R. |year=2012 |title=Despite Gains, Malnutrition Among China's Rural Poor Sparks Concern |journal=Science |volume=336 |issue=6080 |page=402 |doi=10.1126/science.336.6080.402 |pmid=22539691}} 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,{{Cite web |last=McGregor |first=Richard |date=2 July 2007 |title=750,000 a year killed by Chinese pollution |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/8f40e248-28c7-11dc-af78-000b5df10621.html |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/8f40e248-28c7-11dc-af78-000b5df10621.html |archive-date=10 December 2022 |access-date=22 July 2007 |website=Financial Times}} hundreds of millions of cigarette smokers,{{Cite news |last=Tatlow |first=Didi Kirsten |date=10 June 2010 |title=China's Tobacco Industry Wields Huge Power |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/11/world/asia/11iht-letter.html |url-access=limited |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/11/world/asia/11iht-letter.html |archive-date=1 January 2022 |access-date=16 January 2020 |work=The New York Times}}{{cbignore}} and an increase in obesity among urban youths.[http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/china.50/dispatches/09.23.health/ "Serving the people?"]. 1999. Bruce Kennedy. CNN. Retrieved 17 April 2006.[http://english.people.com.cn/english/200008/04/eng20000804_47271.html "Obesity Sickening China's Young Hearts"]. 4 August 2000. People's Daily. Retrieved 17 April 2006. In 2010, air pollution caused 1.2 million premature deaths in China.{{Cite news |last=Wong |first=Edward |date=1 April 2013 |title=Air Pollution Linked to 1.2 Million Premature Deaths in China |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/02/world/asia/air-pollution-linked-to-1-2-million-deaths-in-china.html |url-access=limited |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/02/world/asia/air-pollution-linked-to-1-2-million-deaths-in-china.html |archive-date=1 January 2022 |access-date=14 January 2020 |work=The New York Times}}{{cbignore}} Chinese mental health services are inadequate.{{Cite web |date=25 February 2019 |title=Chinese mental health services falling short: report |url=https://chinaplus.cri.cn/chinaplus/news/china/9/20190225/253543.html |website=China Plus}} China's large population and densely populated cities have led to serious disease outbreaks, such as SARS in 2003, although this has since been largely contained.[https://web.archive.org/web/20040824014230/http://www.who.int/csr/don/2004_05_18a/en/index.html "China's latest SARS outbreak has been contained, but biosafety concerns remain"]. 18 May 2004. World Health Organization. Retrieved 17 April 2006. The COVID-19 pandemic was first identified in Wuhan in December 2019;{{Cite journal |date=20 February 2020 |title=The Epidemiological Characteristics of an Outbreak of 2019 Novel Coronavirus Diseases (COVID-19) – China, 2020 |url=http://www.ne.jp/asahi/kishimoto/clinic/cash/COVID-19.pdf |url-status=live |journal=China CDC Weekly |volume=2 |pages=1–10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200222141550/http://www.ne.jp/asahi/kishimoto/clinic/cash/COVID-19.pdf |archive-date=22 February 2020 |via=Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention}}{{Cite journal |last=Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia Emergency Response Epidemiology Team |date=17 February 2020 |title=The Epidemiological Characteristics of an Outbreak of 2019 Novel Coronavirus Diseases (COVID-19) in China |journal=China CDC Weekly |language=zh |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=145–151 |doi=10.3760/cma.j.issn.0254-6450.2020.02.003 |pmid=32064853 |s2cid=211133882 |script-journal=zh:中华流行病学杂志}} pandemic led the government to enforce strict public health measures intended to completely eradicate the virus, a goal that was eventually abandoned in December 2022 after protests against the policy.{{Cite news |last1=Che |first1=Chang |last2=Chien |first2=Amy Chang |last3=Stevenson |first3=Alexandra |date=7 December 2022 |title=What Has Changed About China's 'Zero Covid' Policy |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/07/world/asia/china-zero-covid-changes.html |work=The New York Times}}{{Cite news |date=7 December 2022 |title=China abandons key parts of zero-Covid strategy after protests |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-63855508 |access-date=30 June 2023 |work=BBC News}}

{{Main|Chinese culture|Culture of the People's Republic of China}}

{{wide image|File:Temple of Heaven, Beijing, China - 010 edit.jpg|1000px|The Temple of Heaven, a center of heaven worship and a UNESCO World Heritage site, symbolizes the Interactions Between Heaven and Mankind.{{Cite web |title=Temple of Heaven: an Imperial Sacrificial Altar in Beijing |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/881 |access-date=18 February 2023 |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre}}}}

File:瘦西湖小金山2017.jpg in a Chinese garden]]

Since ancient times, Chinese culture has been heavily influenced by Confucianism. Chinese culture, in turn, has heavily influenced East Asia and Southeast Asia.{{Cite web |last=Bader |first=Jeffrey A. |date=6 September 2005 |title=China's Role in East Asia: Now and the Future |url=https://www.brookings.edu/on-the-record/chinas-role-in-east-asia-now-and-the-future |access-date=16 May 2023 |website=Brookings Institution}} 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.{{Cite book |title=China: Understanding Its Past |date=1997 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |page=29}} 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.{{Cite news |last=Jacques |first=Martin |date=19 October 2012 |title=A Point of View: What kind of superpower could China be? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19995218 |access-date=21 October 2012 |publisher=BBC News}} Examinations and a culture of merit remain greatly valued in China today.{{Cite journal |date=2005 |title=Historical and Contemporary Exam-driven Education Fever in China |url=http://suen.educ.psu.edu/~hsuen/pubs/KEDI%20Yu.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=KEDI Journal of Educational Policy |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=17–33 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150301123007/http://suen.educ.psu.edu/~hsuen/pubs/KEDI%20Yu.pdf |archive-date=1 March 2015}}

File:Fenghuang old town.JPG, an ancient town that harbors many architectural remains of Ming and Qing styles{{Cite web |title=Fenghuang Ancient City |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5337 |access-date=19 February 2023 |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre}}]]

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,{{Cite web |date=July 1987 |title="China: Traditional arts". Library of Congress – Country Studies |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+cn0133) |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050226150229/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+cn0133%29 |archive-date=26 February 2005 |access-date=1 November 2011 |website=Library of Congress Country Studies}}{{Cite encyclopedia |title=China: Cultural life: The arts |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-258942/China |access-date=1 November 2011}} and folk and variety art in particular have sparked interest nationally and even worldwide.{{Cite web |date=July 1987 |title=China: Folk and Variety Arts |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+cn0138) |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041114173430/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+cn0138%29 |archive-date=14 November 2004 |access-date=1 November 2011 |website=Library of Congress Country Studies}} Access to foreign media remains heavily restricted.{{Cite news |last=Kuo |first=Lily |date=13 March 2013 |title=Why China is letting 'Django Unchained' slip through its censorship regime |url=http://qz.com/62717/why-china-is-letting-django-unchained-slip-through-its-censorship-regime/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514072402/http://qz.com/62717/why-china-is-letting-django-unchained-slip-through-its-censorship-regime/ |archive-date=14 May 2013 |access-date=12 July 2013 |work=Quartz}}

{{Main|Chinese architecture|3 = List of World Heritage Sites in China}}

Chinese architecture has developed over millennia in China and has remained a vestigial source of perennial influence on the development of East Asian architecture,{{Cite book |last=Goodrich |first=L. Carrington |title=A Short History of the Chinese People |date=2007 |publisher=Sturgis Press |isbn=978-1-4067-6976-0 |edition=Third}}{{Cite book |last=Formichi |first=Chiara |title=Religious pluralism, state and society in Asia |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-1345-7542-8}}{{Cite book |last1=Robin W. Winks |title=Historiography |last2=Alaine M. Low |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-1915-4241-1}} including in Japan, Korea, and Mongolia.{{Cite web |last=Cartwright |first=Mark |title=Ancient Chinese Architecture |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Chinese_Architecture |access-date=19 February 2023 |website=World History Encyclopedia}} and minor influences on the architecture of Southeast and South Asia including the countries of Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines.{{Cite book |last=Bandaranayake |first=Senake |title=Sinhalese monastic architecture: the viháras of Anurádhapura |date=1974 |publisher=Brill |isbn=9-0040-3992-9}}{{Cite book |last1=Nithi Sathāpitānon |title=Architecture of Thailand: a guide to traditional and contemporary forms |last2=Brian Mertens |date=2012 |publisher=Didier Millet |isbn=978-9-8142-6086-2}}

Chinese architecture is characterized by bilateral symmetry, use of enclosed open spaces, feng shui (e.g. directional hierarchies),{{Cite book |last1=Tuobin |title=Bu lu ke lin = Brooklyn |last2=托宾 Toibin |first2=Colm |date=2021 |publisher=Shang hai yi wen chu ban she you xian gong si |others=Bo,Li, 柏栎 |isbn=978-7-5327-8659-6 |edition=Di 1 ban |language=zh}} a horizontal emphasis, and an allusion to various cosmological, mythological or in general symbolic elements. Chinese architecture traditionally classifies structures according to type, ranging from pagodas to palaces.{{Cite book |last1=Itō |first1=Chūta |title=Zhongguo jian zhu shi |last2=伊藤忠太 |date=2017 |publisher=中国画报出版社 |others=Yizhuang Liao, 廖伊庄 |isbn=978-7-5146-1318-6 |edition=Di 1 ban}}

File:Tian'anmen from the square (20200825114150).jpg, a city square in the city center of Beijing. Tiananmen is the entrance gate of the Forbidden City.]]

Chinese architecture varies widely based on status or affiliation, such as whether the structures were constructed for emperors, commoners, or for religious purposes. Other variations in Chinese architecture are shown in vernacular styles associated with different geographic regions and different ethnic heritages, such as the stilt houses in the south, the Yaodong buildings in the northwest, the yurt buildings of nomadic people, and the Siheyuan buildings in the north.{{Cite book |last=徐怡涛. |title=Zhong guo jian zhu |date=2010 |publisher=Gao deng jiao yu chu ban she |others=Xu yi tao, 徐怡涛. |isbn=978-7-0402-7421-9}}

{{Main|Chinese literature}}

File:Pekin przedstawienie tradycjnego teatru chinskiego 7.JPG are common themes in Peking opera.]]

Chinese literature has its roots in the Zhou dynasty's literary tradition.{{Cite web |script-title=zh:中国文学史概述 |url=http://cai.jstvu.edu.cn/cai/daxueyuwen/2/two/xxck.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722034509/http://cai.jstvu.edu.cn/cai/daxueyuwen/2/two/xxck.htm |archive-date=22 July 2015 |access-date=18 July 2015 |website=jstvu.edu.cn}} The classical texts of China encompass a wide range of thoughts and subjects, such as the calendar, military, astrology, herbology, and geography, as well as many others.{{Cite web |date=14 November 2013 |title=The Canonical Books of Confucianism – Canon of the Literati |url=http://weber.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/chin/hbcanonru-u.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202210607/http://weber.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/chin/hbcanonru-u.html |archive-date=2 February 2014 |access-date=14 January 2014}} Among the most significant early works are the I Ching and the Shujing, which are part of the Four Books and Five Classics. These texts were the cornerstone of the Confucian curriculum sponsored by the state throughout the dynastic periods. 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.{{Cite journal |last=Guo |first=Dan |script-title=zh:史传文学与中国古代小说 |url=http://www.cnki.com.cn/Article/CJFDTotal-MQXS199704006.htm |url-status=dead |journal=明清小说研究 |issue=April 1997 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722013727/http://www.cnki.com.cn/Article/CJFDTotal-MQXS199704006.htm |archive-date=22 July 2015 |access-date=18 July 2015}} 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.{{Cite web |script-title=zh:第一章 中国古典小说的发展和明清小说的繁荣 |url=http://iclass.nbtvu.net.cn/kecheng/072157/3title4200499122140/z3.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015200539/http://iclass.nbtvu.net.cn/kecheng/072157/3title4200499122140/z3.htm |archive-date=15 October 2015 |access-date=18 July 2015 |website=nbtvu.net.cn}} Along with the wuxia fictions of Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng,{{Cite web |date=12 March 2014 |script-title=zh:金庸作品从流行穿越至经典 |url=http://www.baotounews.com.cn/epaper/btrb/html/2014-03/12/content_286579.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722071612/http://www.baotounews.com.cn/epaper/btrb/html/2014-03/12/content_286579.htm |archive-date=22 July 2015 |access-date=18 July 2015 |website=Baotou News}} it remains an enduring source of popular culture in the Chinese sphere of influence.{{Cite journal |script-title=zh:四大名著在日、韩的传播与跨文化重构 |url=http://d.wanfangdata.com.cn/Periodical_dbsdxb-zxsh201006025.aspx |journal=Journal of Northeast Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences) |issue=June 2010 |access-date=18 July 2015}}

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.{{Cite web |date=April 2000 |script-title=zh:新文化运动中的胡适与鲁迅 |url=http://www.cnki.com.cn/Article/CJFDTotal-HZSW200004009.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722013427/http://www.cnki.com.cn/Article/CJFDTotal-HZSW200004009.htm |archive-date=22 July 2015 |access-date=18 July 2015 |publisher=CCP Hangzhou Party School Paper (中共杭州市委党校学报) |language=zh-CN}} Various literary genres, such as misty poetry, scar literature, young adult fiction and the xungen literature, which is influenced by magic realism,{{Cite web |date=February 2006 |script-title=zh:魔幻现实主义文学与"寻根"小说" |url=http://www.literature.org.cn/article.aspx?id=25449 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723065447/http://www.literature.org.cn/article.aspx?id=25449 |archive-date=23 July 2015 |access-date=18 July 2015 |website=literature.org.cn |language=zh-CN}} emerged following the Cultural Revolution. Mo Yan, a xungen literature author, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2012.{{Cite web |date=12 October 2012 |script-title=zh:"莫言：寻根文学作家" |url=http://e.hznews.com/paper/djsb/20121012/A0607/1/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722034627/http://e.hznews.com/paper/djsb/20121012/A0607/1/ |archive-date=22 July 2015 |access-date=18 July 2015 |publisher=Dongjiang Times (东江时报) |language=zh-CN}}

{{Main|Music of China|C-pop|Chinese opera}}

Chinese music covers a highly diverse range of music from traditional music to modern music. Chinese music dates back before the pre-imperial times. Traditional Chinese musical instruments were traditionally grouped into eight categories known as bayin (八音). Traditional Chinese opera is a form of musical theatre in China originating thousands of years and has regional style forms such as Beijing and Cantonese opera.{{Cite web |title=A Brief History of Chinese Opera |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-chinese-opera-195127 |access-date=14 September 2020 |website=ThoughtCo}} Chinese pop (C-Pop) includes mandopop and cantopop. Chinese hip hop and Hong Kong hip hop have become popular.{{Cite web |title=Why Chinese rappers don't fight the power |date=6 November 2019 |url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20191106-why-chinese-rappers-dont-fight-the-power |access-date=23 November 2021 |publisher=BBC}}

{{Main|Chinese clothing|Hanfu}}

Hanfu is the historical clothing of the Han people in China. The qipao or cheongsam is a popular Chinese female dress.{{Cite web |title=Qipao {{!}} dress |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/qipao |access-date=14 September 2020 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica}} The hanfu movement has been popular in contemporary times and seeks to revitalize Hanfu clothing.{{Cite web |title=Current and Former EXO Members Are Some of China's Most Expensive Singers |url=https://www.jaynestars.com/news/current-and-former-exo-members-are-some-of-chinas-most-expensive-singers/ |access-date=14 September 2020 |website=JayneStars.com}} China Fashion Week is the country's only national-level fashion festival.{{Cite web |last=Xingxin |first=Zhu |date=19 September 2023 |title=China fashion week struts its stuff |url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202309/19/WS6508f98da310d2dce4bb6759.html |website=China Daily}}

{{Main|Cinema of China}}

Cinema was first introduced to China in 1896 and the first Chinese film, Dingjun Mountain, was released in 1905.{{Cite web |last=Hays |first=Jeffrey |title=Early history of chinese film |url=http://factsanddetails.com/china/cat7/sub42/item1630.html |access-date=14 September 2020 |website=factsanddetails.com}} China has had the largest number of movie screens in the world since 2016;{{Cite web |last=Brzeski |first=Patrick |date=20 December 2016 |title=China Says It Has Passed U.S. as Country With Most Movie Screens |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/china-says-has-passed-us-as-country-movie-screens-957849 |access-date=21 December 2016 |website=The Hollywood Reporter}} China became the largest cinema market in 2020.{{Cite web |last=Tartaglione |first=Nancy |date=15 November 2016 |title=China Will Overtake U.S. In Number Of Movie Screens This Week: Analyst |url=https://deadline.com/2016/11/china-cinema-screens-overtake-us-box-office-2019-1201852359/ |access-date=15 November 2016 |website=Deadline Hollywood}}{{Cite web |last=PricewaterhouseCoopers |title=Strong revenue growth continues in China's cinema market |url=https://www.pwccn.com/en/press-room/press-releases/pr-170619.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303120239/https://www.pwccn.com/en/press-room/press-releases/pr-170619.html |archive-date=3 March 2020 |access-date=14 September 2020 |website=PwC}} The top three highest-grossing films in China {{as of|2025|lc=y}} were Ne Zha 2 (2025), The Battle at Lake Changjin (2021), and Wolf Warrior 2 (2017).{{Cite web |title=内地总票房排名 |trans-title=All-Time Domestic Box Office Rankings |url=http://www.endata.com.cn/BoxOffice/BO/History/Movie/Alltimedomestic.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216170558/http://www.endata.com.cn/BoxOffice/BO/History/Movie/Alltimedomestic.html |archive-date=16 February 2020 |access-date=2 March 2020 |website=China Box Office |language=zh}}

{{Main|Chinese cuisine}}

File:Cuisines of China.png

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.{{Cite web |date=2 June 2011 |title=Eight Major Cuisines |url=http://www.chinesecio.com/cms/en/culture/eight-major-cuisines-ba-da-cai-xi |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912222348/http://www.chinesecio.com/cms/en/culture/eight-major-cuisines-ba-da-cai-xi |archive-date=12 September 2015 |access-date=17 July 2015 |website=chinese.cn}} Chinese cuisine is known for its breadth of cooking methods and ingredients.{{Cite news |date=23 September 2013 |script-title=zh:中国美食成外国网友"噩梦" 鸡爪内脏鱼头不敢吃 |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/photo/2013-09/23/c_125426786.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926145102/http://news.xinhuanet.com/photo/2013-09/23/c_125426786.htm |archive-date=26 September 2013 |access-date=17 July 2015 |agency=Xinhua News Agency}} China's staple food is rice in the northeast and south, and wheat-based breads and noodles in the north. Bean products such as tofu and soy milk remain 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.{{Cite news |date=19 June 2013 |title=China's Hunger For Pork Will Impact The U.S. Meat Industry |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2013/06/19/chinas-hunger-for-pork-will-impact-the-u-s-meat-industry/ |access-date=18 January 2020 |work=Forbes}} There is also the vegetarian Buddhist cuisine and the pork-free Chinese Islamic cuisine. Chinese cuisine, due to the area's proximity to the ocean and milder climate, has a wide variety of seafood and vegetables. Offshoots of Chinese food, such as Hong Kong cuisine and American Chinese cuisine, have emerged in the Chinese diaspora.

{{Main|Sport in China|China at the Olympics|China at the Paralympics}}

File:FloorGoban.JPG is an abstract strategy board game for two players, in which the aim is to surround more territory than the opponent, and which was invented in China more than 2,500 years ago.]]

China has one of the oldest sporting cultures. There is evidence that archery (shèjiàn) was practiced during the Western Zhou dynasty. Swordplay (jiànshù) and cuju, a sport loosely related to association football{{Cite book |title=Historical Dictionary of Soccer |date=2011 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-7188-5 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=9j1wbp2t1usC&pg=PA2 2]}} date back to China's early dynasties as well.{{Cite web |date=31 August 2013 |title=Sport in Ancient China |url=http://www.theworldofchinese.com/2013/08/sport-in-ancient-china/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010152027/http://www.theworldofchinese.com/2013/08/sport-in-ancient-china/ |archive-date=10 October 2017 |access-date=28 June 2014 |publisher=JUE LIU (刘珏) (The World of Chinese)}}

Physical fitness is widely emphasized in Chinese culture, with morning exercises such as qigong and tai chi widely practiced,{{Cite journal |last1=Thornton |first1=E. W. |last2=Sykes |first2=K. S. |last3=Tang |first3=W. K. |date=2004 |title=Health benefits of Tai Chi exercise: Improved balance and blood pressure in middle-aged women |journal=Health Promotion International |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=33–38 |doi=10.1093/heapro/dah105 |pmid=14976170 |doi-access=free}} and commercial gyms and private fitness clubs are gaining popularity.{{Cite web |date=1 July 2011 |title=China health club market – Huge potential & challenges |url=http://chinasportsbiz.com/2011/07/01/huge-potential-of-fitness-market-in-china/ |access-date=31 July 2012 |website=China Sports Business}} Basketball is the most popular spectator sport in China.{{Cite web |date=7 August 2014 |script-title=zh: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 |url=http://www.wenzhou.gov.cn/art/2014/8/7/art_9113_318011.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151109001344/http://www.wenzhou.gov.cn/art/2014/8/7/art_9113_318011.html |archive-date=9 November 2015 |access-date=23 November 2015 |website=Wenzhou People's Government}} The Chinese Basketball Association and the American National Basketball Association also have a huge national following amongst the Chinese populace, with native-born and NBA-bound Chinese players and well-known national household names such as Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian being held in high esteem.{{Cite magazine |last=Beech |first=Hannah |date=28 April 2003 |title=Yao Ming |url=http://www.time.com/time/asia/2003/heroes/yao_ming.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110705191234/http://www.time.com/time/asia/2003/heroes/yao_ming.html |archive-date=5 July 2011 |access-date=30 March 2007 |magazine=Time}} China's professional football league, known as Chinese Super League, is the largest football market in East Asia.{{Cite web |date=14 July 2013 |script-title=zh:足球不给劲观众却不少 中超球市世界第9亚洲第1 |url=http://sports.sohu.com/20130714/n381558488.shtml |access-date=17 July 2015 |website=Sohu Sports}} Other popular sports include martial arts, table tennis, badminton, swimming and snooker. China is home to a huge number of cyclists, with an estimated 470 million bicycles {{As of|2012|lc=y}}.{{Cite news |date=17 August 2012 |title=Bike-Maker Giant Says Fitness Lifestyle Boosting China Sales |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-16/bicycle-maker-giant-says-fitness-lifestyle-boosting-china-sales.html |access-date=8 September 2012 |work=Bloomberg News}} China has the world's largest esports market.{{Cite web |last=Kharpal |first=Arjun |date=15 July 2022 |title=China remains the world's largest e-sports market despite gaming crackdown |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/15/china-is-worlds-largest-e-sports-market-despite-crackdown-study.html |website=CNBC}} Many more traditional sports, such as dragon boat racing, Mongolian-style wrestling and horse racing are also popular.Qinfa, Ye. [http://chineseculture.about.com/library/weekly/aa032301a.htm "Sports History of China"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303183246/http://chineseculture.about.com/library/weekly/aa032301a.htm |date=3 March 2009}}. About.Com. Retrieved 21 April 2006.

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 48 gold medals – the highest number of any participating nation that year.{{Cite news |date=27 August 2008 |title=China targets more golds in 2012 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/7583735.stm |access-date=27 November 2011 |work=BBC Sport}} China also won the most medals at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, with 231 overall, including 95 gold.{{Cite web |title=Medal Count |url=http://www.london2012.com/paralympics/medals/medal-count/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120830230101/http://www.london2012.com/paralympics/medals/medal-count |archive-date=30 August 2012 |access-date=9 September 2012 |website=London2012.com}}{{Cite news |date=9 September 2012 |title=China dominates medals; U.S. falls short at Paralympics |url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/story/2012/09/9/china-dominates-medals-us-falls-short-at-paralympics/57719222/1 |access-date=19 June 2013 |work=USA Today}} In 2011, Shenzhen hosted the 2011 Summer Universiade. China hosted the 2013 East Asian Games in Tianjin and the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, the first country to host both regular and Youth Olympics. Beijing and its nearby city Zhangjiakou collaboratively hosted the 2022 Winter Olympics, making Beijing the first dual Olympic city by holding both the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics.{{Cite web |title=Beijing: The world's first dual Olympic city |url=https://olympics.com/en/news/100-days-to-go-beijing-worlds-first-dual-olympic-city |access-date=6 February 2022 |publisher=olympics.com}}{{Cite web |date=23 February 2018 |title=Beijing 2022 Winter Games Olympics – results & video highlights |url=https://www.olympic.org/beijing-2022 |access-date=23 February 2018 |publisher=International Olympic Committee}} China hosted the Asian Games in 1990 (Beijing), 2010 (Guangzhou), and 2023 (Hangzhou).{{Cite news |date=21 September 2023 |title=At-a-glance guide to the Hangzhou Asian Games |url=https://www.rfi.fr/en/sports/20230921-at-a-glance-guide-to-the-hangzhou-asian-games |access-date=15 December 2024 |work=Radio France Internationale}}

{{Portal|China}}

• Outline of China

{{Clear}}

{{Notelist|30em}}

{{reflist}}

{{Free-content attribution

| title = World Food and Agriculture – Statistical Yearbook 2023

| author = FAO

| publisher = FAO

| documentURL = https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en?details=cc8166en

| license statement URL = https://commons.wikimedia.org/whttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:World_Food_and_Agriculture_-_Statistical_Yearbook_2023.pdf

| license = CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

}}

{{Main|Bibliography of Chinese history}}

{{Library resources box}}

{{Sister project links|China|auto=1|wikt=y|v=y}}

• [http://english.gov.cn/ The Central People's Government of People's Republic of China] {{in lang|en}}

• [http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/china/home.html China at a Glance] from People's Daily
• {{Britannica|111803}}
• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13017877 Country profile – China] at BBC News
• [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/china/ China]. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120609183901/http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/china.htm China, People's Republic of (archived 2012)] from UCB Libraries GovPubs

• [https://maps.google.com/maps?q=China&ll=30.600094,103.710938&spn=64.10009,177.1875&om=1 Google Maps—China]
• {{Wikiatlas|the People's Republic of China}}
• {{OSM relation|270056}}

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China

People's Republic of China

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