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Overview of China: History and Economy

1) China is the most populous country in the world with over 1.4 billion people and covers an area of approximately 9.6 million square kilometers. 2) It has a long history as one of the earliest civilizations and was ruled by various dynasties from the 21st century BCE until 1912 when it became a republic. 3) Since economic reforms began in 1978, China has experienced rapid economic growth with an annual growth rate over 6% and is now the world's second largest economy in nominal GDP and largest economy by PPP.

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69 views1 page

Overview of China: History and Economy

1) China is the most populous country in the world with over 1.4 billion people and covers an area of approximately 9.6 million square kilometers. 2) It has a long history as one of the earliest civilizations and was ruled by various dynasties from the 21st century BCE until 1912 when it became a republic. 3) Since economic reforms began in 1978, China has experienced rapid economic growth with an annual growth rate over 6% and is now the world's second largest economy in nominal GDP and largest economy by PPP.

Uploaded by

Joshua Wacangan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

China (Chinese: 中国; pinyin: Zhōngguó; lit.

"Middle Kingdom" or "Central State"), officially


the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia and the world's most populous
country, with a population of around 1.404 billion.[11] Covering approximately 9,600,000 square
kilometers (3,700,000 sq mi), it is the third or fourth largest country by total area.[k][17] Governed by
the Communist Party of China, the state exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous
regions, four direct-controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and
the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
China emerged as one of the world's first civilizations, in the fertile basin of the Yellow River in
the North China Plain. For millennia, China's political system was based on hereditary monarchies,
or dynasties, beginning with the semi-legendary Xia dynasty in 21st century BCE.[18] Since then,
China has expanded, fractured, and re-unified numerous times. In the 3rd century BCE, the Qin
reunited core China and established the first Chinese empire. The succeeding Han dynasty, which
ruled from 206 BC until 220 AD, saw some of the most advanced technology at that time,
including papermaking and the compass,[19] along with agricultural and medical improvements. The
invention of gunpowder and movable type in the Tang dynasty (618–907) and Northern Song (960–
1127) completed the Four Great Inventions. Tang culture spread widely in Asia, as the new Silk
Routebrought traders to as far as Mesopotamia and the Horn of Africa.[20] Dynastic rule ended in
1912 with the Xinhai Revolution, when the republic replaced the Qing dynasty. China as a whole
was ravaged by Japan during World War II, and the subsequent Chinese Civil War resulted in a
division of territory in 1949, when the Communist Party of China established the People's Republic
of China, a unitary one-party sovereign state on the majority of China, while the Kuomintang-led
nationalist government retreated to the island of Taiwan. The political status of Taiwan remains
disputed.
Since the introduction of economic reforms in 1978, China's economy has been one of the
world's fastest-growing with annual growth rates consistently above 6 percent.[21] According to the
World Bank, China's GDP grew from $150 billion in 1978 to $12.24 trillion by 2017.[22] According to
official data, China's GDP in 2018 was 90 trillion Yuan ($13.28 trillion).[23] Since 2010, China has
been the world's second-largest economy by nominal GDP[24] and since 2014, the largest economy in
the world by purchasing power parity (PPP).[25] China is also the world's largest exporter and second-
largest importer of goods.[26] China is a recognized nuclear weapons state and has the world's largest
standing army and second-largest defense budget.[27][28] The PRC is a permanent member of
the United Nations Security Council as it replaced the ROC in 1971, as well as an active global
partner of ASEAN Plus mechanism. China is also a leading member of numerous formal and
informal multilateral organizations, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
(SCO), WTO, APEC, BRICS, the BCIM, and the G20. China has been characterized as an
emerging superpower, mainly because of its massive population, economy, and military.[29][30][31]

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