Country Profile 2003
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Country Profile 2003 China This Country Profile is a reference work, analysing the country’s history, politics, infrastructure and economy. It is revised and updated annually. The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Country Reports analyse current trends and provide a two-year forecast. The full publishing schedule for Country Profiles is now available on our website at http://www.eiu.com/schedule The Economist Intelligence Unit 15 Regent St, London SW1Y 4LR United Kingdom The Economist Intelligence Unit The Economist Intelligence Unit is a specialist publisher serving companies establishing and managing operations across national borders. For over 50 years it has been a source of information on business developments, economic and political trends, government regulations and corporate practice worldwide. 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London New York Hong Kong The Economist Intelligence Unit The Economist Intelligence Unit The Economist Intelligence Unit 15 Regent St The Economist Building 60/F, Central Plaza London 111 West 57th Street 18 Harbour Road SW1Y 4LR New York Wanchai United Kingdom NY 10019, US Hong Kong Tel: (44.20) 7830 1007 Tel: (1.212) 554 0600 Tel: (852) 2585 3888 Fax: (44.20) 7830 1023 Fax: (1.212) 586 0248 Fax: (852) 2802 7638 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.eiu.com Electronic delivery This publication can be viewed by subscribing online at www.store.eiu.com Reports are also available in various other electronic formats, such as CD-ROM, Lotus Notes, on-line databases and as direct feeds to corporate intranets. For further information, please contact your nearest Economist Intelligence Unit office Copyright © 2003 The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited. All rights reserved. Neither this publication nor any part of it may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited. All information in this report is verified to the best of the author's and the publisher's ability. However, the Economist Intelligence Unit does not accept responsibility for any loss arising from reliance on it. ISSN 1473-9143 Symbols for tables “n/a” means not available; “–” means not applicable Printed and distributed by Patersons Dartford, Questor Trade Park, 151 Avery Way, Dartford, Kent DA1 1JS, UK. Country Profile 2003 www.eiu.com © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2003 China 1 Contents 3 Basic data 4 Politics 4 Political background 6 Recent political developments 7 Constitution, institutions and administration 10 Political forces 14 International relations and defence 20 Resources and infrastructure 20 Population 22 Education 23 Health 24 Natural resources and the environment 25 Transport, communications and the Internet 28 Energy provision 28 The economy 28 Economic structure 29 Economic policy 38 Economic performance 41 Regional trends 42 Economic sectors 42 Agriculture 45 Mining and semi-processing 45 Manufacturing 47 Construction 47 Financial services 50 Other services 51 The external sector 51 Tra d e i n go od s 55 Invisibles and the current account 55 Capital flows and foreign debt 56 Foreign reserves and the exchange rate 57 Appendices 57 Membership of regional organisations 57 Sources of information 59 Reference tables 59 Population 59 Labour force 60 Transport statistics 60 National energy statistics 61 Government finances 61 Investment in assets by source and purpose 62 Money supply and credit 62 Gross domestic product 62 Gross domestic product by expenditure 63 Gross domestic product by sector © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2003 www.eiu.com Country Profile 2003 2 China 63 Price indices 63 Agricultural production 64 Gross agricultural output value, by sector 64 Total sown area, by crop 65 Miscellaneous agricultural statistics 65 Industrial production 65 Sources and uses of credit funds by state banks 66 Exports 66 Imports 67 Balance of payments, IMF series 68 External debt 68 Official development assistance 69 Position of China vis-à-vis BIS-reporting banks 69 Foreign reserves 69 Exchange rates Country Profile 2003 www.eiu.com © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2003 China 3 China Basic data Land area 9,561,000 sq km Population 1.3bn (end-2001) Main towns Population (m) of main cities (end-2000, urban districts only) Shanghai 9.86 Shenyang 4.33 Beijing (Peking, capital) 7.61 Chengdu 3.46 Chongqing 6.61 Nanjing 3.10 Tianjin 5.33 Changchun 2.88 Wuhan 4.41 Xi’an 2.86 Guangzhou 4.36 Dalian 2.75 Harbin 4.35 Climate Continental, with extremes of temperature; subtropical in the south-east Weather in Shanghai Hottest months, July and August, 23-33°C (average daily minimum and (altitude 4 metres) maximum); coldest month, January, -1 to 9°C; driest month, September, less than 5 mm average rainfall; wettest month, June, 160-165 mm average rainfall Language Mainly putonghua, or Standard Chinese, based on northern Chinese (the Beijing dialect known as Mandarin); local dialects and languages are also used Measures The metric system is used alongside certain standard Chinese weights and measures, of which the most common are: 1 catty or jin=0.5 kg 2,000 catties=1 tonne 1 picul or dan=50 kg 20 piculs=1 tonne 1 mu=0.0667 ha 15 mu=1 shang=1 ha Currency Renminbi (Rmb), or yuan. 1 yuan=10 jiao=100 fen. Average exchange rate in 2001: Rmb8.28:US$1. Exchange rate on January 3rd 2003: Rmb8.28:US$1 Fiscal year January-December Time Eight hours ahead of GMT Public holidays in 2003 January 1st (New Year’s Day); February 1st-3rd (Chinese New Year or Spring Festival); March 8th (International Women’s Day); May 1st-3rd (Labour Day), 4th (Youth Day); June 1st (Children’s Day); July 1st (anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party); August 1st (Army Day); October 1st-3rd (National Day) © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2003 www.eiu.com Country Profile 2003 4 China Politics The People’s Republic of China (PRC) was founded in 1949 and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been in power ever since. Politically, China remains a Marxist-style party-state, but free-market economic reforms since 1978 have transformed the structure of the economy and raised living standards. The new general secretary of the CCP, Hu Jintao, took up his position in November 2002; he is expected to replace Jiang Zemin as China’s president from March 2003, when the next session of the National People’s Congress (NPC, the largely rubber-stamp legislature) falls due. Political power is not fully institutionalised in China, and Mr Jiang will continue to exercise influence from behind the scenes, not least as chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC, the party organisation that tops the military bureaucracy). The term of the current reform- friendly premier, Zhu Rongji, will also expire at the March 2003 NPC meeting; a vice-premier, Wen Jiabao, is tipped to succeed him. Political background China’s lengthy history First politically united in 221 BC, China quickly became the most powerful informs current opinion state in East Asia, and from the Han dynasty period (206 BC to AD 220) through to the early modern period China was one of the most advanced countries in the world in terms of technology. A consciousness of the length of China’s history and the formerly pre-eminent position of Chinese culture directly informs political opinions and Chinese attitudes to international relations today. Economic reform is intended to restore China to her “rightful” position in the world. The Chinese Empire collapses In the early years of the nineteenth century, China was confronted with the challenge posed by expansionist European powers. Defeat at the hands of Great Britain in the First Opium War of 1839-42 led to the cession of Hong Kong island. This was followed by further “unequal treaties” that saw the creation of a string of Treaty ports and concessions along the coast held by foreign powers, who ran their own courts and collected China’s maritime customs revenue, on which were secured indemnities incurred by China as a penalty for defeat in warfare. The gradual fall of China under the sway of a handful of foreign powers came to be seen as a period of “national humiliation”. The Chinese Empire finally collapsed in 1911, but the successor Republic of China (ROC) government, led by the Kuomintang (KMT, or Nationalists), proved unable to preserve the country’s territorial integrity and China quickly disintegrated into a patchwork of semi-autonomous and sometimes warring fiefdoms. The People’s Republic is A KMT government led by Chiang Kai-shek unified much of urban China in formed after years of warfare 1927, but failed to assume complete control over the country, much of which fell into the hands of the CCP. In 1931 Japan conquered Manchuria in the north-east, and in 1937 Japan launched a full-scale invasion of China. The KMT government was therefore engaged with fighting the Japanese as well as struggling to prevent territorial gains by the CCP. With the surrender of Japan in 1945, civil war broke out. Chiang’s forces were routed with unexpected ease by the better-disciplined Country Profile 2003 www.eiu.com © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2003 China 5 CCP forces, forcing him in 1949 to flee with the ROC government to the island province of Taiwan (which had been under Japanese control from 1895 to 1945).