Welcome to People's Republic of China!
China (中国, Zhōngguó) is one of the world's oldest civilizations. Its long and rich history is present in people's thinking and values, and in the art, architecture, and feats of engineering that remain from dynasties past.
After a tumultuous 20th century, China has dramatically re-emerged as an economic powerhouse. Its rapid development has been paralleled by an ascent onto the international stage as a global superpower. Of course there are growing pains when high-rises and factories surge up to dwarf centuries-old pagodas, but there's also a strong sense of enthusiasm and optimism about what the future holds. If you visit now, you can see the relics of millennia of history and experience the signs of further transformations in progress.
China (Chinese: 中国, pinyin: Zhōngguó), officially the People's Republic of China (RPC, Chinese: 中华人民共和国, pinyin: Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population of more than 1.4 billion. China spans five geographical time zones and borders 14 different countries, the second most of any country in the world after Russia. Covering an area of approximately 9.6 million square kilometers (3,700,000 sq mi), it is the world's third or fourth largest country. The country consists of 23 provinces, four municipalities, five autonomous regions, and two Special Administrative Regions (Hong Kong and Macau). The national capital is Beijing, the largest city and financial center is Shanghai, followed by Guangzhou, and the technological and innovative hub is Shenzhen.
China emerged as one of the world's first civilizations in the fertile basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. China was one of the world's foremost economic powers for most of the two millennia from the 1st until the 19th century. For millennia, China's political system was based on absolute hereditary monarchies, or dynasties, beginning with the semi-legendary Xia dynasty in 21st century BCE. 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 (206 BCE – 220 CE) saw some of the most advanced technology at that time, including papermaking and the compass, along with agricultural and medical improvements. The invention of gunpowder and movable type in the Tang dynasty (618 – 907) and Northern Song Dynasty (960 – 1127) completed the Four Great Inventions. Tang culture spread widely in Asia, as the new Silk Road brought traders to as far as Mesopotamia and the Horn of Africa. The Qing Empire, China's last dynasty, which formed the territorial basis for modern China, suffered heavy losses to foreign imperialism.
The Chinese monarchy collapsed in 1912 with the 1911 Revolution, when the Republic of China (ROC) replaced the Qing dynasty. China was invaded by the Empire of Japan during World War II. The Civil War resulted in a division of territory in 1949 when the Communist Party (CCP) established the People's Republic of China on the mainland while the Kuomintang-led ROC government retreated to the island of Taiwan. Both claim to be the sole legitimate government of China, although the United Nations has recognized the PRC as the sole representation since 1971. China conducted a series of economic reforms since 1978, and entered into the World Trade Organization in 2001.
China is currently governed as a unitary one-party socialist republic by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). China is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and a founding member of several multilateral and regional cooperation organizations such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Silk Road Fund, the New Development Bank, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the RCEP, and is a member of the BRICS, the G8+5, the G20, the APEC, and the East Asia Summit. It ranks among the lowest in international measurements of civil liberties, government transparency, freedom of the press, freedom of religion and ethnic minorities. Chinese authorities have been criticized by political dissidents and human rights activists for widespread human rights abuses, including political repression, mass censorship, mass surveillance of their citizens and violent suppression of protests.
China is the world's largest economy by GDP at purchasing power parity and the second-largest economy by nominal GDP and the world's second wealthiest country. The nation is the world's fastest-growing major economy, the world's largest manufacturer and exporter and has the world's largest standing army by military personnel, with the second-largest defense budget and is an officially recognized nuclear-weapon state.