Land area: 9.6
million square kilometers
Capital: Beijing
Constitution: After the founding of the PRC, four Constitutions
have been formulated successively in 1954, 1975, 1978 and
1982. The present Constitution was adopted in 1982 and amended
four times, most recently on March 14, 2004.
Head of State: President Hu Jintao elected March 15, 2003.
Top administrative body: The State Council, which is the cabinet
or chief administrative body of the PRC that includes the
heads of all governmental agencies. Headed by Premier Wen
Jiabao.
Top legislative power: The National People's Congress (NPC)
and its Standing Committee. Representing the people and all
levels of people's congresses in China, the NPC supervises
all state-level institutions. Its powers include electing
the President of China.
Political parties: The Communist Party of China (CPC) is the
country's sole political party in power. Hu Jintao became
general secretary of the CPC at its 16th National Congress
in November 2002. Founded in July 1921, the CPC today has
more than 70.8 million members. There are eight other parties.
Top advisory body: The Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference(CPPCC). Representing all ethnic groups and a broad
range of political and special interest groups, the CPPCC
provides advice on social issues and exercises democratic
supervision over the government. Population:1.30756 billion
by the end of 2005, one-fifth of the world's total. This figure
does not include the Chinese living in the Hong Kong and Macao
Special Administrative Regions, and Taiwan Province.
Administrative divisions: China is made up of 23 provinces,
five autonomous regions, four municipalities directly under
the Central Government, and the special administrative regions
of Hong Kong and Macao. The 23 provinces are Anhui, Fujian,
Gansu, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan,
Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Qinghai,
Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang;
the five autonomous regions are Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia,
Xinjiang and Tibet; the four municipalities are Beijing, Chongqing,
Shanghai and Tianjin.  |
