Sunday, May 27, 2012 5:07 PM EDT

China

The People's Republic of China (PRC) is the most extensive country in East Asia and the third or fourth most extensive country in the world. With a population of over 1.3 billion people, it is the most populous country in the world.
   
The Communist Party of China (CPC) created the PRC in 1949 after defeating the Republic of China (ROC) in a civil war lasting from 1946 to 1950. China remains one of the few remaining officially communist/socialist states in the world, although its government, economics, and society can no longer be convincingly qualified as such. After Deng Xiaoping initiated the “reform and opening” period in the 1980s, which reintegrated China with world trade and dramatically increased its economic growth, the country’s government has referred to its political system as “socialism with Chinese characteristics.”  
  
The term "Mainland China" is used to denote the areas under PRC rule, but excludes its two Special Administrative Regions: Hong Kong and Macau. Since the ROC and its main political party, the Nationalists or Guomindang (GMD) retreated to Taiwan, both mainland and Taiwanese governments have disputed the political status of the island. Efforts to assert de jure independence from the Taiwanese independence movement in the late 1990s created friction with the mainland, but the further lifting of trade, travel, and investment restrictions over past years have resulted in a period of warming relations. 
 
Because of its vast population, rapidly growing economy, and large research and development investments, China is considered an "emerging superpower". In past years, it has consistently shown yearly double digit growth, which eventually allowed the country to become world's second largest economy in both nominal and purchasing power parity terms. According to various international groups, China passed Japan to become the world’s second largest economy at the end of 2010. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank respectively predict that China’s economy will become the world’s largest by 2017 or 2030.  The government is currently trying to adjust the economy in two significant ways: first by slowing growth and preventing the economy from overheating; second by rebalancing to orient from export-driven to domestic-consumption driven growth.
 
China plays a critical role in international trade. The country is the world's largest consumer of steel and concrete, using, respectively, a third and over a half of the world's supply of each. Counting all products, China is the second largest importer and the largest exporter in the world.
However, in per capita terms, the country largely remains a developing nation, ranking 90th in the world with the average person making only more than $5,400 a year in 2011 (IMF). However, people living in relatively developed large urban areas in the coastal regions, especially in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou have living standards increasingly comparable to those in South Korea and Japan.
 
China is also a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Organization. Since 1978, China's economic reforms have lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty. However, the country is now faced with a number of other economic problems, including an aging population, an increasing rural-urban income gap, and rapid environmental degradation.

Articles About China

Boeing 787 Dreamliner Kicks Off Final Stage of Global Dream Tour
Boeing 787 Dreamliner Kicks Off Final Stage of Global Dream Tour

By IBTimes UK

Dream Tour which started in Beijing last December will end in Casablanca, Morocco, in June. (May 26)

MORE TOPICS: BOEING 787, AUSTRALIA, ETHIOPIA, MOROCCO, QANTAS, LONDON

An investor reads a newspaper with a magnifying glass in front of an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage house in Huaibei, Anhui province April 5, 2012.
Weekly Roundup: Asian Markets Fall On Weak China Data And Euro Zone Debt Concerns

By IBTimes

Asian markets declined this week on increasing concerns about China's economic slowdown and Greece possibly exiting the euro zone. (May 26)

MORE TOPICS: HSBC, MANUFACTURING, ELECTIONS, INDIA

Michael Schumacher
Monaco Grand Prix Qualifying: Watch Live Stream Online Of Formula 1 Showpiece Event, Plus Full Preview

By IBTimes

Where to watch live coverage of qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix, plus a full preview and drivers' quotes. (May 26)

Summer of discontent beckons

By Reuters UK

The late spring warmth spreading across Europe and the United States is unlikely to soothe a growing anxiety in financial markets that the global outlook is anything but balmy. (May 25)

MORE TOPICS: MORGAN STANLEY, GERMANY, ELECTIONS, STORM, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK, MANAGEMENT

Gold and Silver Stocks Are in Deep Value Territory: Alka Singh

By Street Wise Reports

Gold and silver began a correction nine months ago, but shares of the mines that produce these valuable metals have suffered in a much more exaggerated fashion. Mine2Capital Co-Founder and Partner Alka Singh has prospected for ideas that she believes... (May 25)

MORE TOPICS: GOLD, MERRILL LYNCH, NYSE, PORTUGAL, GOLD PRICES, ARGENTINA

Deeper metals price falls needed to spark closures
Deeper Metals Price Falls Needed to Spark Closures

By Reuters

A rout in commodity markets has pushed prices of aluminum, zinc and nickel down to levels where many high-cost producers are starting to suffer, although the pain threshold may have to increase before widespread closures help balance markets. (May 25)

MORE TOPICS: UNEMPLOYMENT, BNP PARIBAS, AUSTRALIA, LONDON

FTSE ends flat as rebound loses momentum

By Reuters UK

The blue-chip index recorded its first weekly gain in a month on Friday but its recent rally lost momentum and the index closed flat on the day, capped by uncertainty about the euro zone crisis and an economic slowdown in China. (May 25)

MORE TOPICS: FTSE, ELECTIONS, INVESTMENT

Britain's FTSE ends flat as rebound loses momentum

By Reuters UK

Britain's blue-chip index recorded its first weekly gain in a month on Friday but its recent rally lost momentum and the index closed flat on the day, capped by uncertainty about the euro zone crisis and an economic slowdown in China. (May 25)

MORE TOPICS: FTSE, ELECTIONS, INVESTMENT

China
No Longer Number One: Shipping Crisis Hits China's Once-Roaring Maritime Industries

By IBTimes

China's government bet big on shipping in the last decade. For a time, it paid off, even propelling the country to the world's top spot in shipbuilding. Now a major global slowdown is hurting the sector, and shipyards are in line for closure. (May 25)

MORE TOPICS: SOUTH KOREA

Iran Nuclear Sites
Iran Closer To Nuclear Weapons-Grade Uranium, UN Atomic Agency Says

By IBTimes

The U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency has found evidence of uranium enriched up to levels closer to the threshold needed for developing nuclear warheads at an underground Iranian facility. (May 25)

MORE TOPICS: GERMANY, NUCLEAR WEAPONS, RUSSIA

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