Country nameconventional long form: People's Republic of China Government typeCommunist state Capitalname: Beijing Administrative divisions23 provinces (sheng, singular and plural), 5 autonomous regions (zizhiqu, singular and plural), and 4 municipalities (shi, singular and plural) Affiliation(also see separate Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan entries) Independence1 October 1949 (People's Republic of China established); notable earlier dates: 221 BC (unification under the Qin Dynasty); 1 January 1912 (Qing Dynasty replaced by the Republic of China) National holidayAnniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, 1 October (1949) Constitutionmost recent promulgation 4 December 1982; amended several times Legal systemcivil law influenced by Soviet and continental European civil law systems; legislature retains power to interpret statutes; note - criminal procedure law revised in early 2012 International law organization participationhas not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt Suffrage18 years of age; universal Executive branchchief of state: President HU Jintao (since 15 March 2003); Vice President XI Jinping (since 15 March 2008) Legislative branchunicameral National People's Congress or Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui (2,987 seats; members elected by municipal, regional, and provincial people's congresses, and People's Liberation Army to serve five-year terms) Judicial branchSupreme People's Court (judges appointed by the National People's Congress); Local People's Courts (comprise higher, intermediate, and basic courts); Special People's Courts (primarily military, maritime, railway transportation, and forestry courts) Political parties and leadersChinese Communist Party or CCP [XI Jinping]; eight nominally independent small parties ultimately controlled by the CCP Political pressure groups and leadersno substantial political opposition groups exist International organization participationADB, AfDB (nonregional member), APEC, ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, CDB, CICA, EAS, FAO, FATF, G-20, G-24 (observer), G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, MONUSCO, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, PCA, PIF (partner), SAARC (observer), SCO, SICA (observer), UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNISFA, UNMIL, UNMISS, UNMIT, UNOCI, UNSC (permanent), UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC Diplomatic representation in the USchief of mission: Ambassador ZHANG Yesui Diplomatic representation from the USchief of mission: Ambassador Gary LOCKE Flag descriptionred with a large yellow five-pointed star and four smaller yellow five-pointed stars (arranged in a vertical arc toward the middle of the flag) in the upper hoist-side corner; the color red represents revolution, while the stars symbolize the four social classes - the working class, the peasantry, the urban petty bourgeoisie, and the national bourgeoisie (capitalists) - united under the Communist Party of China National anthemname: "Yiyongjun Jinxingqu" (The March of the Volunteers) |
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Source: CIA World Factbook | |