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) Independence221 BC (unification under the Qin or Ch'in Dynasty); 1 January 1912 (Manchu Dynasty replaced by a Republic); 1 October 1949 (People's Republic established) National holidayAnniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China, 1 October (1949) Constitutionmost recent promulgation 4 December 1982 Legal systembased on civil law system; derived from Soviet and continental civil code legal principles; legislature retains power to interpret statutes; constitution ambiguous on judicial review of legislation; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction 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 [HU Jintao]; eight registered small parties controlled by CCP Political pressure groups and leadersno substantial political opposition groups exist, although the government has identified the Falungong spiritual movement and the China Democracy Party as subversive groups International organization participationADB, AfDB, APEC, APT, Arctic Council (observer), ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, CDB, EAS, FAO, G-24 (observer), G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, PCA, PIF (partner), SAARC (observer), SCO, UN, UN Security Council, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMIT, UNOCI, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC Diplomatic representation in the USchief of mission: Ambassador ZHOU Wenzhong Diplomatic representation from the USchief of mission: Ambassador Clark T. RANDT, Jr. 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 |
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Source: CIA World Factbook | |