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POLITICAL
SYSTEM AND STATE STRUCTURE
Constitution:
China has drafted four constitutions since the
founding of the People's Republic, respectively in
1954, 1975, 1978 and 1982.
The
present constitution, drawn up after discussion
attended by representatives of all of China's
people, came into effect following approval by the
Fifth Session of the Fifth NPC on December 4, 1982.
This constitution continues the basic principles
underlying the first constitution of 1954, while
effectively distilling the experiences gained in
China's socialist development and adopting the
relevant experiences of other nations, all with
careful consideration of the then realities and the
prospects for further development. As a
result, it is a constitution with Chinese
characteristics, well suited for the betterment of
the nation politically, economically and culturally
during the new era of socialist modernization.
FOREIGN
POLICY
China
pursues an independent and peaceful foreign policy
directed toward peace. The basic objectives of
this policy are to safeguard the independence and
sovereignty of the country, strive to create a
long-standing and favorable international
environment for China's reform, opening to the
outside world and modernization drive, safeguard
world peace and promote common development.
China's
independent and peaceful foreign policy has the
following major components: Adhering to
independence. China decides on its
approaches and policies regarding international
issues independently. In international
affairs, China shall decide its own stand according
to the rights and wrongs of an affair, shall never
yield to pressure from any big countries, and shall
not form alliances with any major power or group of
nations. Safeguarding world peace.
China
shall neither take part in any arms race, nor engage
in military expansion. China shall adhere to
opposing hegemonism, power politics and aggressive
expansion in any form; and adhere to opposing the
infringement by any country on other countries'
sovereignty and territorial integrity or interfering
in other countries' internal affairs on the excuse
of ethnic, religious or human rights issues.
Establishing
friendly and cooperative relations. China
is willing to establish and develop friendly and
cooperative relations with all countries on the
basis of the following five principles: mutual
respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity,
mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each
other's internal affairs, equality and mutual
benefit, and peaceful coexistence. China shall
not decide its relations with other countries
according to social or ideological systems. Developing
good-neighborly relations.
China
actively develops friendly relations with its
surrounding countries, safeguards the peace and
stability of the region and promotes economic
cooperation at the regional level. China
maintains that the disputes concerning borders,
territory and territorial water left over by history
be solved through dialogues and talks so as to seek
fair and reasonable solutions. If a dispute
cannot be solved right away, it may be put aside for
the time being, and common ground be sought while
reserving differences.
An
unsolved dispute should not affect normal relations
between the relevant countries. Strengthening
unity and cooperation with developing countries.
China has always taken it as the basis of its
foreign policy to strengthen unit and cooperation
with developing countries. China has
consistently attached great importance to developing
all-round friendly and cooperative relations with
the Third World countries, actively seeking mutually
complementary economic, trade, scientific and
technological cooperative channels, strengthening
consultation and cooperation with them on
international issues, and jointly safeguarding the
rights and interests of developing countries.
Opening
to the outside world. China opens to
developed countries as well as to developing
countries. On the basis of equality and mutual
benefit, China actively conducts extensive
international cooperation to promote common
development. As the largest developing country
in the world and a permanent member of the UN
Security Council, China is willing to make
unremitting efforts for world peace and development,
and the establishment of a new peaceful, stable,
fair and reasonable international political and
economic order.
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PRINCIPLES
GOVERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF DIPLOMATIC
RELATIONS WITH OTHER COUNTRIES
With
the inauguration of the PRC on October 1, 1949, the
Chinese government declared solemnly: "This
government is the sole legal government representing
the people of the People's Republic of China.
It is ready to establish diplomatic relations with
all foreign governments which are willing to observe
the principles of equality, mutual benefit and
respect for each other's territorial integrity and
sovereignty."
There
is only one China in the world. Taiwan
Province is an integral part of the territory of the
PRC. Any country seeking to establish
diplomatic relations with China must show its
readiness to sever all diplomatic relations with the
Taiwan authorities and recognize the government of
the PRC as the sole legal government of China.
The Chinese government will never tolerate any
country scheming to create "two Chinas" or
"one China, one Taiwan"; nor will it
tolerate any moves on the part of countries having
formal diplomatic relations with China to establish
any form of official relations with the Taiwan
authorities.
DEVELOPMENT
OF FOREIGN RELATIONS
Acting
in accordance with the above mentioned principles,
China established diplomatic relations with 19
countries in the 19 months between October 1949 and
May 1951. Between the second half of the 1950s
and the late 1960s, a large number of newly
independent nations established diplomatic relations
with China.
By
the end of 1969, the countries having diplomatic
relations with China had increased to 50. In
the 1970s, the door was opened, allowing normal
relations between China and the United States, and
China's legitimate seat in the United Nations and
the Security Council was restored. These
developments allowed China's foreign relations to
enter a new stage.
Japan,
the United States and other Western countries joined
a great number of Third World countries in
establishing diplomatic relations with China,
raising the total number of countries having
diplomatic relations with China to 121 by the end of
1979. In the 1980s, even more countries in
Asia, Africa, Latin America and Oceania established
diplomatic relations with China. Since
the beginning of the 1990s, China has established
diplomatic relations with still more countries, such
as Israel, the Republic of Korea and South Africa,
as well as with the newly independent republics that
emerged from the former Soviet Union. By the end of
1998, 160 countries had diplomatic relations with
China.
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Country name:
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conventional
long form: People's
Republic of China
conventional
short form: China
local long form:
Zhonghua
Renmin Gongheguo
local short
form: Zhongguo
abbreviation: PRC
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Government
type:
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Communist state
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Capital:
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name: Beijing
geographic
coordinates: 39
55 N, 116 23 E
time difference:
UTC+8
(13 hours ahead of Washington, DC during
Standard Time)
note: despite
its size, all of China falls within one time
zone; many people in Xinjiang Province
observe an unofficial "Xinjiang
timezone" of UTC+6, two hours behind
Beijing
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Administrative
divisions:
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23 provinces (sheng,
singular and plural), 5 autonomous regions (zizhiqu,
singular and plural), and 4 municipalities
(shi, singular and plural)
provinces: Anhui,
Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hainan,
Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan,
Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Qinghai,
Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan,
Zhejiang; (see note on Taiwan)
autonomous
regions: Guangxi,
Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Xinjiang Uygur, Xizang
(Tibet)
municipalities: Beijing,
Chongqing, Shanghai, Tianjin
note: China
considers Taiwan its 23rd province; see
separate entries for the special
administrative regions of Hong Kong and
Macau
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Independence:
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221 BC
(unification under the Qin Dynasty); 1
January 1912 (Qing Dynasty replaced by the
Republic of China); 1 October 1949 (People's
Republic of China established)
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National
holiday:
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Anniversary of
the founding of the People's Republic of
China, 1 October (1949)
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Constitution:
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most recent
promulgation 4 December 1982 with amendments
in 1988, 1993, 2004
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Legal system:
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based 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
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Suffrage:
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18 years of age;
universal
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Executive
branch:
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chief of state: President
HU Jintao (since 15 March 2003); Vice
President XI Jinping (since 15 March 2008)
head of
government: Premier
WEN Jiabao (since 16 March 2003); Executive
Vice Premier LI Keqiang (17 March 2008),
Vice Premier HUI Liangyu (since 17 March
2003), Vice Premier ZHANG Deijiang (since 17
March 2008), and Vice Premier WANG Qishan
(since 17 March 2008)
cabinet: State
Council appointed by National People's
Congress
(For
more information visit the World
Leaders website  )
elections: president
and vice president elected by National
People's Congress for a five-year term
(eligible for a second term); elections last
held on 15-17 March 2008 (next to be held in
mid-March 2013); premier nominated by
president, confirmed by National People's
Congress
election
results: HU
Jintao elected president by National
People's Congress with a total of 2,963
votes; XI Jinping elected vice president
with a total of 2,919 votes
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Legislative
branch:
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unicameral
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)
elections: last
held in December 2007-February 2008 (date of
next election to be held in late 2012 to
early 2013)
election
results: percent
of vote - NA; seats - 2,987
note: only
members of the CCP, its eight allied
parties, and sympathetic independent
candidates are elected
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Judicial
branch:
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Supreme 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)
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Political
parties and leaders:
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Chinese
Communist Party or CCP [HU Jintao]; eight
registered small parties controlled by CCP
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Political
pressure groups and leaders:
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no substantial
political opposition groups exist
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International
organization participation:
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ADB, AfDB (nonregional
member), APEC, APT, ARF, ASEAN (dialogue
partner), BIS, CDB, CICA, EAS, FAO, FATF,
G-20, 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, SICA
(observer), UN, UN Security Council, UNAMID,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNITAR,
UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMIT, UNOCI, UNTSO, UNWTO,
UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
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Diplomatic
representation in the US:
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chief of
mission: Ambassador
ZHANG Yesui
chancery: 3505
International Place NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1]
(202) 495-2000
FAX: [1]
(202) 495-2190
consulate(s)
general: Chicago,
Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San
Francisco
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Diplomatic
representation from the US:
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chief of
mission: Ambassador
Jon M. HUNTSMAN, Jr.
embassy: 55
An Jia Lou Lu, 100600 Beijing
mailing address:
PSC
461, Box 50, FPO AP 96521-0002
telephone: [86]
(10) 8531-3000
FAX: [86]
(10) 8531-3300
consulate(s)
general: Chengdu,
Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang, Wuhan
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Flag
description:
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red 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
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