CNY
Exchange rates:
yuan per US dollar - 8.28 (2002), 8.28 (2001), 8.28 (2000), 8.28
(1999), 8.28 (1998)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Communications China
Telephones - main lines in use:
135 million (2000)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
65 million (January 2001)
Telephone system:
general assessment: domestic and international services are
increasingly available for private use; unevenly distributed
domestic system serves principal cities, industrial centers, and
many towns
domestic: interprovincial fiber-optic trunk lines and cellular
telephone systems have been installed; a domestic satellite system
with 55 earth stations is in place
international: satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (4 Pacific
Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region) and
1 Inmarsat (Pacific and Indian Ocean regions); several international
fiber-optic links to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Russia, and
Germany (2000)
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 369, FM 259, shortwave 45 (1998)
Radios:
417 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 3,240 (of which 209 are operated by China Central Television, 31 are provincial TV stations and nearly 3,000 are local city stations) (1997)
Televisions:
400 million (1997)
Internet country code:
.cn
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
3 (2000)
Internet users:
45.8 million (2002)
Transportation China
Railways:
total: 71,600 km
standard gauge: 68,000 km 1.435-m gauge (14,600 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 3,600 km 1.000-m and 0.750-m gauge local industrial
lines (2002)
Highways:
total: 1,402,698 km
paved: 314,204 km (with at least 16,314 km of expressways)
unpaved: 1,088,494 km (2000)
Waterways:
110,000 km (1999)
Pipelines:
gas 13,845 km; oil 15,143 km; refined products 3,280 km (2003)
Ports and harbors:
Dalian, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Haikou, Huangpu, Lianyungang, Nanjing,
Nantong, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shantou, Shenzhen,
Tianjin, Wenzhou, Xiamen, Xingang, Yantai, Zhanjiang (2001)
Merchant marine:
total: 1,817 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 18,047,962 GRT/27,035,740 DWT
ships by type: barge carrier 2, bulk 348, cargo 824, chemical tanker
28, combination bulk 10, combination ore/oil 2, container 150,
liquefied gas 28, multi-functional large-load carrier 6, passenger
6, passenger/cargo 47, petroleum tanker 267, refrigerated cargo 26,
roll on/roll off 21, short-sea passenger 42, specialized tanker 8,
vehicle carrier 2
note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of
convenience: Croatia 1, Germany 1, Hong Kong 16, Japan 2, Panama 2,
South Korea 1, Spain 1, Taiwan 9, Tanzania 1, Turkey 1 (2002 est.)
Airports:
500 (2002)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 351
over 3,047 m: 32
2,438 to 3,047 m: 108
1,524 to 2,437 m: 143
914 to 1,523 m: 29
under 914 m: 39 (2002)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 149
over 3,047 m: 4
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 25
914 to 1,523 m: 48
under 914 m: 71 (2002)
Military China
Military branches:
People's Liberation Army (PLA): comprises ground forces, Navy
(including naval infantry and naval aviation), Air Force, and II
Artillery Corps (strategic missile force), People's Armed Police
Force (internal security troops, nominally a state security body but
included by the Chinese as part of the "armed forces" and considered
to be an adjunct to the PLA), militia
Military manpower - military age:
18 years of age (2003 est.)
Military manpower - availability:
males age 15–49: 375,520,255 (2003 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service:
males age 15–49: 206 million (2003 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males: 10,973,761 (2003 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$55.91 billion (FY02)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
4.3% (FY02)
Transnational Issues China
Disputes - international:
involved in complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with Malaysia,
Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; claimants in
November 2002 signed the "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in
the South China Sea", a mechanism to ease tension but which fell
short of a legally binding "code of conduct"; much of the rugged,
militarized boundary with India is in dispute, but the two sides
have participated in more than 13 rounds of joint working group
sessions on this issue; India objects to Pakistan ceding lands to
China in 1965 boundary agreement that India believes are part of
disputed Kashmir; China, as well as Taiwan, claims
Japanese-administered Senkaku-shoto (Diaoyu Tai) islands;
negotiations with Tajikistan resolved the longstanding boundary
dispute; China and Kazakhstan have resolved their border dispute and
are working to delimit their large open borders to control
population migration, illegal activities, and trade;