Full country name: People's Republic of China
Area: 9,596,960 sq km (mainland)
Population: 1.2 billion (mainland)
Capital city: Beijing (pop 12.6 million)
People: Han Chinese (93%), plus Mongol, Zhuang, Manchu and Uighur minorities
Languages: Putonghua (Beijing Mandarin dialect), Cantonese
Religion: Officially atheist; Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism (no stats available); Muslim (14 million), Christian (7 million)
Government: Communist republic
Head of State: Jiang Zemin

GDP: US$1.0 trillion
GDP per head: US$860
Growth rate: 7.8%
Inflation: 2.8%
Major industries: Iron, steel, coal, machinery, textiles
Major trading partners: USA, Japan, Germany, South Korea