A Look at the Country

The country commonly referred to as China is officially named the People’s Republic of China. The capital is 北京, romanized as Beijing. It is the world’s second most populated country with about 1.4 billion people, recently overtaken by India with around 1.43 billion people. The language of mainland China is Mandarin Chinese. Hong Kong and Macau (also spelled Macao) are two territories of the People’s Republic of China. In these areas the people speak Cantonese. The currency used in the country is known as yuan or renminbi. China is the fourth largest country in the world by area, behind only Russia, Canada, and the United States of America.

China's Demographics

China is incredibly populated. Around one-third of the population resides in cities, with the rest living in the country. The birth rate in China has been plummeting for years, largely due to the one-child policy that was in place from 1980 to 2015. As a result of this policy there is an imbalance between males and females in China, as boys were more desired if only one child could be kept. Also, it is becoming more clear that there are far more people aging out of the workforce who must now be supported by a far smaller number of young people who were born during the time of the policy. In addition to that, childcare and education costs are very high and are discouraging people away from having children. Many are instead choosing to focus on their careers. The government is now trying to incentivize people to have more children, but have not had much success at this point.

The Political and Economic Scene

China is an authoritarian state. They have a strong central government. Xi Jinping is the current president of China. He is also the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party. China has developed quickly over the past few decades and now has the second largest economy in the world. It is a leader in technological advancement and space exploration, though much of this progress has come from the military investing in these industries. However, the prolonged fast growth is potentially starting to fall apart. Its debt-to-GDP ratio hit a record 288% in 2023 and the housing market is struggling, with sales decreasing significantly and construction down 60%. It is “one of the worst housing crashes in the world over the last three decades.”

Snapshot from China