Since 1949 the People’s Republic of China, commonly referred to as China, has been run as a single-party system by the Communist Party of China (CPC). Power among the government is divided among the Communist Party of China, the state, and the People’s Liberation Army; however, members of the Communist Party of China fill all high power positions in the state and the army. The CPC is the world’s largest political party, with 70 million members. Also proving to be the world’s largest it the population of China, as it is home to over 1.3 billion people.
With this immense population and rapidly growing economy, China is often thought of as an “emerging superpower.” China currently has the world’s fourth largest economy, and with the help of its market-based economic reforms the poverty rate has gone down from 53% in 1981 to 8% by 2001. However, the country’s per capita income is still low by world standards. The government is continuing to look at foreign trade as the major focus for economic growth and is also emphasizes raising personal income and consumption and implementing new management styles to improve productivity. China produces more rice than any other country in the world and is a main source of wheat, corn, tobacco, soybeans, peanuts and cotton. As for mineral resources China has some of the richest in the world; however they are not fully developed.
China's consumption of steel and concrete is the world’s largest, it uses a third of the world’s supply of steel and half of the world’s concrete supply. China plays a huge role in international trade and, with all products considered, is the third largest importer and second largest exporter in the world |