livestock products; fish
Illicit drugs: major transshipment point for heroin produced in
the Golden Triangle; growing domestic drug abuse problem
Exports: $148.8 billion (f.o.b., 1995)
commodities: garments, textiles, footwear, toys, machinery and
equipment (1994)
partners: Hong Kong, Japan, US, Germany, South Korea, Singapore
(1994)
Imports: $132.1 billion (c.i.f., 1995) commodities: industrial machinery, textiles, plastics, telecommunications equipment, steel bars, aircraft (1994) partners: Japan, Taiwan, US, Hong Kong, South Korea, Germany (1994)
External debt: $92 billion (1994 est.)
Economic aid:
donor: to less developed countries (1970–89) $NA
recipient: ODA, $1.977 billion (1993)
Currency: 1 yuan (Y) = 10 jiao
Exchange rates: yuan (Y) per US$1 - 8.3186 (January 1996), 8.3514 (1995), 8.6187 (1994), 5.7620 (1993), 5.5146 (1992), 5.3234 (1991) note: beginning 1 January 1994, the People's Bank of China quotes the midpoint rate against the US dollar based on the previous day's prevailing rate in the interbank foreign exchange market
Fiscal year: calendar year
Transportation———————
Railways:
total: 58,399 km
standard gauge: 54,799 km 1.435-m gauge (7,174 km electrified; more
than 11,000 km double track)
narrow gauge: 3,600 km 0.762-m gauge local industrial lines (1995)
Highways: total: 1.029 million km paved: 170,000 km unpaved: 859,000 km (1990 est.)
Waterways: 138,600 km; about 109,800 km navigable
Pipelines: crude oil 9,700 km; petroleum products 1,100 km;
natural gas 6,200 km (1990)
Ports: Aihui, Changsha, Dalian, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Hangzhou,
Harbin, Huangpu, Nanning, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai,
Shantou, Tanggu, Xiamen, Xingang, Zhanjiang
Merchant marine:
total: 1,700 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 16,663,260
GRT/25,026,090 DWT
ships by type: barge carrier 2, bulk 316, cargo 876, chemical tanker
15, combination bulk 11, container 103, liquefied gas tanker 4,
multifunction large-load carrier 3, oil tanker 227, passenger 24,
passenger-cargo 28, refrigerated cargo 22, roll-on/roll-off cargo
24, short-sea passenger 45
note: China owns an additional 267 ships (1,000 GRT or over)
totaling 9,044,039 DWT operating under the registries of Panama,
Hong Kong, Malta, Liberia, Vanuatu, Cyprus, Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines, The Bahamas, Marshall Islands, and Singapore (1995 est.)
Airports:
total: 204
with paved runways over 3 047 m: 17
with paved runways 2 438 to 3 047 m: 69
with paved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m: 89
with paved runways 914 to 1 523 m: 9
with paved runways under 914 m: 7
with unpaved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m: 7
with unpaved runways 914 to 1 523 m: 3
with unpaved runways under 914 m: 3 (1994 est.)
Communications———————
Telephones: 20 million (1994 est.)
Telephone system: domestic and international services are
increasingly available for private use; unevenly distributed
domestic system serves principal cities, industrial centers, and
most townships
domestic: telephone lines are being expanded; 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, and Hong Kong
Radio broadcast stations: AM 274, FM NA, shortwave 0
Radios: 216.5 million (1992 est.)
Television broadcast stations: 202 (repeaters 2,050)
Televisions: 75 million
Defense———
Branches: People's Liberation Army (PLA), which includes the Ground Forces, Navy (includes Marines and Naval Aviation), Air Force, Second Artillery Corps (the strategic missile force), People's Armed Police (internal security troops, nominally subordinate to Ministry of Public Security, but included by the Chinese as part of the "armed forces" and considered to be an adjunct to the PLA in wartime)
Manpower availability:
males age 15–49: 352,506,948
males fit for military service: 194,589,216
males reach military age (18) annually: 9,763,916 (1996 est.)
Defense expenditures: the officially announced but suspect figure
is 70.2 billion yuan, NA% of GDP (1995 est.); note - conversion of
the defense budget into US dollars using the current exchange rate
could produce misleading results
======================================================================
@Christmas Island————————
(territory of Australia)
Map—
Location: 10 30 S, 105 40 E—Southeastern Asia, island in the
Indian Ocean, south of Indonesia
Flag——
Description: the flag of Australia is used
Geography————
Location: Southeastern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of
Indonesia
Geographic coordinates: 10 30 S, 105 40 E
Map references: Southeast Asia
Area:
total area: 135 sq km
land area: 135 sq km
comparative area: about 0.7 times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 138.9 km
Maritime claims: contiguous zone: 12 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 3 nm
International disputes: none
Climate: tropical; heat and humidity moderated by trade winds
Terrain: steep cliffs along coast rise abruptly to central plateau lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: Murray Hill 361 m
Natural resources: phosphate
Land