China is one of the oldest civilizations in the world and has a diverse and rich cultural heritage.
It has a vast language system and the widely used gunpowder, paper, printing and the compass were invented in China. The glorious China was affected drastically after the Second World War causing widespread unrest, famine and thousands of people loosing their lives. However, after 1978, under the reign of DENG Xiaoping many economic reforms were introduced and China emerged as one of the fastest growing economies.
China is an emerging economy, considering that only 2 decades ago the economy was struggling, it has however shown remarkable growth and is one of the leading economies today. The GDP in 2007 was 24.6619 trillion yuan, which was ranked fourth in the world.
China is second in growth to the United States; however the per capita income is still in the middle income segment. It is third worldwide in industrial output with industries such as coal, iron ore, mining, machinery, apparel, textiles, locomotives, consumer products and information technology. 8% of the world industrial output comes from China itself. This sector provides 48% of China’s GDP which is one of the largest for any country, thereby providing a lot of employment opportunities and jobs to its people making it a very progressive economy.
Most of the world’s supply of steel comes from China as it is the largest producer of steel in the world. Many small scale industries produce steel with the largest producer located in a province called Anshan.
China ranks number one in the world in farming, considering that 60% of the population lives in rural area and make their livelihood from farming. It is one of the largest producer and consumer of agricultural producer as it is the most populated country it the world.
The services sector in China such as transport, distribution, entertainment is ranked seventh worldwide and is the second largest GDP earner for the economy. With the reforms introduced, privatization came into play and now many malls, shopping complexes, gaming arcades, wholesale markets have opened up in China.
The tourism sector is thriving in China as it is the fourth largest country in the world for inbound tourism. Tourism is a key contributor of national income and is providing a lot of employment and much needed foreign exchange. According to the World Tourism Organization, China will be the largest tourist country and fourth largest for overseas travel by the year 2020, as this sector has a vast potential for growth.
According to Chinas Ministry of Telecommunications, China is ranked second in the world after United States of America in the number of internet users. With the development of the information technology sector and its widespread telecommunications network, the internet has gained popularity.
Thus, the political controls are still being implemented in China, but this has proved to be beneficial to the economy as the people command a much higher standard of living and China is growing at a pace that is matched by only the First World Countries.
