About China
China
This Far Eastern nation is the most populous in the planet (with over a billion people) and the fastest-growing economy in the world. China also has a culture & history that go back thousands of years – with the country’s ruling dynasties dating back to nearly 3,000 BC. The Silk Road – which weaved through much of the ancient world (including China, India, Persia, and the Near East) – was China’s earlier contribution to world trade.
From the Middle Ages into the 20th century (1644-1912), the Qing Dynasty was the last line of royalty that ruled over China. Its first interaction with the West resulted in First and Second Opium Wars (1839-1842 and 1856-1860) with Great Britain and France, which resulted among other things in the British takeover of Hong Kong. During that century, the Qing Dynasty also weathered through periods of internal unrest, as well as a famine from 1876-1879 (killing as many as 13 million locals).
After the Republic of China was established in 1912, the country went through periods of political turmoil, including a civil war (1927-1936), and Japanese aggression (the Sino-Japanese War)(1937-1945) – which became part of World War II. After World War II, conflict between Communist forces and Nationalists resulted in the former taking full control of the mainland by 1949, while the latter retreated into Taiwan (making that country independent of mainland control as the “Republic of China”). The decades that followed consisted of a planned economy consistent with Communist rule anywhere in the world.
Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (who led the country from 1978-1992) put China on a path to economic liberalization. Since then, China’s transition to a market economy (which has used its cheap skilled labor to lure investments from various countries, even the USA) has made it the most powerful economy in the world, while the country’s Communist Party retains strict political control. The growing middle class that China’s economic boom created has effectively made it a market for various international consumer goods, including those from USA. China has also become a major importer of petroleum (to fuel its industries) – shipping from various points of the world, including African countries like Angola.
China’s tourism industry – fueled by demands to visit various sites (such as the Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City, and Shanghai), has seen healthy growth over the years. According to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), Chinese tourism is presently at 9.5% of that country’s GDP, creating over 68 million direct and indirect jobs.