The People s Republic of China (Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo) is currently the second largest economy in the world, with the world s fastest growth rate and largest population. China is also still an economy in transition from a poor, rural command economy to a dynamic and prosperous market economy, with a stark contrast between a large and mostly poor rural population, and relatively advanced, westernized, and wealthy cities. Introduction How Fast is China s Growth? China s Geography A Basic Guide to Chinese Language China s Provinces China s Imperial Dynasties An Overview of China s Early History 1
China s annual Gross Domestic Product was 40 trillion Yuan (Renminbi) in 2010. about $6 trillion at official rates. almost $4,500 per capita. USA GDP is about $15 trillion. almost $50,000 per capita. China s currency undervalued: purchasing power parity comparison is almost double (17% of U.S. level). China s annual real per-capita growth rate has averaged 8% since reform began, and about 9% over the last decade. $40,000 $35,000 Growth of Japan, Korea, and China R eal PPP P er -C apita G D P $30,000 $25,000 $20,000 $15,000 $10,000 China Japan ROK $5,000 $0 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 1950-2009 $35,000 Growth of Japan, Korea, and China $30,000 $25,000 $20,000 China after 1976 Japan after 1952 ROK after 1962 $15,000 $10,000 $5,000 $0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 First Forty Years 2
1,600 1,400 1,200 Growth of Japan, Korea, and China (Beginning Year = 100) 1,000 800 China after 1976 Japan after 1952 ROK after 1962 600 400 200 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 First Forty Years Why Has China Grown? Economic reforms since 1978. Foreign Trade openness after 1984. Undervalued exchange rate after 1994. Foreign Direct Investment after 1997. Internal Migration from rural to urban, agricultural to manufacturing. High rate of private savings. Public investment in public infrastructure, particularly during global downturns. China s Future Trajectory? IF the PPP numbers are accurate, and IF China and the U.S. could maintain the same growth rates as over the last three decades China will be the world s biggest economy (in PPP terms) in six years, and twenty years if the currency remains undervalued. It would take thirty more years for China to overtake the U.S. in per-capita income. But even though China invests more than it consumes, such high rates of growth are not possible to sustain once an economy catches up with the leaders. Especially not for an export-driven economy in which productivity improvements come from the movement of rural labor into light industry. 3
China s land area is roughly 3.7 million square miles, compared to 3.5 for the USA (0.6 in Alaska). The U.S. is bigger if you include water (the Great Lakes). China s average population density is more than four times that of the USA. Geography and Population China s population is 1.3 billion people, now growing at only 0.5% per year. Most Chinese live in the east. Until recently the vast majority lived in rural areas. China has significantly less farmable land than the USA, so the density per unit of arable land is almost nine times that of the USA. China is very mountainous 4
So where do Chinese live? China s Languages Like Europe, China has many languages, and within them many dialects. Most share Hanzi as a common written language (the Japanese call it Kanji). Mongolian, Tibetan, and Manchurian have different scripts. The dominant language taught in schools is what we call Mandarin (the Portuguese word for Chinese official). Chinese call it, among other things, Putonghua, Zhongwen, or Guoyu. Cantonese is another language that shares the same written script. In the PRC, the traditional characters have a simplified version (Jiantizi) derived from handwriting. 5
Chinese Characters Chinese is written in one-syllable characters, each containing one of more radicals derived from simpler characters, which are stylized pictographs. There are a couple hundred radicals, and many thousands of characters. Reading a newspaper requires about 5000, but one dictionary contains over 100,000 characters. Chinese words are usually polysyllabic, and written Chinese gives little help with spacing of characters. Pronouncing Pinyin Chinese is romanized for foreigners using Pinyin (vs. the old Wade-Giles or Yale systems). Peking => Beijing, Kwangtung => Guangdong, Mao Tse- Tung => Mao Zedong, Chiang Kai-Shek => Jiang Jieshi Spoken Mandarin Chinese consists of homophones: identical sounds with many different meanings. Every possible syllable can be written on a single page, but each can be pronounced with one of four tones. Syllables have an initial (usually a consonant, or a false initial) and a final (a vowel/consonant mix). Some initials don t go with some finals. Pinyin Initials Many initials are easy, but some aren t: r j vs. zh q vs. ch x vs. sh c vs. z Try these word pairs: xue/shui xiang/shang jiang/zhang jian/zhen cai/zai/sai xiao/shao ri/zhi Pinyin Sound Pinyin Sound b spun z it's over p pun c it's cider m month s sight f fun zh jerk d stung ch churn t tongue sh sure n none r jacque/ ralph l lung j jeep g goop q cheep k cool! x sheep h hot! y yet w weigh 6
Finals the second half of a Syllable Pinyin Sound Compound Sound Compound Sound Compound Sound a father ia y + a ua w+a o owe iao y + ao uo w+o (whoa) e done ie y + e (yet) üe ü+e in ing ar er machine sing car her ai aisle uai w+ai (why) ei eight ui,uei w+ei (way) ao how ou low iou y + ou an John ian y + an uan w+an (juan) üan ü+an en under uen w+en (wen) ang song iang y + ang uang w+ang eng lung ueng w+eng ong hunger iong y + ong i insure (after z,c,s,zh,ch,sh,r), be (after b,p,m,d,t,n,l,j,q,x,y) u Super ü like the German or French ün ü + n Chinese Surnames There are about 4000 surnames in China, and a term for common people is Laobaixing, the old hundred names. (There are over 6 million surnames in the U.S.A.) Chinese usually put the surname first, followed by a one or two syllable given name. Over 20% of Chinese are named Wang, Li, or Zhang. Next most popular are Liu, Chen, Yang, Huang, Zhao, Wu, and Zhou (>20m each). Top hundred surnames account for 85% of population. Children take father s surname, wives keep surname. China - the Middle Country The Chinese call it ZhongGuo, the Middle Country/Kingdom. The word China comes from Persian and Indian names (Sina), most likely referring to the Qin Dynasty. The Middle Kingdom originally referred to the area around the Yellow River (Huang He). The main ethnic group calls itself the Han people. Characters are called hanzi, the Han characters. 7
Major Cities and Provinces The capital Beijingis China s most modern city, with 18m people and a per-capita income of 70,000 RMB ($10,000) in 2009. Jiangsuprovince is China s largest industrial producer. Shanghaiis the largest city (19m) and the richest (80,000 RMB or $12,000 per capita). Guangdong(96m) is now China s largest province, followed by Henan and Shandong (95m each) and Sichuan (82m). 27 Provinces and Autonomous Regions, four Muncipalities, plus two Special Autonomous Regions Hai sea Hu lake Lin forest Xin new Yun cloud Helpful Geographic Words Dong east Xi west Nan south Bei north Guang- wide An, Ning peace Shang at or upon Qing clear blue Shan mountain Jiang, He, Chuan river This helps us with Guangdong, Guangxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Hunan, Hubei, Henan, Hebei, Jiangxi, Shanghai, Qinghai, Hainan and Yunnan. Also, Beijing = northern capital, Sichuan = four rivers, Zhejiang = winding river, Heilongjiang = black dragon river, Shaanxi = thief s mountain west, Xinjiang = new frontier. 8
Regions North China: Beijing Municipality [Peking] Tianjin Municipality [Tientsin] Hebei [Hopeh (Jehol/Chihli)] Henan [Honan] Shanxi [Shansi] Shandong [Shantung] Manchuria: Liaoning [Liaoning] Jilin [Kirin] Heilongjiang [Heilungkiang] Lower Yangzi [Yangtze]: Shanghai Municipality Jiangsu [Kiangsu] Anhui [Anhwei] Middle Yangzi: Jiangxi [Kiangsi] Hubei [Hupeh] Hunan Upper Yangzi: Chongqing [Chungking] Municipality Sichuan [Szechwan] Lingnan: Regions Guangdong [Kwangtung] Guangxi [Kwangsi] A.R. Hainan Island Xiang Gang [Hong Kong] S.A.R. Aomen [Macau] S.A.R. Southeast Coast: Zhejiang [Chekiang] Fujian [Fukien] Taiwan Yun-Kwei: Yunnan Guizhou [Kweichow] Northwest China: Shaanxi [Shensi] Neimonggu A.R. (Inner Mongolia, inc. Suiyuan, Chahar) Gansu [Kansu] Ningxia A.R. (Hui) [Ningsia] Xinjiang A.R. (Uighur) [Sinkiang] Tibetan Plateau: Qinghai [Ch'inghai] Tibet (Xizang A.R.) Rivers & Cities Major Rivers: Changjiang (Yangtze River) Huanghe (Yellow River) Zhujiang (Pearl/West River) Heilongjiang (Black Dragon/Amur River) Huaihe Other Cities: Guangzhou [Canton] Xian [Sian] Hangzhou [Hangchow] Suzhou [Soochow] Chengdu [Chengtu] Qingdao [Tsingtao] Wuhan [Woochang/Hankow/Hanyang] Kaifeng Luoyang Fuzhou [Foochow] Nanjing [Nanking] Kweilin [Guilin] Dalian [Dairen] Taibei [Taipei] 9