THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
official name: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo (Zhongguo)

1. geography

2. administrative division

3. population

4. party system (China mainland)[1]

5. state system (China mainland)

Appendix: ideas for dummies

1. Geography

The total area of China, including Tibet [2], is 9.326.410 square kilometers of land and 270.550 sq.km. of inland waters. Land: in the western part of the country high plateaus, mountains and deserts, in the eastern part plains, hills and deltas. Mountains, high plateaus and hills account for 69% of the land. Inlands waters: 1659 rivers and 2800 lakes. Land boundaries 22.117 kilometers, coastline 14.500 kilometers. China claims a 200 nautical miles exclusive economic maritime zone, resulting in boundary disputes with Taiwan, Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam[3].

2. Administrative division

Twenty-two provinces, five autonomous regions (Xinjiang, Tibet, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia and Ningxia), four provincial-level municipalities, (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing) and two special administrative regions (Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR). Administrative levels: national, provincial (different subdivisions), counties (subdivisons: townships and towns)[4].

3. Population

Total population[5]: 1.3+ billion. Birth rate: 12,98 ‰, death rate: 6,92‰, population growth rate 0,57%. Population density is highest in the eastern part of the country and in all cities, e.g. Shanghai 2.646 per sq.km., against Tibet’s 2 persons per sq.km.
Ethnic groups[6]: Han Chinese account for about 92% of the population, the 55 so-called national minorities like Uygur, Hui, Manchu , Mongol and Zhuang for circa 8%. According to the constitution[7] relations between the ethnic groupos are based on equality, unity and mutual assistance, and the minorities have the right of self-government and the right to use their native language. Languages: 200, offical language: mandarin (putonghua).

4. Party system:

The Communist Party of China (CPC), and more especially its Politburo and the Politburo Standing Committee, is the key decision body in Chinese politics, economics, legislation, government and defense and security affairs[8], but lately the influence of non-party specialists and consultants, business-leaders and organisations on decision-making has increased. The CPC controls all state, army[9] and public organs and organisations, in that it selects their leading cadres, has party committees in all their organs, and systains a system of democratic centralism.. The hierarchical system of democratic centralism applies both to state organs and party organs, i.e. the superior leads the subordinate, decisions taken and orders given by higher levels must be obeyed by the lower levels, although lower levels may make suggestions and in some cases negotiate.
China has eight other political parties, which have the acceptance of CPC leadership written in their constitutions[10]. Under CPC’s leadership these eight parties, public organisations, representatives of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao &c.[11] cooperate with the CPC in the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)[12], that conducts political consultation, exercises democratic supervision and serves as an advisory body for the party and the state leadership.

5. State system: republic

State structure: the National People’s Congress, highest organ of state power; the president, the head of state; the State Council, highest administrative organ, the Central Military Commission, directs the armed forces; the local people’s congresses, organs of state power, and local people’s governments, administrative organs; the organs of self-government of national autonomous areas; the people’s courts, trial and arbitration organs, and the people’s procuratorates, supervision and prosecution organs[13].
Capital: Beijing

State symbols[14]:
national emblem: showsTian’anmen under the ligt of five yellow (gold) stars and it is framed with ears of grain and a cogwheel, against a red background. Symbolism of the five stars: one big star, the CPC, hovering over four little one’s: workers, peasants, lower middle class and national capitalists. Tian’anmen, because it was there that Mao Zedong on October 1, 1949, proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China. The ears of grain and the cogweel symbolise the alliance between workers and peasants.
national anthem: the ‘March of the Volunteers’[15]
national flag: red with five yellow (gold) stars.

Administrative system: the central people’s government (State Council) and the local people’s governments. The State Council consist of the premier, vice-premiers, state councilors, ministers and State Council commission directors.

Judicial system: courts with judicial power, procuratorates with power of prosecution.
The Supreme People’s Court, the higher, intermediate and grassroots local people’s courts, and special courts like military courts exercise the judicial power. The Supreme People’s Court supervises the administration of justice by the local and special courts. The courts exercise their power independently, without outside interference[16].
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the higher, intermediate and grassroots local people’s procuratorates and special procuratorates like the military procuratorates exercise the power of prosecution. The Supreme People’s Procuratorate directs the prosecution work of the local and special procuratorates. The procuratorates exercise their power independently, without outside interference[17].

Legislative system: 1. national laws of the National People’s Congress and its Standing Committee, 2. national administrative regulations of the State Council and administrative rules of its ministries, committees and commissions, 3. administrative regulations and rules of the local people’s governments and the organs of self-government of autonomous areas, 4. interpretative rules of the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate[18]. After Mao Zedong passed away Chinese leaders around Deng Xiaoping wanted to modernise the country and develop a legal system. They started slowly, with a politically coloured constitution in 1978 and criminal law and criminally procedure law in 1979, Since 1995, in part thanks to the Shanghai clique around Jiang Zemin, a modern legal system[19] has been created. The judicial system has been modernized with new organic laws on the courts and procuratorates. It has been  professionalized with new laws on judges, procurators and lawyers, and qualification exams for judges, prosecutors and lawyers. Criminal justice has improved with a amendments to the criminal law, criminal procedure law and prison law. New administrative laws and a great number of socio-economic laws have been issued.

A decade of intensified economic reform, which made the legal reform both possible and necessary, also created problems. First, there is the economic disparity between urban and rural China. The standard of living for most urban workers improved greatly, but rural workers were left behind. Millions of rural workers migrated to the big cities, where, because of their rural household residency registration, neither they nor their childres have a legal status, or a right to housing, health care and education. Sometimes they do not get their wages paid. The problem of migrants, vagrants and beggars in the cities was only partially redressed with new legislation. The new leaders, president Hu Jintao and premier Wen Jiabao, have therefore made the social-economic modernization of the poorer western part of the country their priority. Second, the political instability. So far, all signs of political discontent, such as falungong demonstrations, manifestations of poor farmers and laid-off industrial workers, separatist activities in the northern border provinces, have been brutally suppressed. But how long will it be ossible to suppress the longing of educated young people and the well-to-do urban middle class for freedom of speech, freedom of press, and freedom to surf freely on the internet. The economic reform brought economic freedom and freedom of movement; political reform might bring the other freedoms, perhaps. But in the mean time old (economic) laws wild be revised and many new (economic) laws promulgated.

[1] excluding Hong Kong and Macao, according to art.31 Const.2004, and art.2, 5, 9 of the Basic Law of Hong Kong SAR-1990 and of the Basic Law of Macao-SAR (1993), text in the links Hong Kong and Macao folders
[2] more info on the international status of Tibet in the links and virtual library Tibet folders
[3i] more info in the maps
[4] art.30 Const(titution)-2004, text in the links law folders Chinese laws and translations
[5 the exact number in: http://www.cpirc.org.cn/en/eindex.htm
[6] more info on ethnic groups and on languages in the maps, and in the links national minorities folder and language folder; links to the ‘regional national autonomy law’ (2001) in the law folders; more info on regional autonomy in the State Council White Paper on Regional Autonomy-8.2.2005: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-02/28/content_420337.htm
[7] § 10 of the preamb., art.4, 112-122, 134, and passim, Const.-2004
[8] based on § 7 preamb. Const.-2004: “Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the guidance of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of the ‘Three Represents’, the Cinese people of all nationalities will continue to adhere to the people’s democratic dictatorship and the socialist road, persevere in reform and opening to the outside world, steadily improve various socialist institutions, develop the socialist market economy, develop socialist democracy, improve the socialist legal system and work hard and self-dependently to modernize the country’s industry, agriculture, national defense and science and technology step by step, and to promote the coordinated development of material civilization, poliutical civilization and cultural civilization to build China into a socialist country that is prosperous, powerful, democratic and culturally advanced.”; and on party regulations and ‘proposals’ on legal, economic and social affairs, and party selection of all state, government and judicial leaders; more info in the CPC folder and CPC-documents folder; links to the constitution in the law folders
[9] cf. art.93 Const.2004: “The Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China directs the armed forces of the country.”, and § 14 Party Const(ittution)-2002: “The Communist Party of China persists in its leadership over the People’s Liberation Army and other people’s armed forces.” & art.19 of the National Defense Law-14 march 1997: “The armed forces of the People’s Republic of China are subject to the leadership of the Communist Party of China.”.Should be understood as the law sanctioning the power of the party over the army. For the Military Commission of the State and of the Army, same explanation, and in fact there is overall personal union between the two, like in other leadership functions of the state and the party.
[9] cf. art.93 Const.2004: “The Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China directs the armed forces of the country.”, and § 14 Party Const(ittution)-2002: “The Communist Party of China persists in its leadership over the People’s Liberation Army and other people’s armed forces.” & art.19 of the National Defense Law-14 march 1997: “The armed forces of the People’s Republic of China are subject to the leadership of the Communist Party of China.”.Should be understood as the law sanctioning the power of the party over the army. For the Military Commission of the State and of the Army, same explanation, and in fact there is overall personal union between the two, like in other leadership functions of the state and the party.
[10] cf. http://www.china.org.cn/english/Political/29034.htm; http://english.people.com.cn/200202/09/eng20020209_90183.shtml
[11] composition chart in: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2003-02/28/content_751100.htm
[12] based on § 5 of the CPPCC-Charter: “Under the guidance of marxism-leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of the ‘three represent’, and on the political basis of great love for the People’s Republic of China, support for the Communist Party of China, support for the cause of socialism, making concerted efforts for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference will exert itself to steadily strengthen and develop the ‘patriotic united front’, bring into play all initiatives, unite all forces that can be united, be of one heart and one mind, pool the collective wisdom of the masses, and, with economic development in central position, maintain and develop a political situation of stability and unity, unceasingly promote the coordinated development of socialist material civilization, political civilization and spiritual civilization, thus striving to realize the fundamental mission of all the nationalities of China.” “The leadership of the Communist Party of China over the multi-party work and the system of political consultation us the fundamental political system of our country.” &c.; more in fo in the CPC and CPPCC folders
[13] organic laws &c. in the law folders of links and virtual library
[14] art.136-137 Const.-2004 and special legislation; see text in the law folders
[15] more info: http://www.certifiedchinesetranslation.com/China/patriot.html
[16i] that may be true in non-political cases
[17] that also may be true in non-political cases
[18i] Const.-2004, passim; links to legislation laws in the law folders
[19] to measure the distance covered since the political coloured laws of Deng just compare the first article of the Criminal Law of 1979 to the first article of the Criminal Law of 1997; see text in the law folders

Appendix: ideas for dummies

1. open the links folder for an overview of all the subject folders so you know there is more than just law in life (the virtual library has the same structure)
2. then go to the folder you want, and
3. if you have a certain subject in mind, just type Ctrl-F and then type the subject name
e.g. if you consider football as part of your culture, go to the culture folder and type foot-ball
4) if you don’t find your subject in the links, try http://www.cuil.com/   or http://clusty.com/ or one of the Chinese engines of http://www.searchenginecolossus.com/China.html, or descend to Hooverplein 9 (-1), B-3000 Leuven
5. if a link is broken, do not despair, try Explorer’s View-refresh or View-encoding, or paste the URL in a fresh Explorer page, or paste the URL in Google's search and try its cache, or paste the URL in www.archive.org/mediatypes-browse.php, or write to the webmaster
6. if you use the law subfolder ‘translations’ always check a) the translations’ general links folder for revisions or new laws, b) the ‘Chinese laws’ folder for revisions or new laws and eventually the Chinese laws’ general links folder for idem; dates are important because Chinese legislation is changing all the time
7. if you ask yourself: “Why so many ‘idem’s in the links’ lawfolders”, the answer is simple; “Because Chinese websites are what they are, highly volatile”.
8. if you don’t find enough material in the virtual library, go to the links’ folder bibliography