Country Profile

As one of the world’s earliest civilizations, China has a recorded history of around 3,600 years. It possesses rich historical documents as well as ancient relics.

China is the world’s third largest country, with a total land area of 9.6-million square kilometers, a coastline of some 18,000 kilometers, and international land borders of more than 20,000 kilometers. China shares land borders with Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), India, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia and North Korea.

China’s climate is dominated by dry seasons and wet monsoons, which make for clear temperature differences in winter and summer.

In 2003 , China achieved GDP growth rate of 8.5 per cent . In 2002, China’s GDP reached US$1.237 trillion. This rapid development has been driven by the country’s economic reform and market liberalization. Accelerated by China’s accession to the World Trade Organization, China has also experienced rapid growth in its FDI. By 2002, more than 420,000 foreign-founded enterprises had invested in China.

Since its entry into the WTO, China has fulfilled its promise to further open its markets and to create environment that will attract foreign enterprises to invest in the country. It is expected that China will continue its efforts to realize its WTO commitments in all areas.