HO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat,
Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MINURSO, NAM (observer),
OPCW, PCA, UN, UN Security Council, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR,
UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNTAET, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WHO, WIPO,
WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer), ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission:
Ambassador-designate YANG Jiechi
chancery: 2300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 328-2500
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and
San Francisco
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Joseph W. PRUEHER
embassy: Xiu Shui Bei Jie 3, 100600 Beijing
mailing address: PSC 461, Box 50, FPO AP 96521-0002
telephone: [86] (10) 6532-3431
FAX: [86] (10) 6532-6422
consulate(s) general: Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang
Flag description: red with a large yellow five-pointed star and four
smaller yellow five-pointed stars (arranged in a vertical arc toward
the middle of the flag) in the upper hoist-side corner
China Economy
Economy - overview: In late 1978 the Chinese leadership began moving
the economy from a sluggish Soviet-style centrally planned economy
to a more market-oriented system. Whereas the system operates within
a political framework of strict Communist control, the economic
influence of non-state managers and enterprises has been steadily
increasing. The authorities have switched to a system of household
responsibility in agriculture in place of the old collectivization,
increased the authority of local officials and plant managers in
industry, permitted a wide variety of small-scale enterprise in
services and light manufacturing, and opened the economy to
increased foreign trade and investment. The result has been a
quadrupling of GDP since 1978. In 2000, with its 1.26 billion people
but a GDP of just $3,600 per capita, China stood as the second
largest economy in the world after the US (measured on a purchasing
power parity basis). Agricultural output doubled in the 1980s, and
industry also posted major gains, especially in coastal areas near
Hong Kong and opposite Taiwan, where foreign investment helped spur
output of both domestic and export goods. On the darker side, the
leadership has often experienced in its hybrid system the worst
results of socialism (bureaucracy and lassitude) and of capitalism
(windfall gains and stepped-up inflation). Beijing thus has
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