f the Central Committee]; eight registered
small parties controlled by CCP

Political pressure groups and leaders: no substantial political
opposition groups exist, although the government has identified the
Falungong sect and the China Democracy Party as potential rivals

International organization participation: AfDB, APEC, AsDB, BIS, CCC,
CDB (non-regional), ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU,
ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, 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, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
(applicant), ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador LI Zhaoxing
chancery: 2300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: (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: (10) 6532-3831
FAX: (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: Beginning in late 1978 the Chinese leadership has
been moving the economy from a sluggish Soviet-style centrally planned
economy to a more market-oriented economy but still within a rigid
political framework of Communist Party control. To this end 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
1999, with its 1.25 billion people but a GDP of just $3,800 per
capita, China became the second largest economy in the world after the
US. 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