Political geography
The People’s Republic of China is the second-largest country in the world by land area[145] after Russia, and is either the third- or fourth-largest by total area, after Russia, Canada and, depending on the definition of total area, the United States.[r] China’s total area is generally stated as being approximately 9,600,000 km2 (3,700,000 sq mi).[146] Specific area figures range from 9,572,900 km2 (3,696,100 sq mi) according to the Encyclopædia Britannica,[147]9,596,961 km2 (3,705,407 sq mi) according to the UN Demographic Yearbook,[10] to 9,596,961 km2 (3,705,407 sq mi) according to the CIA World Factbook.[12]
China has the longest combined land border in the world, measuring 22,117 km (13,743 mi) from the mouth of the Yalu River to the Gulf of Tonkin.[12] China borders 14 nations, more than any other country except Russia, which also borders 14.[148] China extends across much of East Asia, bordering Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar (Burma) in Southeast Asia; India, Bhutan, Nepal, Afghanistan, and Pakistan[s] in South Asia; Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in Central Asia; and Russia, Mongolia, and North Korea in Inner Asia and Northeast Asia. Additionally, China shares maritime boundaries with South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
Economy
China had the largest economy in the world for most of the past two thousand years, during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline. As of 2014, China has the world’s second-largest economy in terms of nominal GDP, totalling approximately US$10.380 trillion according to the International Monetary Fund.[citation needed] In terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) GDP, China’s economy is the largest in the world, with a 2014 PPP GDP of US$17.632 trillion.[299] In 2013, its PPP GDP per capita was US$12,880, while its nominal GDP per capita was US$7,589. Both cases put China behind around eighty countries (out of 183 countries on the IMF list) in global GDP per capita rankings
China in the global economy
China is a member of the WTO and is the world’s largest trading power, with a total international trade value of US$3.87 trillion in 2012.[25] Its foreign exchange reserves reached US$2.85 trillion by the end of 2010, an increase of 18.7% over the previous year, making its reserves by far the world’s largest.[327][328] In 2012, China was the world’s largest recipient of inward foreign direct investment (FDI), attracting $253 billion.[329] In 2014, China’s foreign exchange remittances were $US64 billion making it the second largest recipient of remittances in the world.[330] China also invests abroad, with a total outward FDI of $62.4 billion in 2012,[329] and a number of major takeovers of foreign firms by Chinese companies.[331] In 2009, China owned an estimated $1.6 trillion of US securities,[332] and was also the largest foreign holder of US public debt, owning over $1.16 trillion in US Treasury bonds.[333][334] China’s undervalued exchange rate has caused friction with other major economies,[226][335][336] and it has also been widely criticized for manufacturing large quantities of counterfeit goods.[337][338]According to consulting firm McKinsey, total outstanding debt in China increased from $7.4 trillion in 2007 to $28.2 trillion in 2014, which reflects 228% of China’s GDP.[339] In 2017 the Institute of International Finance reported that China’s debt had reached 304% of its GDP.[340]
China ranked 29th in the Global Competitiveness Index in 2009,[342] although it is only ranked 136th among the 179 countries measured in the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom.[343] In 2014, Fortune’s Global 500 list of the world’s largest corporations included 95 Chinese companies, with combined revenues of US$5.8 trillion.[344] The same year, Forbes reported that five of the world’s ten largest public companies were Chinese, including the world’s largest bank by total assets, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
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