33, Er Long Lu, Xicheng District
Beijing 100032
China
Company Perspectives:
We should always manage the entrusted businesses on behalf of our clients wholeheartedly and commit ourselves to making success for our customers through our untiring efforts.
History of China Telecom
China Telecom dominates China's largest fixed-line telephone services with 95 percent of the services for 1.2 billion people in 31 provinces. In addition to these 165 million fixed-line accounts, China Telecom has the world's largest wireless market, with about 120 million subscribers, and a history of poor service. Effective May 16, 2002, China Telecom is separated into China Netcom Communication Group Corporation in the North and China Telecom Corporation in territories in the West and South to generate competition and greater efficiency. The northern operations cover ten provinces, and merged with former rivals Netcom and Jitong Communications. The southern and western operations include 21 provinces that comprise China Telecom.
China Telecom operations consist of four major components: fixed-line telephony, which is basic telephone service; Internet telephony, a category of hardware and software required to transmit Internet submissions over phone lines; VPN (virtual private network), a network system construed to submit data using telephony technology; and CDMA (code division multiple access), the technology behind cell-phone usage.
China is considered to be the last gold mine of telecommunications because of its vast and rapidly growing market. Xinhua News Agency reports that the total assets of China's telecommunications sector topped 1 trillion yuan (US $120 billion) at the end of 2001. Investment in fixed assets (tangible property used in the operation of a business) for the industry came to 243 billion yuan (US $29.2 billion). The number of telephone users in China increased by 94 million in 2001 after the installation fee was removed, resulting in a total of 145 million mobile-phone users--the largest number of any country in the world--and 179 million fixed-telephone subscribers, the second highest worldwide.
Company Beginnings and Overview
China Telecom got its start in 1994 as an independent company, owning and controlling all public telecommunications, including mobile, fixed-line, and postal services. It was heavily regulated and influenced by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT).
By 1998, 1.2 billion people in China relied on telecommunications services. A countrywide modernization effort meant more focus on this sector of the economy was necessary. The people needed improved services and better quality telecommunications services. These two points were foremost in the minds of China Telecom executives when they attended the country's PT/Expo telecommunications show in October of that year.
China Telecom planned to invest US$18 billion in telecommunications services that year and the next, with 80 percent slated for public telecom infrastructure. Business was good, with revenues for the first three quarters of 1998 at US$20 billion. Subscribers totaled 104.4 million and the number was going up rapidly. More than 20.8 million new customers joined in 1998, including 7.7 million cellular-phone customers. By contrast, China Telecom's only competitor, China Unicom, had only 1 million customers at that time.
Company director Ni Yifeng had plans to increase the number of telephone exchanges by 20 million lines each year. Part of the company's goal was to enhance the nationwide transmission network as well, as the actual number of telephone users for the year 2000 turned out to be more than twice the projected number. The company also wanted to develop products for VPNs (virtual private networks--private networks that are built atop a public network); frame relays (an interface used for WANs--wide area networks); Internet; and ISDN (integrated service digital network) lines.
To get help with these plans China Telecom called on an old ally, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) for help, requesting management lessons as well as technical assistance. The relationship between NTT and the Chinese government dated back to 1980.
Telecom Restructuring 1998
In March 1998, the government had passed a telecommunications law that changed the regulatory structure and allowed more competition in the industry. China wished to enter the World Trade Organization (WTO). However, entry into the WTO required proof of a competitive atmosphere and a demonstrated customer-centered market environment. Up to this point, China's telecom industry was dominated by China Telecom, which was a mammoth entity.
At this same time, a competitor, China United Telecommunications Corporation (China Unicom), tried to gain a foothold in the industry. However, the MPT (Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications) used its power and China Telecom used its dominance to successfully prevent China Unicom from becoming a significant competitor. China Unicom struggled to create new business, but its lack of government backing and a substantial customer base limited its ability to grow and compete.
The first item on the restructuring list was to break down the powerful ministry alliance between the MPT and China Telecom. The government absorbed the MPT into the Ministry of Information Industry (MII). This new body was given the responsibility of governing all telecommunications operators. It was also assigned the task of establishing telecommunications policy, freeing up the market, and assisting with the planning for the prospective WTO bid. In being given responsibility for all telecommunications operators, it was hoped that the MII would be forced to govern fairly, separate government from business, and promote competition.
While China Telecom made plans for the future, the government was hard at work influencing these plans. In early December 1998 the government announced it was considering breaking up the China Telecom monopoly by breaking up the company itself. The MII submitted plans to China's Cabinet that proposed breaking up the company either along geographical lines or by services. Another possibility on the horizon was to privatize the company, although recent new rules restricting foreign company involvement into China suggested this would not be a viable solution.
On December 17, 1998, the MII announced breakup plans would be put on hold. The government ruled that operation of foreign companies in China was illegal, so the MII had to compensate the foreign companies for their loss of business.
The MII had submitted a plan that broke China Telecom into smaller companies along business lines, but the State Council had rejected that plan. The Council instructed the MII to come up with a plan that fostered more competition. In response, the MII first separated the postal services into their own entity, then began breaking up China Telecom.
The First Breakup: 1999
Much speculation surrounded the proposed breakup plans at the end of 1998, but the MII refused to divulge its intentions. "The main idea is to separate the government function from the business function and to let the enterprises enter a market economy," said Cheng Guanghui, then spokesperson for the MII, without further elaboration.
The breaking up of the company finally began in 1999 and took more than two years to complete. China Telecom was offering essentially four services at this point: fixed-telephone lines, mobile communications, paging, and satellite transmissions. Each of these parts was broken into separate companies. While waiting for the government's breakup decisions, the company forged ahead with company growth.
Plans for investing in 12 provinces were designed to boost China Telecom's presence in the Western provinces. One official deemed the investments "important because of their political significance." China Telecom also purchased ATM (asynchronous transfer mode that allows dynamic allocation of bandwidth) network equipment to carry digital data. In May 1999, China Telecom's paging division, Guoxin Paging, was handed over to China Unicom. Guoxin Paging had an annual revenue of US$1 billion. Once absorbed into China Unicom, it boosted the company's share of the paging market to 80 percent.
In 2000, the mobile operations were spun into a separate company called China Mobile, and soon became the second largest mobile network in the world. By the end of 2000, China Mobile served 78 percent of China's mobile subscribers. The Satellite division also became its own company called ChinaSat. In May, the newly revamped China Telecom once again began operations with 98 percent of all fixed-line subscribers. However, by the end of 2000, this number had dropped to 95 percent.
Emerging Competitors
The desire for increased competition did not end with the breakup of China Telecom. China Unicom was still struggling to emerge despite being the recipient of China Telecom's paging business. As the sole holder of operational licenses in China, the company forged ahead and offered an initial public offering (IPO) of US$6.9 billion in June 2000. It was permitted to charge 10 to 20 percent less in mobile fees than its only competitor, China Mobile.
China Railway Telecom, or Railcom, which offered all telecom services except mobile, first established a national fixed-line network that spanned 120,000 km. In March 2001, it gained permission to offer rates 10 to 20 percent cheaper than China Telecom. However, in June of the same year, a connection agreement allowing both companies to offer nationwide services was signed.
China Netcom, which had data, VOIP (voice over Internet protocol), and Internet operations, was considered to be a future competitor to China Telecom and held the fastest fiber-optic network in the country. As data services were more in demand, the company's responsiveness to the market positioned them as a potential major player.
By June 2001, the seven licensed public telecom operators included China Telecom and its two break-off companies (China Mobile and ChinaSat), China Unicom, Jitong (data and Internet operations), China Netcom, and China Railway Telecom.
Competitive Fee Reductions
The reduction of fees was a common practice during this time of restructuring. In June 1999, MII had awarded China Telecom, Unicom, Jitong, and Netcom the licenses to offer IP telephony services for 50 percent less for long-distance and international calls. For other reasons as well, China Telecom was merely moderately profitable by 2000, with only 11 of 31 regional branches reporting profits. Part of this was due to its employee structure; when mobile, satellite, and paging operations were divested, the employees stayed with the fixed-line operations.
Several of China Telecom's subsidiaries also ran schools, hotels, shops, and other businesses, which added up to high-company operating costs. In May of 2000, the company's IPO plans hit another snag when investors opted for the competitor, China Unicom, over China Telecom. By the end of 2000, it became obvious that China Telecom's monopoly was slowly being chiseled away by discounts awarded to other telecoms and its own inefficiencies.
The MII also reduced fixed-line and IP telephone charges (including Internet connection fees) by more than 50 percent in January 2001. China Telecom still had 95 percent of the market and was more seriously undermined by this move than other MII changes. The company lost about US$3.6 billion that year.
China Telecom Embraces High-Tech Opportunities
The year 2000 brought new changes in telecommunications regulations. Designed to clarify some vague definitions, the rules were welcomed by telecom operators. Foreign companies showed interest even though no specifics were included for their involvement. The basic tenet of the rules was to allow the telecoms to focus on upgrading services rather than to continue to engage in price wars.
This meant that China Telecom could forge ahead with more plans to upgrade services and engage in technical progress as well. In October of that year they teamed with Hutchinson Global Crossing, a Hong Kong-based network operator to create the Shenzhen-Hong Kong fiber-optic transmission system (SDH). The SDH extended China Telecom's fiber-optics offerings to a total of 80 kilometers from Guangzhou to the border of Hong Kong, and made a direct connection to the system found there.
Four months later, China Telecom began 2001 with a shaky start when an undersea cable broke, leaving China's Internet users with no connections for ten days in February. However, the company forged ahead with more technology dreams--specifically, broadband plans. Broadband networks not only allowed more data to transmit but could run video and voice signals through at the same time.
Physically, broadband meant elimination of copper cables that were notorious for inefficient transmissions. Having broadband technology could mean more business opportunity for China Telecom as evidenced in their US$101 million deal with Canada-based Nortel Networks to construct a 15,000-kilometer network. By providing high-speed devices such as ISDN (integrated service digital network) through this network, the company could switch China's 22.5 million Internet users from dial-up to digital. China Telecom estimated that by 2005, they would have 20 million broadband users.
China Telecom remained dominant in its position at this time, despite the earlier divestment of several of its businesses. Their Internet (data communications) branch, ChinaNet, was the leading data center and Internet access provider in China. Fixed-line telephony still accounted for 90 percent of consumers' needs; however, increased demand for more technology and better service began to put pressure on China Telecom.
Dreams of an IPO
In December 2000, China Telecom had begun to prepare for an initial public offering to raise US$10 to US$15 billion on the New York and Hong Kong stock exchanges. Scheduled for July 2001, it was to be one of Asia's biggest IPOs. Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley were hired to underwrite the IPO. However, in May of that year, the company placed all its plans on hold indefinitely. The investment climate was bad, and global interest in telecom stocks was down. Industry analysts also blamed China Telecom's reform process, which was supposed to have been completed by then.
The reform program was planned to prepare China Telecom for an overseas listing, which would involve major structural reform to be completed by March 2001 when the company went public. However, by May 2001, the plan had still not been approved. Discouraged about their future when the reforms had not materialized, some employees jumped to better-paid jobs at China Mobile and China Unicom later in the year.
The reform program consisted of returning the company to its core business of telecom operations. The company was to rid itself of all activities not directly related to telecom operations, laying off 200,000 workers in the process and focusing on the parts of the company that were profitable.
Another part of China Telecom's IPO process was an application for a mobile license. Unfortunately, the MII announced in March 2001, that it would not grant another mobile license that year. China Telecom wanted the government to expedite its breakup plans, as the delay was holding back the company's desire for a successful initial public offering (IPO). The company had originally wanted to list on the Hong Kong and U.S. markets and raise US$8 to US$10 billion in 2001. These plans were put on hold when talk of another restructure began. China Telecom needed government approval to list. When China Telecom went public it would be the first telecom company in China to go public and to list funds in an international market.
Expanded Internet Services
Formerly only the northern-based Jitong was offering Internet access besides ChinaNet. By June 2001, China Netcom, China Unicom, and China Railway all began to enter the Internet market. Independent providers began to spring up as well. And network upgrades allowed cable providers to offer Internet services for the first time. Contributing to the growing competitive landscape were the MII's goals of fostering competition by becoming a more independent entity.
In an effort to compete with these newcomers and their lower rates, China Telecom cut its Internet Protocol (IP, meaning long-distance connections made using Internet technology, not to be confused with Internet access) fees by 50 percent in March 2001. The company had already increased charges for its fixed-line operations by about 60 percent the year before, possibly contributing for the loss of customers to less expensive operators.
Other preemptive moves by China Telecom included waiving installation fees and giving gifts to new subscribers. The new policies confirmed that China Telecom could no longer deny the looming competition ahead.
Price Wars Continue
The price wars of early 2001 were only the start of the emerging competitive telecom market. By now, China Telecom was still the dominating player but the others were becoming increasingly competitive.
One such company was China Railcom, the country's second-biggest fixed-line telecom operator that was established at the end of 2000. It initiated price wars by setting rates at half the rate that China Telecom charged, and targeted completion of a long-distance call network by June, mere months after the company was established.
China Telecom had to face yet another new obstacle, the loss of its monopoly on Internet bandwidth. China Unicom was awarded permits to build and operate its own international landing station, allowing the company to use undersea cable operations without having to negotiate prices with China Telecom. Local start-up ISPs could work with China Unicom as well, continuing to chisel away at China Telecom's dominance.
However, China Telecom continued to prosper and grow. In 2001, the company's number of digital communications increased by 17.61 million units over 2000, for a total of 33.22 million units, and an increase of 31.6 percent over 2000. The total browsing time of Internet users reached 143 billion minutes, an increase of 140.3 percent over 2000. China Telecom's total digital communication income in 2001 came to 9.65 billion yuan (US $1.17 billion).
Restructuring Redux 2002
China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) triggered more change for China Telecom, which still held 95 percent of the market and was considered a monopoly. Because of the WTO pressures, another restructuring was on the horizon.
In the summer of 2001, the Chinese government began to plan another breakup of China Telecom. In December, the government approved a plan to split the company into two separate companies. One would take the ten Northern provinces, and the other the Southern provinces. The northern group would combine with two smaller companies to form a new company called China Netcom. The southern half would remain China Telecom, with 21 provinces.
Much later than initially planned, on May 16, 2002, the split became official when the Northern provinces became China Netcom Communication Group Corporation, and the Southern and Western provinces became China Telecom Corporation. These two regional companies, divided by the Yellow River, would be allowed to build more networks and to compete with each other, although this would likely take years as the local phone services would not immediately overlap.
The newly structured China Telecom would retain 70 percent of its long-distance network, with the remaining network handed over to China Netcom. "Reform is the direction and competition is the goal," stated Wu Jichuan, head of China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII) during a ceremony honoring the split. Minister Wu, as reported in the Reuters Business Report for May 16, 2002, further noted that the goal in dividing China Telecom, which had a longstanding reputation for poor service and high prices, was to "break the monopoly and improve the quality of telecom services."
Competition was further enhanced by plans to issue both new companies wireless operating licenses. Next on the drawing board were plans for an expected US$3 to US$5 billion initial public offering (IPO) by China Telecom in Hong Kong and New York later in 2002. As of May 2002, the telecom market in China was shared by China Telecom Corporation, China Netcom Communication Group Corporation, China Mobile, China Unicom, China Satcom, and China Railcom.
It is hoped that China Telecom can step up to real competition. On December 11, 2001, when China joined the World Trade Organization, it promised, as a condition of membership, to allow foreigners to own up to 50 percent of telecoms ventures in China after two years, and 49 percent of mobile-phone companies after five years. Telecommunications investors are unlikely to pass the opportunity for a parcel of this last gold mine.
Principal Competitors:China Mobile; China Netcom; China Unicom.
Related information about China
Official name People's Republic of China, Chinese
Zhonghua Renmin Gonghe Guo
Local name Zhongguo Timezone GMT +8 Area
9 597 000 km族/3 705 000 sq mi
(also claims island of Taiwan) population total (2002e)
1 284 211 000 Status People's republic
Capital Beijing (Peking) Languages Standard Chinese
(Putonghua) or Mandarin, also Yue (Cantonese), Wu, Minbei, Minnan,
Xiang, Gan and Hakka Ethnic groups Han Chinese (92%), over
50 minorities, including Chuang, Manchu, Hui, Miao, Uighur, Hani,
Kazakh, Tai and Yao Religions Officially atheist; widespread
Confucianism and Taoism (20%), Buddhism (6%) Physical
features Over two-thirds of country are upland hills,
mountains, and plateaux; highest mountains in the W, where the
Tibetan plateau rises to average altitude of
4000 m/13 000 ft; Mt Everest rises to
8848 m/29 028 ft on the Nepal-Tibet border; land
descends to desert/semi-desert of Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia (NE);
broad and fertile plains of Manchuria (NE); further E and S,
Sichuan basin, drained by Yangtze R (5980 km/3720 mi in
length); Huang He (Yellow) R runs for 4840 km/3010 mi;
heavily populated S plains and E coast, with rich, fertile soils.
Climate Varied, with seven zones; (1) NE China: cold
winters, with strong N winds, warm and humid summers, unreliable
rainfall; (2) C China: warm and humid summers, sometimes typhoons
or tropical cyclones on coast; (3) S China: partly within tropics;
wettest area in summer, frequent typhoons; (4) SW China: summer
temperatures moderated by altitude, winters mild with little rain;
(5) Xizang autonomous region: high plateau surrounded by mountains;
winters severe with frequent light snow and hard frost; (6)
Xinjiang and W interior: arid desert climate, cold winters;
rainfall well distributed throughout year; (7) Inner Mongolia:
extreme continental climate; cold winters, warm summers.
Currency 1 Renminbi Yuan (CNY) = 10 jiao = 100 fen
Economy Since 1949, economy largely based on heavy industry;
more recently, light industries; special economic zones set up to
attract foreign investment; rich mineral deposits; largest
oil-producing country in Far East; major subsistence crops include
rice, grain, beans, potatoes, tea, sugar, cotton; economy hit by
SARS epidemic (2003). GDP (2002e) $5·989 tn, per capita
$4700 Human Development Index (2002) 0·726 History
Chinese civilization believed to date from the Xia dynasty
(2200–1799 BC); Qin dynasty (221–207
BC) unified warring states and provided
system of centralized control; expansion W during Western and
Eastern Han dynasties (206 BC–
AD 220), and Buddhism introduced from
India; split into Three Kingdoms (Wei, Shu, Wu, 220-65); period of
Six dynasties (221–581); from 4th-c, series of N dynasties set up
by invaders, with several dynasties in S; gradually reunited during
the Sui (590–618) and Tang (618–906) dynasties; partition into the
Five Dynasties (907–60); Song (Sung) dynasty (960–1279), remembered
for literature, philosophy, inventions; Kublai Khan established
Mongol Yuan dynasty which ruled China 1279–1368; visits by
Europeans, such as Marco Polo, 13th-14th-c; Ming dynasty
(1368–1644) increased contacts with West; overthrown by Manchus,
who ruled China during 1644–1911 under the Qing dynasty, and
enlarged empire to include Manchuria, Mongolia, Tibet, Taiwan;
opposition to foreign imports led to Opium Wars 1839–42, 1858–60;
Sino-Japanese War, 1895; Hundred Days of Reform movement, 1898;
Boxer Rising, 1900; Qing dynasty overthrown, 1911; Republic of
China founded by Sun Yatsen, 1912; May Fourth Movement, 1919;
unification under Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek), who made Nanjing
capital in 1928; conflict between Nationalists and Communists led
to the Long March, 1934–5, with Communists moving to NW China under
Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung); Nationalist defeat by Mao and withdrawal
to Taiwan in 1950; People's Republic of China proclaimed, 1949,
with capital at Beijing; first Five-Year Plan (1953–7) period of
nationalization and collectivization; Great Leap Forward, 1958–9,
emphasized local authority and establishment of rural communes;
Cultural Revolution initiated by Mao Zedong, 1966; many policies
reversed after Mao's death in 1976, and drive towards rapid
industrialization and wider trade relations with West; after 1980,
Deng Xiaoping became the dominant figure within the ruling Chinese
Communist Party; he retired from his last official post in 1990,
but remained influential until his death in 1997; governed by
elected National People's Congress who elect a State Council; Hong
Kong returned to China, 1997; Qinghai–Tibet railway linking E China
to Lhasa, opened 2006; Nathu La Pass historic trade route between
China and India (closed 1962) re-opened 2006. For other meanings,
see China
(disambiguation).}}
China ((zh-tsht|t=??|s=??|hp=) is a cultural region and
ancient civilization in East Asia. Due to the stalemate of the last Chinese Civil War
following World War
II, the word "China" is used today by two de facto separate states: the People's
Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China
(ROC). The PRC administers and governs mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau, while the ROC administers and
governs the island groups of Taiwan, the Pescadores, Kinmen, Matsu, and the disputed islands of Pratas and Taiping in the
South China Sea.
The successive states and cultures of China date back more than six millennia.
China is also home to many of the great technical inventions in
world history, including the four
great inventions of ancient China: Paper, the compass, gunpowder, and printing.
Names
"Zhongguo", the Central Kingdom
China is called Zhongguo (also Romanized as
Chung-kuo or Jhongguo) in Mandarin Chinese.
published by UNC Press ISBN: 0807849324, while the less accurate
translation "Middle Kingdom" can be considered as poor translation
since the adjective "Middle" is normally used in one-dimensional
sense"Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Updated Edition",
published by Longman ISBN: 1405811269, and it doesn't reflect the
actual meaning of Zhongguo."The Opium Wars were not about opium",
published by Greg McCulley.
The term has not been used consistently throughout Chinese history, and has
carried varying cultural and political connotations.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, it was used only to describe
the states politically descended from the Western Zhou
Dynasty, in the Yellow River (Huang He) valley, to the exclusion of
states such as the Chu along the Yangtze River and the Qin to the west. However, by the time of the
Han Dynasty, the
states of Chu, Qin and others had linked themselves to the politics
of Zhongguo and were already considered integral parts of a
newer Zhongguo.
During the Han
Dynasty and before, Zhongguo had three distinctive
meanings:
- The area around the capital or imperial domain. The
Records of Three Kingdoms records the following
monologue: "If we can lead the host of Wu and Yue (the kingdoms in
areas of present-day Shanghai, southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang) to oppose Zhongguo, then we
should break off relations with them soon." It was used in this
manner from the tenth century onwards by the competing
dynasties of Liao, Jin and Song.
Zhongguo quickly came to include areas farther south,
as the cultural and political unit (not yet a "nation" in the
modern sense) spread to include the Yangtze River and
Pearl
River systems. By the Tang Dynasty it included barbarian regimes such as the Xianbei and Xiongnu.
The Republic of China, when it controlled mainland China,
and later, the People's Republic of China, have used
Zhongguo to mean all the territories and peoples within
their political control. or ???), or Zhongguo people,
though such claims remain politically controversial, especially
when Zhongguo refers to the PRC.
"China"
English and many other languages use various forms
of the name "China" and the prefix
"Sino-" or "Sin-". The Qin Dynasty unified the written language
in China and gave the supreme ruler of China the title of
"Emperor" instead of "King," thus the subsequent Silk Road traders might
have identified themselves by that name.
The term "China" can also be used to refer to:
- the modern state known as the People's
Republic of China (PRC);
- "Mainland China" (???? or ????, Zh?ngguó Dàlù in
Mandarin), which is the territory of the PRC minus the two
special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau;
- "China
proper", a term used to refer to the historical
heartlands of China without peripheral areas like Manchuria, Inner Mongolia,
Tibet, and Xinjiang
In economic contexts, "Greater China" (????? or ?????) is a neutral
and non-political way to refer to Mainland China,
Hong Kong,
Macau, Taiwan and sometimes Singapore. "Taiwan" often
refers to the Republic of China.
Sinologists
usually use "Chinese" in a more restricted sense, akin to the
classical usage of Zhongguo, to the Han ethnic group, which
makes up the bulk of the population in China and of the
overseas
Chinese.
"Cathay"
The more historical and lyrical English term
for China is "Cathay." Cathay is derived from the name of the
Khitans (??) in
northern China, founders of the Liao Dynasty. But it is now rarely used by
English speakers, except when used poetically or in certain
proper nouns such as Cathay Pacific, Cathay
Organisation, The
Cathay, and the former Cathay Hotel.
Seres (?????)
Seres (?????) was the ancient Greek and Roman name for the
northwestern part of China and its inhabitants. Chinese civilization was
also one of the few to invent writing independently, the others being
ancient Mesopotamia (Sumerians), Ancient India (Indus Valley
Civilization), the Mayan Civilization, and Ancient Egypt.
Prehistory
Archaeological evidence suggests that the
earliest occupants in China date to as long as 2.24 million to
250,000 years ago by an ancient human relative (hominin) known as Homo erectus. erectus
have been studied since the late 18th to 19th centuries in
various areas of Eastern Asia including Indonesia (in particular Java) and Malaysia.
Fully modern humans
(Homo sapiens) are believed to originally have evolved
roughly 200,000 and 168,000 years ago in the area of Ethiopia or Southern Africa
(Homo
sapiens idaltu).
Dynastic rule
The first dynasty according to Chinese sources was the
Xia Dynasty, but
it was believed to be mythical until scientific excavations
were made at early bronze-age sites at Erlitou in Henan Province.
The first reliable historical dynasty is the Shang, which settled
along the Yellow
River in eastern China from the 18th to the 12th century
BCE. In the Spring and Autumn period there were many strong,
independent states continually warring with each other, who
deferred to the Zhou
state in name only.
The first unified Chinese state was established by the Qin Dynasty in 221 BCE,
when the office of the emperor was set up. This state did not last long, as
its legalist approach to control soon led to widespread
rebellion.
The Han Dynasty
lasted from 206 BCE until 220 CE. Under the succeeding Tang and Song dynasties, China
had its golden age. In 1271, Mongol leader Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty, with the
last remnant of the Song Dynasty falling to the Yuan in 1279.
The Manchu-founded Qing Dynasty, which lasted until the overthrow of
Puyi in 1911, was the
final dynasty of China.
Regime change was often violent and the new ruling class
usually needed to take special measures to ensure the loyalty
of the overthrown dynasty. For example, after the Manchus conquered China, the
Manchu rulers put into effect measures aimed at subduing the
Han Chinese
identity, such as the requirement for the Han Chinese to wear
the Manchu hairstyle, the queue.
In the 18th century, China achieved a decisive technological
advantage over the peoples of Central Asia, with which it had been at war
for several centuries, while simultaneously falling behind
Europe.
In the 19th century China adopted a defensive posture towards
European imperialism, even though it engaged in imperialistic
expansion into Central Asia itself. It was started by Hong Xiuquan, who was
partly influenced by Christianity and believed himself the son
of God and the younger
brother of Jesus.
Republican China
On January 1, 1912, the Republic of China was established, ending
the Qing Dynasty. In the late 1920s, the Kuomintang, under
Chiang
Kai-shek, was able to reunify the country under its own
control, moving the nation's capital to Nanjing and
implementing "political tutelage", an intermediate stage of
political development outlined in Sun Yat-sen's program for
transforming China into a modern, democratic state.
The Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945 (part of World War II) forced an
uneasy alliance between the Nationalists and the Communists.
The People's Republic of China and the Republic of
China
After its victory in the Chinese Civil War, the
Communist Party of China controlled most of Mainland China. On
October 1,
1949, they established
the People's Republic of China, laying claim to be the successor state of
the ROC.
Beginning in the late 1970s, the Republic of China began the
implementation of full, multi-party, representative
democracy in the territories still under its control (i.e.,
Taiwan
Province, Taipei,
Kaohsiung and some
offshore islands of Fujian province). Examples include the fight against
terrorism, custody
of people who don't follow the law, regulation of the press, regulation of religions,
and suppression of terrorist/independence/secessionist
movements. In 1989, the illegal student protests and illegal occupation of Tiananmen Square in
Beijing were put to an end after martial order being declared,
but ignored by the illegal student organization for 15
days.
In 1997 Hong Kong
was returned to the PRC by the United Kingdom and in 1999 Macao was returned by Portugal. Presently, the
ROC does not pursue any of the territories on mainland China,
Tibet, or Mongolia claimed by the
PRC. The PRC has used diplomatic and economic pressure to
advance its One
China policy, which attempts to displace the ROC in
official world organizations such as the World Health
Organization and the Olympic Games. Below that, there have been prefectures,
subprefectures, departments, commanderies, districts, and counties. Recent
divisions also include prefecture-level
cities, county-level cities, towns and townships.
Most Chinese dynasties were based in the historical heartlands
of China, known as China proper. Various dynasties also expanded into
peripheral territories like Inner Mongolia, Manchuria, Xinjiang, and Tibet. The Manchu-established Qing Dynasty and its successors, the ROC and
the PRC, incorporated these territories into China. China
proper is generally thought to be bounded by the Great Wall and the edge
of the Tibetan
Plateau. Manchuria and Inner Mongolia are found to the north of the
Great Wall
of China, and the boundary between them can either be taken
as the present border between Inner Mongolia and the northeast Chinese
provinces, or the more historic border of the World War II-era
puppet state of
Manchukuo. China
is traditionally divided into Northern China (??) and Southern China (??),
the boundary being the Huai River (??) and Qinling Mountains
(??
Geography and climate
China is composed of a vast variety of highly different
landscapes, with
mostly plateaus and
mountains in the
west, and lower lands on the east. As a result, principal
rivers flow from west
to east, including the Yangtze (central), the Huang He (central-east), and the Amur (northeast), and sometimes
toward the south (including the Pearl River,
Mekong River,
and Brahmaputra), with most Chinese rivers emptying into
the Pacific
Ocean.
In the east, along the shores of the Yellow Sea and the
East China
Sea there are extensive and densely populated alluvial plains;. In the
central-east are the deltas of China's two major rivers, the Huang He and Yangtze River (Chang
Jiang). Other major rivers include the Pearl River, Mekong, Brahmaputra and Amur.
In the west, the north has a great alluvial plain, and the
south has a vast calcareous tableland traversed by hill ranges of moderate elevation, and the Himalayas, containing our
planet's highest point Mount Everest. The northwest also has high plateaus
with more arid desert
landscapes such as the Takla-Makan and the Gobi Desert, which has been expanding. During
many dynasties, the southwestern border of China has been the
high mountains and
deep valleys of Yunnan, which separate modern China from Burma, Laos and Vietnam.
The Paleozoic
formations of China, excepting only the upper part of the
Carboniferous
system, are marine,
while the Mesozoic
and Tertiary
deposits are estuarine and freshwater or else of terrestrial origin. In the
Liaodong and
Shandong
Peninsulas, there are basaltic plateaus.
The climate of China
varies greatly. The southern zone (containing Guangzhou) has a subtropical
climate.
Due to a prolonged drought and poor agricultural practices, dust storms have become
usual in the spring in China."Beijing hit by
eighth sandstorm". While over a hundred ethnic groups have existed
in China, the government of the People's
Republic of China officially recognizes a total of 56. This
is identical to Cantonese (Guangzhou-hua) being used to
generalize the diverse Yue dialects.--> Yue
(Cantonese), Min, Xiang, Gan, and Hakka.
Non-Sinitic languages spoken widely by ethnic minorities
include Zhuang (Thai), Mongolian, Tibetan, Uyghur (Turkic), Hmong and Korean.Languages. Spoken
variants other than Standard Mandarin are usually not written,
except for Standard Cantonese (see Written Cantonese)
which is sometimes used in informal contexts.
Chinese banknotes are multilingual and contain written scripts
for Standard Mandarin (Chinese characters and Hanyu Pinyin), Zhuang
(Roman
alphabet), Tibetan (Tibetan alphabet), Uyghur (Arabic alphabet) and
Mongolian (traditional Mongolian alphabet).
Religion
Due to the Cultural Revolution, 59% of the mainland Chinese
from the People's Republic of China (PRC), or about 767 million people, identify
themselves as non-religious or atheist.World Desk Reference. ISBN
0-7566-1099-0 However, religion and rituals play a significant
part in the lives of many in the PRC, especially the traditional beliefs of Buddhism, Confucianism and
Taoism. This is in
contrast to the demographics of religion in the Republic of China
(Taiwan) which was not affected by the Cultural
Revolution in the People's
Republic of China. According to the official figures
released by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States
of America:
- 93% of Taiwanese are adherents of a combination of
Buddhism,
Confucianism,
and Taoism.
- 2.5% of Taiwanese are adherents of other religions, such
as Islam, Judaism, and
others.
- 4.5% of Taiwanese are adherents of Christianity, this
group includes a combination of Protestants, Catholics, Mormons, and other non-denominational Christian
groups.
The major religions of the People's
Republic of China are:
- Confucianism
- Taoism
- Ancestor
worship
- Buddhism
- Islam
- Christianity
The major religions of the Republic of China
(Taiwan) are:
- Buddhism
- Taoism
- Confucianism
Only about 6% of the mainland Chinese population in the
PRC are avowed Buddhists, with Mahayana Buddhism
and Zen
Buddhism being the most widely practiced, in contrast to
the combined 93% of the ROC (Taiwan) population who are devout adherents of a
symbiotic combination of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. Other forms of Buddhism, such as
Theravada
Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism, are practiced largely by ethnic
minorities along the geographic fringes of the PRC.Macintosh, R. Retrieved
April 15, 2006. Official figures indicate that there are
currently about 20 million Muslims (mostly Hui), more than 15 million Protestants, and 5
million Catholics
in the country."China (includes Tibet,
Hong Kong, and Macau)". Among the younger, urban secular
population, Taoist spiritual ideas of Feng Shui have become
popular in recent years, spawning a large home decoration
market in China.
In recent years Falun Gong has attracted great controversy after the
government labeled it a malicious cultenglish.people.com.cn/english/200102/02/eng20010202_61435.html
and attempted to eradicate it. exact numbers are
unknown.
Culture
Confucianism was the official philosophy throughout most of
Imperial
China's history, and mastery of Confucian texts was the
primary criterion for entry into the imperial bureaucracy. China's
traditional values were derived from various versions of
Confucianism
and conservatism. There was often conflict between the
philosophies, such as the individualistic Song Dynasty neo-Confucians, who
believed Legalism departed from the original spirit of
Confucianism. Columbia University.
With the rise of Western economic and military power beginning in the mid-19th century,
non-Chinese systems of social and political organization gained
adherents in China. In essence, the history of 20th century
China is one of experimentation with new systems of social,
political, and
economic organization that would allow for the reintegration of
the nation in the wake of dynastic collapse.
The first leaders of the PRC were born in the old society but
were influenced by the May Fourth Movement and reformist ideals. Many
observers believe that the period following 1949 is a
continuation of traditional Chinese dynastic history, while others say that the
CPC's rule has damaged the foundations of Chinese culture,
especially through political movements such as the Cultural
Revolution, where many aspects of traditional culture were
labeled "regressive and harmful" or "vestiges of feudalism" by
the regime. They further argue that many important aspects of
traditional Chinese morals and culture, such as Confucianism, Chinese art, literature,
and performing arts like Beijing opera, were altered to conform to government
policies and communist propaganda. Today, the PRC government
has accepted much of traditional Chinese culture as
an integral part of Chinese society, lauding it as an important
achievement of the Chinese civilization and emphasizing it as
being vital to the formation of a Chinese national
identity.
Arts, scholarship, and literature
Chinese characters
have had many variants and styles throughout Chinese history.
Calligraphy is a
major art form in China, more highly regarded than painting and music. Manuscripts of the
Classics and religious texts (mainly Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist) were handwritten
by ink brush.
Calligraphy later became commercialized, and works by famous
artists became prized possessions.
Printmaking was
developed during the Song Dynasty. Some classical scholars, however, were
noted for their daring depictions of the lives of the common
people, often to the displeasure of authorities.
The Chinese invented numerous musical
instruments, such as the Zheng (?), Qin (?), Sheng (?), Xiao (? or ?), and Erhu (??), that have later spread throughout
East Asia and
Southeast
Asia, particularly to Japan, Korea and Vietnam.
Sports and recreation
There is evidence that a form of football (i.e.
Besides football, the most popular sports are martial arts,
table tennis,
badminton,
basketball,
American
football, and more recently, golf. The NBA
has a great following and many idolize Yao Ming.
There are also many traditional sports. China finished first in
medal counts in each of the Asian Games since 1982,www.dohaasiangames.org/en/asian_games_2006/history.html
and in the top four in medal counts in each of the Summer
Olympic Games since 1992.www.olympic.org/uk/games/index_uk.asp The 2008 Summer
Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX
Olympiad, will be held in Beijing,
China.
Physical
fitness is highly regarded. Morning exercises are a common
activity and the elderly are often seen practicing qigong in parks.
Board games such
as International Chess, Go (Weiqi), and
Xiangqi (Chinese
chess) are also common and have organised formal competitions.
Science and technology
In addition to the cultural innovations mentioned above,
technological inventions from China include:
- Asian abacus
- Blast
furnace (steel)
- Block Printmaking / Printing
Technology
- Bronze
- Calipers
- Clock
- Compass
- Crossbow
- Dry
dock
- Fans
- Fireworks
and solid-fuel rocket
- Fishing
pole (hook)
- Gunpowder
- Glider
- Hot air
balloon
- Kite
- Lacquer
- Matches
- Paper
- Paper
money and necessary monetary institutions
- Parachute
- Petroleum well
- Piston
pump
- Porcelain
(China)
- Propeller
- Relief
map
- Rudder
- Seed
drill
- Seismograph
- Silk
- Stirrup
- Suspension bridge
- Toilet
Paper
- Toothbrush
- Umbrella
- Wallpaper
- Wheelbarrow
- Whiskey
(medicinal/surgical use)
Other areas of technological study:
- Mathematics, applied to architecture and
geography.
Pascal's
Triangle, known as Yanghui Triangle in China, was discovered by
mathematicians Chia
Hsien, Yang
Hui, Zhu
Shijie and Liu Ju-Hsieh, about 500 years before Blaise Pascal was
born.
- Biology, such
as pharmacopoeias of medicinal plants.
- Traditional medicine and surgery have achieved recognition over the
last few decades in the West as alternative and complementary
therapies.
- Military
innovations, such as the crossbow and the grid sight, the crossbow stirrup, repeating
crossbows, the trebuchet, poison gas (smoke from burning dried mustard),
tear gas made
from powdered lime, relief maps for battle planning, manned kites, the fire lance,
rockets, gunpowder incendiaries, and early bronze cannon.
See also
- Chinese
calendar
- Chinese
cuisine
- Chinese
dragon
- Chinese State Flood Control and Drought Relief
Headquarters
- Chinese
name
- Chinese
New Year
- Chinese units of measurement
- Fenghuang
- History of postage in China
- Military history of China
- Overseas
Chinese
Notes
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