Political Analysis

The People’s Republic of China is a country of many political parties. China has a recorded history of about 3,500 years and was once ruled by dozens of dynasties starting with Xia Dynasty. China is considered to be the oldest continuous major world civilization.

China is a communist country that has been governed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since 1949. “Deng Xiaoping, who led the party from 1978 to 1997, began a policy of socialism with Chinese characteristics that encouraged more economic openness and foreign trade. But the CCP retains an iron grip on politics: other parties are outlawed and criticisms are quickly suppressed” (The World Fact Book, 14, June, 2005). Deng died in February 1997. After his death, Jiang Zemin became president and Zhu Rongji became prime minister. They oversaw China's reunification with Hong Kong in July 1997 and its joining of the World Trade Organization in 2001. The current president is Jiang Zemin and the vice-president is Hu Jintao. The prime minister is Wen Jiabao.

China has 23 provinces, five autonomous regions