China

Introductory:

One of the largest countries in the world today and the most populated and rich in cultural history is China. Located in Eastern Asia, it is the third largest country in the world after Canada and Russia with an area of 9.6 million square kilometers and with a population of 1.3 billion. China is officially the People's Republic of China (PRC) declared in 1949 by Mao Zedong. China represents one of the earliest civilizations in the world. For centuries it stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences. Its current President is HU Jintao, since 15 March 2003 and Vice President XI Jinping, since 15 March 2008.

Government and Economy:

China is a communist country that holds many different beliefs and values then the United States. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) came about in 1921 by Mao Zedong and Chou Enlan. China had gone through many battles, two of them being the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. But with these battles changes came about. In the 20th Century, some of the biggest changes were seen in Chinese history, even thought at the beginning of the century china encountered many obstacles, with almost no industry, an ineffectual and corrupt government and no standing whatsoever on the world stage. Changes came but slowly, China emerged stronger, the economy better than ever, and with a stable government. "China's economy during the past 30 years has changed from a centrally planned system that was largely closed to international trade to a more market oriented economy that has a rapidly growing private sector and is a major player in the global economy." Today China's economy continues to grow at around 10% a year. Making China in 2008 stand as the second largest economy in the world after the US, "although in per capita terms the country is still lower middle-income." Its government continues to reform the economy and has emphasized the need to increase domestic consumption to make China less dependent on foreign exports for GDP growth in the future.

Religion System:

China is a country with many religions. The many religions of China include Buddhism, Taoism and Islam; and also include Christian believers of both Catholic and Protestant. Chinese citizen have the freedom to choose their religious beliefs. About 31.4 percent of the Chinese adult populations are religious. "China's constitution explicitly allows "freedom of religious belief," and in 2005, the State Council passed new guidelines broadening the legal rights for state-sanctioned groups."(Bhattacharji, 2008) Buddhism has been around in China for a 2,000 years. Today, there are more than 13,000 Buddhist temples with about 200,000 Buddhist monks and nuns. Taoism, native to China, has a history of more than 1,700 years. China now has over 1,500 Taoist temples and more than 25,000 Taoist priests and nuns. In the seventh century, Islam was introduced to China. "Now 10 ethnic minorities believe in Islam, including the Hui and Uygur people, totaling 18 million. There are more than 30,000 mosques and more than 40,000 imams and akunds (teachers)." (henan.china.cn) Catholicism entered into China beginning in the seventh century. There are about 115 dioceses, 70 bishops, more than 1,100 priests, 1,200 nuns, 4 million followers and 4,000 clerics among the Chinese Catholics. In the early part of the 19th century, Protestantism was introduced, with about 15 million Protestants and 18,000 pastors and other staff. They have 12,000 churches and 25,000 sites for religious activities.

Education System:

The education system in china can be divided into four categories: primary education, secondary education and adult