China is situated in eastern Asia on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean. China has a varied topography, with highlands in the west and plains in the east. Sprawling over an area of approximately 9.6 million square kilometres, it comprises 6.5 per cent of the earth's land mass, making it the largest country in Asia and the third largest in the world.

Of its territory, mountainous areas account for about 33 per cent, plateaus 26 per cent, rolling land 10 per cent, basins 19 per cent, and plains 12 per cent. Its land borders extend to about 200 ,000 kilometres and it shares frontiers with the following neighbours-the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Tadzhikistan, Kirghizstan, Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Sikkim, Pakistan, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos and Viet Nam.

Its coastline is as long as 180,000 kilometres from the outlet of the Yalu River in the north to the outlet of the Beilun River in the south. The long coast it lashed by the salty waters of the Bohai Bay, the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea and the South China Sea. China's maritime neighbours are the Republic of Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia. Off the coast are no fewer than 5,000 is lands, the biggest being Taiwan Island, and the second largest Hainan Island.

With a total length of 6 , 300 kilometers, the Yangtze is China's longest river and the third longest in the world. The Yellow River, with a total length of 5 ,464 kilometers, is the country's second longest river. Other major rivers are the Heilongjiang River, the Haihe River, the Huaihe River, the Qiantangjiang River and the Pearl River. Lakes in China cover a total area of 80,000 square kilometres. The major fresh-water lakes are the Boyang Lake, the Dongting ILake, the Taihu Lake and the Hongzehu Lake. Major salt- water lakes include the Qinghai Lake, the Namu Lake, the Qilin Lake and the Luobupo Lake.

 

The Himalayan is the biggest and highest mountain range in the world, on the eastern section of which looms the 8,848.13-metre high Mount Qomolangma (Everest), the world's loftiest peak rising between China and Nepal, which is known as the " Roof of the World. " Other major mountainous ranges in China include: the Tianshan, the Kunlun, the Karakorum, the Hengduan, the Qilian, the Gangdise, the Yinshan, the Qinling, the Greater Xinganling, the Changbai, the Nanling and the Taiwan. The Qinghai- Tibet Plateau, the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, the ILoess Plateau and the Inner Mongolia Plateau are the four major plateaus in China. The Qinghai- Tibet Plateau with an altitude of over 4,000 meters is the highest plateau in the World. The Northeast China Plain, the North China Plain and the Yangtze River Plain are China ' s three major plains.

Because of the immense size of the country, the climate varies very much in different parts of China, ranging from tropical, subtropical, warm-temperate, temperate to cool- temperate in character. A great part of China, however, lies within subtropical and temperate climatic zones and has a monsoon climate. The northern part of the northern Heilongjiang Province, for instance, has no summer while inhabitants in southern Hainan Island never experience winter condition.

Every winter from October to March, frigid winds sweep across China. As a result, winters in China are cold and dry. Between April and September, rainfall, high temperature and winds dominate. The rainfall in different parts of China also varies a great deal. The annual precipitation on the south eastern seaboard is 1,500 millimetres. And it is below 500 millimetres in north-western China.

B. Political Structure

The People's Republic of China is a socialist state under the people's democratic dictatorship led by the working class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants. The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China is the highest organ of state power. It exercises the legislative power of the State and elects the President and the Vice President of the People's Republic of China. It also decides on the choice of the Premier of the State Council upon nomination by the President of the People's Republic of China, and decides on the choices for the Vice Premiers, State Councillors, Ministers in charge of ministries or commissions and the Auditor-General and the Secretary General of the State Council. When the National People's Congress is not in session, its power is exercised by the Standing Committee. The State Council, that is the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China, is the executive body of the highest organ of state powers and state administration. The Premier is the head of the State Council. The Supreme People's Court is the highest judicial organ and the Supreme People's Procuratorate is the highest procuratorial organ. The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a broadly representative organization of the united front under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, plays an important role in the political life of the State .

China pursues an independent foreign policy and advocates the Five Principles of mutual respect of sovereignty and territorial integrity; mutual non-aggression; mutual non-interference in internal affairs; mutual benefit and peaceful co-existence. China seeks normal diplomatic relations with all countries and promotes economic, scientific and cultural exchanges with them. It opposes imperialism, hegemonism and colonialism. It is willing to work for the unity of all the peoples of the world and contribute to the world progressive cause. As a permanent member of the Security Council of the United Nations, China has established diplomatic relations with most countries in the world and is playing an increasingly important role in world affairs.