Country Analysis Report China

A Country Analysis report on â€Å"CHINA† Subject: International Business (IB) Prepared By: Devang M Dhedhi. (Enrollment No: 117040592010) M. B. A. -Semester-||| Submitted To: Mr. Amit Shah (Assistant Professor) BHAGWAN MAHAVIR COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT, SURAT MBA PROGRAMME Affiliated to Gujarat Technological University, Ahmedabad 2011-2013 INDEX SR. NO| CONTENT| PAGE NO. | 1| COUNTRY PROFILE| 1| 2| HISTORICAL BACKGROUND| 4| 3| GEOGRAPHY| 6| 4| SOCIETY| 11| 5| GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS| 18| 6| ECONOMY| 25| 7| INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS| 38| 8| TRANSPORTATION AND TELECOMMUNICATION| 41| 9| SUMMARY| 49| 1. COUNTRYFormal Name: People’s Republic of China (Zhonghua Renmin Gonghe Guo — ). Short Form: China (Zhongguo — ). Term for Citizen(s): Chinese (singular and plural) (Huaren — ). Capital: Beijing (Northern Capital — ). Area: 9,956,960 sq km (3. 7m sq miles) Population: 1. 3 bn People: Han Chinese make up around 92% of the population. The remaining 8% i s comprised of  five minority ethnic groups. Official Language: Mandarin (Putonghua) with many local dialects. Religion(s): China is officially atheistic, but there are  five State-Registered religions: Daoism, Buddhism, Islam, Catholic and Protestant Christianity.Currency: Yuan or Renminbi (RMB) Major political parties: Chinese Communist Party Government: There are  major hierarchies in China: the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the National People's Congress (China's legislature), the government and the military. The supreme decision-making body in China is the CCP Politburo and its 9-member Standing Committee, which acts as a kind of ‘inner cabinet', and is headed by the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party. The National People's Congress (NPC) is China's legislative body. It has a 5-year membership and meets once a year in plenary session.However, in practice it is the CCP who takes all key decisions. Head of State and General Secretary of the CCP: Preside nt Hu Jintao Chairman of the Standing Committee of the NPC: Wu Bangguo Premier of the State Council: Wen Jiabao State Councillor (Foreign Affairs): Dai Bingguo Foreign Minister: Yang Jiechi Membership of international groups/organisations: United Nations (including permanent membership of the UN Security Council), ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF); Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC); Asian Development Bank (ADB); Shanghai Cooperation Organisation; World Trade Organisation (WTO).Major Cities: Based on 2000 census data, the largest cities are the four centrally administered municipalities, which include dense urban areas, suburbs, and large rural areas: Chongqing (30. 5 million), Shanghai (16. 4 million), Beijing (13. 5 million), and Tianjin (9. 8 million). Other major cities are Wuhan (5. 1 million), Shenyang (4. 8 million), Guangzhou (3. 8 million), Chengdu (3. 2 million), Xi’an (3. 1 million), and Changchun (3 million). China has 12 other cities with populations of betw een 2 million and 2. 9 million and 20 or more other cities with populations of more than 1 million persons.Independence: The outbreak of revolution on October 10, 1911, signaled the collapse of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), which was formally replaced by the government of the Republic of China on February 12, 1912. The People’s Republic of China was officially established on October 1, 1949, replacing the Republic of China government on mainland China. Public Holidays: The official national holidays are New Year’s Day (January 1); Spring Festival or Lunar New Year (movable dates—three days—in January and February), Labor Day (May 1), and National Day (two-day observance on October 1–2).Also commemorated are International Women’s Day (March 8), Youth Day (May 4), Children’s Day (June 1), Chinese Communist Party Founding Day (July 1), Army Day (August 1), and Teachers’ Day (September 10). Flag: The flag of China is red wit h a large yellow five-pointed star and four smaller yellow five-pointed stars (arranged in a vertical arc toward the middle of the flag) in the upper hoist-side corner. The color red symbolizes the spirit of the revolution, and the five stars signify the unity of the people of China under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.The flag was officially unveiled in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on October 1, 1949, the formal announcement of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. 2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The Chinese imperial system came to an end in 1911. The Qing (Manchu) dynasty was overthrown and China was proclaimed a republic, partly through the efforts of revolutionaries such as Sun Yat-sen. The country then entered a period of warlordism. In 1927 the Nationalist Party or ‘Kuomintang' (KMT), under its leader Chiang Kai-shek, established a central government in Nanjing. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was founded in 1921.It broke with the KMT and was forced to flee into the interior in the Long March in 1934/35. Both KMT and CCP forces opposed Japan during World War Two but a civil war broke out from 1945-1949. CCP forces under Mao Zedong routed their KMT opponents. In 1949 Mao announced the establishment of the People's Republic of China. The government of the then Republic of China under President Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan, together with approximately 2 million supporters. The period between 1949 and Mao's death in 1976 was characterised by an ambitious political and economic restructuring programme.This involved the collectivisation of industry, the establishment of communes and the redistribution of land. The Cultural Revolution from 1966-1976 brought enormous upheaval in the political system. Mao had to rely on the armed forces to maintain order and exercise control. Recent History In December 1978 the CCP, inspired by Deng Xiaoping, launched a wide-ranging programme of economic and social reform. This sought to mo dernise the economy, develop China's external relations (the ‘open door policy') – especially with the West, and implement a gradual and limited liberalisation of Chinese society.This period of ‘reform and opening up' since 1978 is expected to be widely commemorated in China this autumn as the basis of its current economic success and these commemorations may also be used as the platform for further policy reforms. There are no details at this point, but there is much speculation that rural land ownership reform may be prominent. Political opposition to the more liberal reforms forced periods of retrenchment. In June 1989, following the brutal suppression of pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing, political control swung firmly into the hands of conservative elements within the CCP.The Chinese government labelled the demonstrations a ‘counter-revolutionary rebellion' and clamped down on dissent. Prominent dissidents fled the country or went into hiding. Many activists were arrested. Party General Secretary Zhao Ziyang was replaced by Jiang Zemin, former Mayor and Party Secretary of Shanghai. Jiang was appointed to the additional post of State President in March 1993. Jiang continued the policies of Deng Xiaoping, prioritising economic growth, particularly in China's coastal provinces. Jiang retired as President in March 2003.Hu Jintao was named President and Wen Jiabao became Premier. Wu Bangguo replaced Li Peng as NPC Chairman. The leadership transition was completed in September 2004 with Jiang retiring from the Chairmanship of the Central Military Commission (CMC). Hu assumed the post of CMC Chairman to add to his roles as State President and Party General Secretary. 3. GEOGRAPHY Location: Usually described as part of East Asia, China is south of Mongolia and the Siberian land mass, west of the Korean Peninsula and insular Japan, north of Southeast Asia, and east of Central and South Asia.Size: China has a total area of nearly 9,596 ,960 square kilometers. Included in this total are 9,326,410 square kilometers of land and 270,550 square kilometers of inland lakes and rivers. From east to west, the distance is about 5,000 kilometers from the Heilong Jiang (Amur River) to the Pamir Mountains in Central Asia; from north to south, the distance is approximately 4,050 kilometers from Heilongjiang Province to Hainan Province in the south and another 1,450 kilometers farther south to Zengmu Shoal, a territorial claim off the north coast of Malaysia.Land Boundaries: China has a total of 22,117 kilometers of land boundaries with 14 other nations. These borders include: Afghanistan (76 kilometers), Bhutan (470 kilometers), Burma (2,185 kilometers), India (3,380 kilometers), Kazakhstan (1,533 kilometers), North Korea (1,416 kilometers), Kyrgyzstan (858 kilometers), Laos (423 kilometers), Mongolia (4,677 kilometers), Nepal (1,236 kilometers), Pakistan (523 kilometers), Russia (4,300 kilometers), Tajikistan (414 kilometers), and Vietnam (1,281 kilometers). Length of Coastline:China’s coastline extends 14,500 kilometers from the border with North Korea in the north to Vietnam in the south. China’s coasts are on the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea. Maritime Claims: China claims a 12-nautical-mile territorial sea, a 24-nautical-mile contiguous zone, a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, and a 200-nautical-mile continental shelf or the distance to the edge of the continental shelf. Boundary Disputes: China is involved in a complex dispute with Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei over the Spratly (Nansha) Islands in the South China Sea.The 2002 â€Å"Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea† eased tensions but fell short of a legally binding code of conduct desired by several of the disputants. China also occupies the Paracel (Xisha) Islands, which are also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan, and asserts a claim to the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu Tai) in the Pacific Ocean. Most of the mountainous and militarized boundary with India is in dispute, but Beijing and New Delhi have committed to begin resolution with discussions on the least disputed middle sector.China’s de facto administration of the Aksai Chin section of Kashmir (which is disputed by India and Pakistan) is the subject of a dispute between China and India. India does not recognize Pakistan’s ceding lands to China in a 1964 boundary agreement. In October 2004, China signed an agreement with Russia on the delimitation of their entire 4,300-kilometer-long border, which had long been in dispute. Topography: Mountains cover 33 percent of China’s landmass, plateaus 26 percent, basins 19 percent, plains 12 percent, and hills 10 percent.Thus, 69 percent of China’s land is mountains, hills, and highlands. China has five main mountain ranges, and seven of its mountain peaks are higher than 8,00 0 meters above sea level. The main topographic features include the Qingzang (Qinghai-Tibet) Plateau at 4,000 meters above sea level and the Kunlun, Qin Ling, and Greater Hinggan ranges. In the Himalaya Mountains, the world’s highest, are Mount Everest (known in China as Qomolangma) at 8,844. 4 meters (based on new official measurements) and K–2 at 8,611 meters, shared with Nepal and Pakistan, respectively.The lowest inland point in China—the second lowest place in the world after the Dead Sea—is at Turpan Pendi, 140 kilometers southeast of Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, at 154 meters below sea level. With temperatures that have reached 49. 6 C, it also ranks as one the hottest places in China. Principal Rivers: China has 50,000 rivers totaling some 420,000 kilometers in length and each having a catchment area of more than 100 square kilometers. Some 1,500 of these rivers each have catchment areas exceeding 1,000 square kilometer s. Most rivers flow from west to east and empty into the Pacific Ocean.The Yangzi (Changjiang or Yangzte River), which rises in Tibet, flows through Central China, and, having traveled 6,300 kilometers, enters the Yellow Sea near Shanghai. The Yangzi has a catchment area of 1. 8 million square kilometers and is the third longest river in the world after the Amazon and the Nile. The second longest river in China is the Huanghe (Yellow River), which also rises in Tibet and travels circuitously for 5,464 kilometers through North China before reaching the Bo Hai Gulf on the north coast of Shangdong Province. It has a catchment area of 752,000 square kilometers.The Heilongjiang (Heilong or Black Dragon River) flows for 3,101 kilometers in Northeast China and an additional 1,249 in Russia, where it is known as the Amur. The longest river in South China is the Zhujiang (Pearl River), which is 2,214 kilometers long. Along with its three tributaries, the Xi, Dong, and Bei—West, East, and North—rivers, it forms the rich Zhujiang Delta near Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Macau, and Hong Kong. Other major rivers are the Liaohe in the northeast, Haihe in the north, Qiantang in the east, and Lancang in the southwest. Climate: Most of the country is in the northern temperate zone.There are complex climatic patterns ranging from the cold-temperate north to the tropical south, with subarctic-like temperatures in the Himalaya Mountains, resulting in a temperature difference of some 400 C from north to south. Temperatures range from –300 C in the north in January to 280 C in the south in July. Annual precipitation varies significantly from region to region, with a high of 1,500 millimeters annually along the southeastern coast and a low of fewer than 50 millimeters in the northwest. There is an alternating wet monsoon in the summer and a dry monsoon in winter.North China and southward are affected by the seasonal cold, dry winds from Siberia and the Mongolia Plateau bet ween September/October and March/April. Summer monsoon winds bring warm and wet currents into South China and northward. Natural Resources: China has substantial mineral reserves and is the world’s largest producer of antimony, natural graphite, tungsten, and zinc. Other major minerals are bauxite, coal, crude petroleum, diamonds, gold, iron ore, lead, magnetite, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, natural gas, phosphate rock, tin, uranium, and vanadium.With its vast mountain ranges, China’s hydropower potential is the largest in the world. Land Use: Based on 2005 estimates, 14. 86 percent (about 1. 4 million square kilometers) of China’s land is arable. About 1. 3 percent (some 116,580 square kilometers) is planted to permanent crops. With comparatively little land planted to permanent crops, intensive agricultural techniques are used to reap harvests that are sufficient to feed the world’s largest population and still have surplus for export.An estimated 54 4,784 square kilometers of land were irrigated in 2004. Environmental Factors: The major current environmental issues in China are air pollution (greenhouse gases and sulfur dioxide particulates) from overreliance on coal, which produces acid rain; water shortages, particularly in the north; water pollution from untreated wastes; deforestation; an estimated loss of 20 percent of agricultural land since 1949 to soil erosion and economic development; desertification; and illegal trade in endangered species.Deforestation has been a major contributor to China’s most significant natural disaster: flooding. In 1998 some 3,656 people died and 230 million people were affected by flooding. China’s national carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are among the highest in the world and increasing annually. The CO2 emissions in 1991 were estimated at 2. 4 billion tons; by 2000 that level, according to United Nations (UN) statistics, had increased by 16 percent to nearly 2. 8 billion tons. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), between 1990 and 2002 the increase was closer to 45 percent.These amounts cited by the UN are more than double those of India and Japan but still less than half those of the United States (comparable figures for Russia are unavailable but estimated at probably half the level of China’s). China’s ozone depleting potential also is high but was decreasing in the early twenty-first century. The CO2 emissions are mostly produced by coal-burning energy plants and other coal-burning operations. Better pollution control and billion-dollar cleanup programs have helped reduced the growth rate of industrial pollution. Time Zone:Although China crosses all or part of five international time zones, it operates on a single uniform time, China Standard Time (CST; Greenwich Mean Time plus eight hours), using Beijing as the base. China does not employ a daylight savings time system. 4. SOCIETY Population: China officially recognized th e birth of its 1. 3 billionth citizen (not counting Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan) on January 5, 2005. U. S. Government sources put the population at an estimated 1,313,973,713 in July 2006. The annual population growth rate was estimated at 0. 59 percent (2006 estimate).The nation’s overall population density was 135 persons per square kilometer in 2003. The most densely populated provinces are in the east: Jiangsu (712 persons per square kilometer), Shangdong (587 persons per square kilometer), and Henan (546 persons per square kilometer). Shanghai was the most densely populated municipality at 2,646 persons per square kilometer. The least densely populated areas are in the west, with Tibet having the lowest density at only 2 persons per square kilometer. Sixty-two percent of the population lived in rural areas in 2004, while 38 percent lived in urban settings.About 94 percent of population lives on approximately 46 percent of land. Based on 2000 census data, the provinces wi th the largest populations were Henan (91. 2 million), Shandong (89. 9 million), Sichuan (82. 3 million, not including Chongqing municipality, which was formerly part of Sichuan Province), and Guangdong (85. 2 million). The smallest were Qinghai (4. 8 million) and Tibet (2. 6 million). In the long term, China faces increasing urbanization; according to predictions, nearly 70 percent of the population will live in urban areas by 2035. Demography:China has been the world’s most populous nation for many centuries. When China took its first post-1949 census in 1953, the population stood at 582 million; by the fifth census in 2000, the population had almost doubled, reaching 1. 2 billion. China’s fast-growing population was a major policy matter for its leaders in the mid-twentieth century, so that in the early 1970s, the government implemented a stringent one-child birth-control policy. As a result of that policy, China successfully achieved its goal of a more stable and m uch-reduced fertility rate; in 1971 women had an average of 5. children versus an estimated 1. 7 children in 2004. Nevertheless, the population continues to grow, and people want more children. There is also a serious gender imbalance. Census data obtained in 2000 revealed that 119 boys were born for every 100 girls, and among China’s â€Å"floating population† (see Migration below) the ratio was as high as 128:100. These situations led Beijing in July 2004 to ban selective abortions of female fetuses. Additionally, life expectancy has soared, and China now has an increasingly aging population; it is projected that 11. percent of the population in 2020 will be 65 years of age and older. Based on 2006 estimates, China’s age structure is 0–14 years of age—20. 8 percent; 15–64 years—71. 4 percent, and 65 years and older—7. 7 percent. Estimates made in 2006 indicate a birthrate of nearly 13. 3 births per 1,000 and a death rate of 6 . 9 per 1,000. In 2006 life expectancy at birth was estimated at 74. 5 years for women and 70. 9 for men, or 72. 6 years overall. The infant mortality rate was estimated at 23. 1 per 1,000 live births overall (25. 9 per 1,000 for females and 20. for males). Migration: In 2006 it was estimated that China was experiencing a –0. 39 per 1,000 population net migration rate. Of major concern in China is its growing â€Å"floating population† (liudong renkou ), a large number of people moving from the countryside to the city, from developed economic areas to underdeveloped areas, and from the central and western regions to the eastern coastal region, as a result of fast-paced reform-era economic development and modern agricultural practices that have reduced the need for a large agricultural labor force.Although residency requirements have been relaxed to a degree, the floating population is not officially permitted to reside permanently in the receiving towns and cities. As early as 1994, it was estimated that China had a surplus of approximately 200 million agricultural workers, and the number was expected to increase to 300 million in the early twenty-first century and to expand even further into the long-term future. It was reported in 2005 that the floating population had increased from 70 million in 1993 to 140 million in 2003, thus exceeding 10 percent of the national population and accounting for 30 percent of all rural laborers.According to the 2000 national census, population flow inside a province accounted for 65 percent of the total while that crossing provincial boundaries accounted for 35 percent. Young and middle-aged people account for the vast majority of this floating population; those between 15 and 35 years of age account for more than 70 percent. Other migration issues include the more than 2,000 Tibetans who cross into Nepal annually, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).The government tries to pr event this out-migration from occurring and has pressured Nepalese authorities to repatriate illegal border-crossing Tibetans. Another activity viewed as illegal is the influx of North Koreans into northeastern China. Some 1,850 North Koreans fled their country in 2004, but China views them as illegal economic migrants rather than refugees and sends many of them back. Some of those who succeed in reaching sanctuary in foreign diplomatic compounds or international schools have been allowed to depart for South Korea. Ethnic Groups:Besides the majority Han Chinese, China recognizes 55 other nationality or ethnic groups, numbering about 105 million persons, mostly concentrated in the northwest, north, northeast, south, and southwest but with some in central interior areas. Based on the 2000 census, some 91. 5 percent of the population was classified as Han Chinese (1. 1 billion). The other major minority ethnic groups were Zhuang (16. 1 million), Manchu (10. 6 million), Hui (9. 8 millio n), Miao (8. 9 million), Uygur (8. 3 million), Tujia (8 million), Yi (7. 7 million), Mongol (5. 8 million), Tibetan (5. million), Bouyei (2. 9 million), Dong (2. 9 million), Yao (2. 6 million), Korean (1. 9 million), Bai (1. 8 million), Hani (1. 4 million), Kazakh (1. 2 million), Li (1. 2 million), and Dai (1. 1 million). Classifications are often based on self-identification, and it is sometimes and in some locations advantageous for political or economic reasons to identify with one group over another. All nationalities in China are equal according to the law. Official sources maintain that the state protects their lawful rights and interests and promotes equality, unity, and mutual help among them.Languages: The official language of China is standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, which means standard speech, based on the Beijing dialect). Other major dialects are Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, and Hakka (Kejia). Becau se of the many ethnic groups in China, numerous minority languages also are spoken. All of the Chinese dialects share a common written form that has evolved and been standardized during two millennia and serves as a unifying bond amongst the Han Chinese.The government has aggressively developed both shorthand Chinese and Pinyin (phonetic spelling) as ways to increase literacy and transliterate Chinese names. The Pinyin system was introduced in 1958 and was approved by the State Council in 1978 as the standard system for the romanization of Chinese personal and geographic names. In 2000 the Hanyu (Han language) Pinyin phonetic alphabet was written into law as the unified standard for spelling and phonetic notation of the national language. Religion: The traditional religions of China are Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism.Confucianism is not a religion, although some have tried to imbue it with rituals and religious qualities, but rather a philosophy and system of ethical conduct tha t since the fifth century B. C. has guided China’s society. Kong Fuzi (Confucius in Latinized form) is honored in China as a great sage of antiquity whose writings promoted peace and harmony and good morals in family life and society in general. Ritualized reverence for one’s ancestors, sometimes referred to as ancestor worship, has been a tradition in China since at least the Shang Dynasty (1750–1040 B. C. ).Estimates of the number of adherents to various beliefs are difficult to establish; as a percentage of the population, institutionalized religions, such as Christianity and Islam, represent only about 4 percent and 2 percent of the population, respectively. In 2005 the Chinese government acknowledged that there were an estimated 100 million adherents to various sects of Buddhism and some 9,500 and 16,000 temples and monasteries, many maintained as cultural landmarks and tourist attractions. The Buddhist Association of China was established in 1953 to overse e officially sanctioned Buddhist activities.In 1998 there reportedly were 600 Daoist temples and an unknown number of adherents in China. According to the U. S. Department of State in 2005, approximately 8 percent of the population is Buddhist, approximately 1. 5 percent is Muslim, an estimated 0. 4 percent belongs to the government-sponsored â€Å"patriotic† Catholic Church, an estimated 0. 4 to 0. 6 percent belongs to the unofficial Vatican-affiliated Roman Catholic Church, and an estimated 1. 2 to 1. 5 percent is registered as Protestant. However, both Protestants and Catholics also have large underground communities, possibly numbering as many as 90 million.Chinese government figures from 2004 estimate 20 million adherents of Islam in China, but unofficial estimates suggest a much higher total. Most adherents of Islam are members of the Uygur and Hui nationality people. The Falun Dafa (Wheel of Law, also called Falun Gong) quasi-religious movement based on traditional Chi nese qigong (deep-breathing exercises) and Daoist and Buddhist practices and beliefs was established in 1992 and claimed 70 million to 100 million practitioners in China in the late 1990s.Because of its perceived antigovernment activities, Falun Gong was outlawed in China in April 1999, and reportedly tens of thousands of its practitioners were arrested and sentenced to â€Å"reeducation through labor† or incarcerated in mental hospitals. The constitution grants citizens of the People’s Republic of China the freedom of religious belief and maintains that the state â€Å"protects normal religious activities,† but that no one â€Å"may make use of religion to engage in activities that disrupt public order, impair the health of citizens or interfere with the educational system of the state. † Education and Literacy:Education in China is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education. The population has had on average only 6. 2 years of schooling, but in 198 6 the goal of nine years of compulsory education by 2000 was established. The education system provides free primary education for five years, starting at age seven, followed by five years of secondary education for ages 12 to 17. At this level, there are three years of middle school and two years of high school. The Ministry of Education reports a 99 percent attendance rate for primary school and an 80 percent rate for both primary and middle schools.Since free higher education was abolished in 1985, applicants to colleges and universities compete for scholarships based on academic ability. Private schools have been allowed since the early 1980s. The United Nations Development Program reported that in 2003 China had 116,390 kindergartens with 613,000 teachers and 20 million students. At that time, there were 425,846 primary schools with 5. 7 million teachers and 116. 8 million students. General secondary education had 79,490 institutions, 4. 5 million teachers, and 85. 8 million st udents. There also were 3,065 specialized secondary schools with 199,000 teachers and 5 million students.Among these specialized institutions were 6,843 agricultural and vocational schools with 289,000 teachers and 5. 2 million students and 1,551 special schools with 30,000 teachers and 365,000 students. In 2003 China supported 1,552 institutions of higher learning (colleges and universities) and their 725,000 professors and 11 million students. While there is intense competition for admission to China’s colleges and universities among college entrants, Beijing and Qinghua universities and more than 100 other key universities are the most sought after.The literacy rate in China is 90. 9 percent, based on 2002 estimates. Health: Indicators of the status of China’s health sector can be found in the nation’s fertility rate of 1. 8 children per woman (a 2005 estimate) and an under-five-years-of-age mortality rate of 37 per 1,000 live births (a 2003 estimate). In 200 2 China had nearly 1. 7 physicians per 1,000 persons and about 2. 4 beds per 1,000 persons in 2000. Health expenditures on a purchasing parity power (PPP) basis were US$224 per capita in 2001, or 5. 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Some 37. percent of public expenditures were devoted to health care in China in 2001. However, about 80 percent of the health and medical care services are concentrated in cities, and timely medical care is not available to more than 100 million people in rural areas. To offset this imbalance, in 2005 China set out a five-year plan to invest 20 billion renminbi (RMB; US$2. 4 billion) to rebuild the rural medical service system composed of village clinics and township- and county-level hospitals. In 2004 health officials announced that China had some 120 million hepatitis B virus carriers.Although not identified until later, China’s first case of a new, highly contagious disease, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), occurred in Guangd ong in November 2002, and within three months the Ministry of Health reported 300 SARS cases and five deaths in the province. By May 2003, some 8,000 cases of SARS had been reported worldwide; about 66 percent of the cases and 349 deaths occurred in China alone. By early summer 2003, the SARS epidemic had ceased. A vaccine was developed and first-round testing on human volunteers completed in 2004.China, similar to other nations with migrant and socially mobile populations, has experienced increased incidences of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS). Based on 2003 estimates, China is believed to have a 0. 1 percent adult prevalence rate for HIV/AIDS, one of the lowest rates in the world and especially in Asia. However, because of China’s large population, this figure converted in 2003 to some 840,000 cases (more than Russia but fewer than the United States and second in Asia to India), of whom 44,000 died. About 80 percent of those infec ted live in rural areas.In November 2004, the head of the United Nations AIDS program (UNAIDS) cited China, along with India and Russia, as being on the â€Å"tipping point† of having small, localized AIDS epidemics that could turn into major ones capable of hindering the world’s efforts to stop the spread of the disease. In 2004 the Ministry of Health reported that its annual AIDS prevention funding had increased from US$1. 8 million in 2001 to US$47. 1 by 2003 and that, whereas treatment had been restricted to a few hospitals in major cities, treatment was becoming more widely available.According to the study by the World Health Organization, China’s Ministry of Health, and UNAIDS, China had an estimated 650,000 people who were infected with HIV by the end of 2005. In the 2000–2002 period, China had one of the highest per capita caloric intakes in Asia, second only to South Korea and higher than countries such as Japan, Malaysia, and Indonesia. By 2002, 92 percent of the urban population and 68 percent of the rural population had access to an improved water supply, and 69 percent of the urban population and 29 percent of the rural population had access to improved sanitation facilities.Welfare: In pre-reform China, the socialist state fulfilled the needs of society from cradle tograve. Child care, education, job placement, housing, subsistence, health care, and elder care were largely the responsibility of the work unit as administered through state-owned enterprises and agricultural communes and collectives. As those systems disappeared or were reformed, the â€Å"iron rice bowl† approach to social security changed. Article 14 of the constitution stipulates that the state â€Å"builds and improves a social security system that corresponds with the level of economic development. In 2004 China experienced the greatest decrease in its poorest population since 1999. People with a per capita income of less than 668 renminbi (R MB;US$80. 71) decreased 2. 9 million or 10 percent; those with a per capita income of no more than 924 RMB (US$111. 64) decreased by 6. 4 million or 11. 4 percent, according to statistics from the State Council’s Poverty Reduction Office. Social security reforms since the late 1990s have included unemployment insurance, medical insurance, workers’ compensation insurance, maternity benefits, communal pension funds, and individual pension accounts. . GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS Recent Political Developments President Hu's first term was spent consolidating his position and proceeding with economic reform. But he recognised the potential for instability caused by the previous strong focus on promoting high growth as the overriding policy priority. Examples of the imbalances this has caused in society include: * wide income imbalances between rich, eastern coastal cities, and poorer inland cities * income differences between urban and rural dwellers – the average urban resident of Beijing earns around RMB 2000 a month (around ? 30), but 135 million people in China still live below the international poverty line of US$ 1 a day, and up to 500 million on US$ 2 a day * a collapse of the health insurance scheme, which means that 80% of all healthcare costs have to be paid in cash at the time of consumption * Inequalities between urban residents and migrant labourers who have moved to the cities.Unable to transfer their official place of residence, they cannot access public services, including education for their children * rampant corruption by those in public office * 87,000 incidents of mass violence which took place in 2005, often provoked by land expropriations or lay-offs from state-owned enterprises. Under the slogan of a â€Å"harmonious society†, he is therefore promoting a range of policies in the health, education, environment and other fields which will address social inequality.But these policies will not be allowed to compromise eco nomic growth and reform. The 17th Party Congress of October 2007 provided President Hu with an opportunity to put his own stamp on the ideological agenda, advance his preferred candidates to senior positions and secure a political succession consistent with that programme. Whilst the â€Å"harmonious society† remained pre-eminent, Hu's singular success was in having his theory of â€Å"scientific development† written into the Party Constitution.This means that although economic development will remain the key goal, growth will be balanced and sustainable in order to address imbalances in society between the prosperous cities and the impoverished rural hinterland. Although this will require innovation in methodology, it will also be gradual and measured, not radical. This is indicative of Hu's consensus building style, following neither those advocating continued economic reform at all costs, nor the so-called ‘new Left' who have called for more focus on social is sues.Although â€Å"democracy† was mentioned over 50 times in President Hu's speech, this was very much qualified as â€Å"democracy with Chinese characteristics† or â€Å"socialist democracy†. He alluded to novel methods to increase popular participation in politics to effect electoral reforms at grass roots levels, and even allow direct elections of Party officials in limited circumstances at local levels. Yet the driving purpose is to ensure the long term stability of one-party rule under the CCP.The senior Party hierarchy after the 17th Congress may similarly represent consensus rather than a definitive Hu Jintao ‘stamp'. We have little doubt that the President has prevailed in placing his successor(s) at the peak of the Party to assume power in 2012, although this has been done in such a way to co-opt competing interests behind his overall programme. Political Structure China has all the structures a modern democratic state would expect to have, with in theory a separation of powers between the different functions of state similar to most western democracies.But all structures are subordinate to the leadership of the CCP. * The Legislature: Key laws are passed by the National People's Congress (NPC) and its Standing Committee. The NPC has around two thousand members, and only meets in full session for a fortnight every March. Outside that time, a Standing Committee of around three hundred members carries out business. The Chairman is Wu Bangguo. Members are â€Å"elected† from Provincial and Municipal People's Congresses, who are in turn â€Å"elected† from People's Congresses below them.Only at the lowest level are members â€Å"elected† by the public, but from a very narrow slate of approved candidates. (NB see â€Å"Village elections† below). A handful of independents manage to get elected. The NPC also votes the executive into office. * The Executive: The Government is headed by Wen Jiabao, who is Premier. There are 4 Vice Premiers, 5 State Councillors, 28 Ministers, and 50 Offices, Institutions or Bureaux under the State Council or other Ministries. Between them they carry out all the functions of government, from health policy to water resources, to meteorology.Two bodies many would not expect to be part of government are Xinhua, the news agency, and the State Administration of Religious Affairs, which are directly under the State Council. * The Judiciary: there are several levels of People's Courts which hear both criminal and civil cases (though the majority of criminal cases are actually dealt with by the police as administrative cases). The People's Procuratorate acts as an investigator and public prosecutor. Officially, the courts continue to be instruments of the ‘dictatorship of the proletariat', and there is provision for political involvement in their judgements.In the next layer down from central government, China has 22 provinces; 4 municipalities directly under the central government (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing); 5 autonomous regions (Tibet, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia and Guangxi); and 2 Special Administrative Regions (Hong Kong and Macao). The full hierarchy of government is: * central government * province, municipality or autonomous region * prefecture or city * county or district * township * village (though see below). A province may contain within it autonomous counties or towns where there is a large ethnic minority population.Each layer of government will have departments similar to those of central government; a Communist Party Committee; a People's Congress; and a Political Consultative Committee. The head of government in each province is the Governor, but in practice the provincial Party Secretary is more powerful. Villages are now officially regarded as self-governing (and therefore not part of the formal government hierarchy). There are direct popular elections to village committees. They are respo nsible for providing some public services, and receive a budget from higher authorities to do so.They have no revenue-raising powers of their own. The quality of the elections varies, but they are more or less free and fair. The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (and its provincial and local off-shoots) brings together all permitted strands of political opinion and activity in China. It is not the legislature, but its main annual meeting comes just ahead of the NPC, and its views are officially fed into the NPC. Its Chairman is Jia Qinglin.Its main components are: * China's 8 political parties other than the Chinese Communist Party (known collectively as the ‘United Front'). They include the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Guomindang; the China Democratic League; and the China Democratic National Construction Association. They are small, and all accept in their constitutions the dominant pos ition of the Communist Party. * Representatives of China's â€Å"mass organisations†: the Communist Youth League, The All-China Federation of Trade Unions; the All China Women's Federation; and 50 other organisations covering everything from film artists to religious organisations.In the next layer down from central government, China claims  23 provinces (as it includes Taiwan);  4 municipalities directly under the central government (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing);  5 autonomous regions (Tibet, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia and Guangxi Zhuang); and  2 Special Administrative Regions (Hong Kong and Macao). The full hierarchy of government is: * central government * province, municipality or autonomous region * prefecture or city * county or district * township * village (though see below).A province may contain within it autonomous counties or towns where there is a large ethnic minority population. Each layer of government will have departments similar to those of central government; a People's Congress; a Political Consultative Committee (and a Communist Party Committee). The head of government in each province is the Governor, but in practice the provincial Party Secretary is more powerful. Villages are now officially regarded as theoretically self-governing (and therefore not part of the formal government hierarchy).There are direct popular elections to village committees. They are responsible for providing some public services, and receive a budget from higher authorities to do so. They have no revenue-raising powers of their own. The quality of the elections varies, but they are more or less free and fair. The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (and its provincial and local off-shoots) brings together all permitted strands of political opinion and activity in China.It is not the legislature, but its main annual meeting comes just ahead of the NPC, and its views are officially fed into the NPC. Its Chairman is Jia Qinglin. Its main components are: * China's  8 political parties other than the Chinese Communist Party (known collectively as the ‘United Front'). They include the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Guomindang; the China Democratic League; and the China Democratic National Construction Association. They are small, and all accept in their constitutions the dominant position of the Communist Party. Representatives of China's â€Å"mass organisations†: the Communist Youth League, The All-China Federation of Trade Unions; the All China Women's Federation; and  50 other organisations covering everything from film artists to religious organisations. The Party The real power in the land is the Chinese Communist Party. Founded in 1921 and now with around 70 million members, it has ruled China exclusively since 1949. Party structures Hu Jintao is General Secretary of the Communist Party. He heads the Pol itburo, which has 24 full and 1 alternate members.Nine members of the Politburo form a Politburo Standing Committee. They are the real government of China, and agree all major policies of the Party and government in the Standing Committee, using their positions elsewhere in government to implement them. Each member of the Politburo has a particular portfolio or government position, as follows (in order of precedence): Hu Jintao – President of China, Chair of the Central Military Commission Wu Bangguo – Chairman of the National People's CongressWen Jiabao – Premier Jia Qinglin – Chair of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Xi Jinping – Vice President of China Li Keqiang, Hui Liangyu, Zhang Dejiang, Wang Qishan – Vice Premiers He Guoqiang – in charge of Party discipline Li Changchun – propaganda Zhou Yongkang – law and order The Party has a number of Departments, Committees and Leading Groups to formulat e policy which often mirror government Ministries.Notable ones are: * Party Central Committee: the national Party committee, which meets once a year in the autumn, and has around 300 members   * The Central Military Commission: which is in effect the same thing as the state Central Military Commission, and therefore runs the armed forces   * The Commission for Discipline Inspection: responsible for fighting corruption among Party members   *   General Office and Central Bodyguards Bureau: which control access to the President   *   Organisation Department: in charge of personnel policy and appointments   *   Propaganda (or Publicity) Department   United Front Work Department: manages relations with other political parties, religious organisations and other non-Party organisations   *   International Liaison Department: manages relations with political parties in other countries. Leadership At the lowest levels there is a limited amount of democracy within the P arty. Branch committees are elected from their members. At the highest level, the Party is effectively a self-perpetuating oligarchy. The outgoing Politburo Standing Committee selects its successor and members of the Politburo. Officially the Politburo and its Standing Committee are appointed at theParty Congress every  five years. The next Party Congress will take place in Autumn 2012. 6. ECONOMY GDP: US $6. 9trn (est. ) (2011) GDP per capita: Int’l $8,394 per capita (2011 – source: IMF) Annual Growth: 9. 2% (est. ) (2011) Consumer prices: 4. 8% (est. ) (2011) Exchange rate: 10. 4 Renminbi = ? 1 (2011 average exchange rate) China has been one of the world's economic success stories since reforms began in 1978. China is the world's second biggest economy. Official figures show that GDP has grown on average by 10% a year over the past 30 years with an estimate of 9. 2% recorded for 2011.The current growth model, and policy underlying it, remains heavily skewed towards exports and investment, with little emphasis on private consumption. China has started to adjust its economic policies to better promote sustainable growth. The Government has highlighted its intention to: * undertake more banking reform (and encourage banks to provide finance to rural areas and smaller firms)   * develop the capital markets (so firms can more easily raise finance) * further reform of the insurance sector to expand the options available to consumers and   * provide a sounder regulatory structure aimed at promoting financial integration.A growing share of China's economic growth has been generated in the private sector as the government has opened up industries to domestic and foreign competition, though the role of the state in ownership and planning remains extensive. China's entry into the World Trade Organisation in December 2001 is further integrating China into the global economy. Gross Domestic Product (GDP)/Purchasing Power Parity (PPP): In 2005 China ha d a GDP of US$2. 2 trillion. China’s PPP was estimated for 2005 at nearly US$8. 9 trillion. PPP per capita in 2005 was estimated at US$6,800.Based on official Chinese data, the estimated GDP growth rate for 2005 was 9. 9 percent. Government Budget: The state budget for 2004 was US$330. 6 billion in revenue and US$356. 8 billion in expenditures. In the revenue column, 95. 5 percent was from taxes and tariffs, 54. 9 percent of which was collected by the central government and 45 percent by local authorities. The expenditures were for culture, education, science, and health care (18 percent); capital construction (12 percent); administration (14 percent); national defense (7. percent); agriculture, forestry, and water conservancy (5. 9 percent); subsidies to compensate for price increases (2. 7 percent); pensions and social welfare (1. 9 percent); promotion of innovation, science, and technology (4. 3 percent); operating expenses of industry, transport, and commerce (1. 2 percen t); geological prospecting (0. 4 percent), and other (31. 9 percent). The overall budget deficit in 2004 was approximately US$26 billion, an amount equivalent to about 1. 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Inflation:China’s annual rate of inflation averaged 6 percent per year during the 1990–2002 period. Although consumer prices declined by 0. 8 percent in 2002, they increased by 1. 2 percent in 2003. China’s estimated inflation rate in 2005 was 1. 8 percent. Special and Open Economic Zones: As part of its economic reforms and policy of opening to the world, between 1980 and 1984 China established special economic zones (SEZs) in Shantou, Shenzhen, and Zhuhai in Guangdong Province and Xiamen in Fujian Province and designated the entire island province of Hainan a special economic zone.In 1984 China opened 14 other coastal cities to overseas investment (listed north to south): Dalian, Qinhuangdao, Tianjin, Yantai, Qingdao, Lianyungang, Nantong, Shanghai, Ningbo, Wenzhou, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Zhanjiang, and Beihai. Then, beginning in 1985, the central government expanded the coastal area by establishing the following open economic zones (listed north to south): Liaodong Peninsula, Hebei Province (which surrounds Beijing and Tianjin), Shandong Peninsula, Yangzi River Delta, Xiamen-Zhangzhou-Quanzhou Triangle in southern Fujian Province, Zhujiang (Pearl River) Delta, and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.In 1990 the Chinese government decided to open the Pudong New Zone in Shanghai to overseas investment, as well as more cities in the Yangzi River Valley. Since 1992 the State Council has opened a number of border cities and all the capital cities of inland provinces and autonomous regions. In addition, 15 free-trade zones, 32 state-level economic and technological development zones, and 53 new- and high-tech industrial development zones have been established in large and medium-sized cities.As a result, a multilevel diversified pattern of opening and integrating coastal areas with river, border, and inland areas has been formed in China. Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing: China traditionally has struggled to feed its large population. Even in the twentieth century, famines periodically ravaged China’s population. Great emphasis has always been put on agricultural production, but weather, wars, and politics often mitigated good intentions. With the onset of reforms in the late 1970s, the relative share of agriculture in the gross domestic product (GDP) began to increase annually.Driven by sharp rises in prices paid for crops and a trend toward privatization in agriculture, agricultural output increased from 30 percent of GDP in 1980 to 33 percent of GDP by 1983. Since then, however, agriculture has decreased its share in the economy at the same time that the services sector has increased. By 2004 agriculture (including forestry and fishing) produced only 15. 2 percent of China’s GDP but still is huge b y any measure. Some 46. 9 percent of the total national workforce was engaged in agriculture, forestry, and fishing in 2004.According to United Nations statistics, China’s cereal production is the largest in the world. In 2003 China produced 377 million tons, or 18. 1 percent of total world production. Its plant oil crops—at 15 million tons in 2003—are a close second to those of the United States and amounted to 12. 6 percent of total world production. More specifically, China’s principal crops in 2004 were rice (176 million tons), corn (132 million tons), sweet potatoes (105 million tons), wheat (91 million tons), sugarcane (89 million tons), and potatoes (70 million tons).Other grains, such as barley, buckwheat, millet, oats, rye, sorghum, and tritcale (a wheat-rye hybrid), added substantially to overall grain production. Crops of peanuts, rapeseed, soybeans, and sugar beets also were significant, as was vegetable production in 2004. Among the highest l evels of production were cabbages, tomatoes, cucumbers, and dry onions. In 2004 fruit production also became a significant aspect of the agricultural market. China produced large crops of watermelons, cantaloupes, and other melons that year. Other significant orchard products were apples, citrus fruits, bananas, and mangoes.China, a nation of numerous cigarette smokers, also produced 2. 4 million tons of tobacco leaves. Fertilizer use was a major contributor to these abundant harvests. In 2002 China consumed 25. 4 million tons of nitrogenous fertilizers, or 30 percent of total world consumption and more than double the consumption of other major users such as India and the United States in the same period. Among the less used fertilizers, China also was a leader. It consumed 9. 9 million tons of phosphate fertilizers (29. 5 percent of the world total) and 4. 2 million tons of potash fertilizers (18. percent of the world total). With China’s accession to the World Trade Organi zation (WTO) in 2001, food export opportunities have developed that have brought about still more efficient farming techniques. As a result, traditional areas such as grain production have decreased in favor of cash crops of vegetables and fruit for domestic and export trade. China’s livestock herds are the largest in the world, far outstripping all of Europe combined and about comparable in size to all African nations combined. For example, in 2003 China had 49. 1 percent of the world’s pigs, 22. percent of the world’s goats, and 7. 5 percent of the world’s cattle. Converted into food production, China’s major livestock products in 2004 were pork (47. 2 million tons), poultry eggs (28. 0 million tons), cow’s milk (18. 5 million tons), poultry meat (13. 4 million tons), and beef and veal (6. 4 million tons). Other meats of significant amounts were mutton, lamb, and goat. Major by-products were cattle hides (1. 6 million tons), sheepskins (32 1,000 tons), and goatskins (375,000 tons). Honey (300,000 tons) and raw silk (95,000 tons) also were major products destined for the commercial market.Forestry products, measured in annual roundwood production, also abound. In 2004 China produced an estimated 284 million cubic meters of roundwood, the world’s third largest supplier after the United States and India, or about 8. 5 percent of total world production. From the roundwood, some 11. 3 million cubic meters of sawnwood are produced annually. China also leads the world in fish production. In 2003 it caught 16. 7 million tons of fish, far out catching the second-ranked nation, the United States, with its 4. 9 million tons.Aquaculture also was substantial in world terms. In the same year, China harvested 28. 8 million tons of fish, an amount more than 10 times that of the second-ranked nation, India, which produced 2. 2 million tons. The total fish production in 2003 was 45. 6 million tons. Of this total, 63. 2 percent w as from aquaculture, an increasing sector, and 36. 7 percent from fish caught in rivers, lakes, and the sea. Mining and Minerals: Mineral resources include large reserves of coal and iron ore, plus adequate to abundant supplies of nearly all other industrial minerals.Besides being a major coal producer, China is the world’s fifth largest producer of gold and in the early twenty-first century became an important producer and exporter of rare metals needed in high-technology industries. The rare earth reserves at the Bayan Obi mine in Inner Mongolia are thought to be the largest in any single location in the world. Outdated mining and ore-processing technologies are being replaced with modern techniques, but China’s rapid industrialization requires imports of minerals from abroad.In particular, iron ore imports from Australia and the United States have soared in the early 2000s as steel production rapidly outstripped domestic iron ore production. The major areas of produ ction in 2004 were coal (nearly 2 billion tons), iron ore (310 million tons), crude petroleum (175 million tons), natural gas (41 million cubic meters), antimony ore (110,000 tons), tin concentrates (110,000 tons), nickel ore (64,000 tons), tungsten oncentrates (67,000 tons), unrefined salt (37 million tons), vanadium (40,000 tons), and molybdenum ore (29,000 tons).In order of magnitude, bauxite, gypsum, barite, magnesite, talc and related minerals, manganese ore, fluorspar, and zinc also were important. In addition, China produced 2,450 tons of silver and 215 tons of gold in 2004. The mining sector accounted for less than 0. 9 percent of total employment in 2002 but produced about 5. 3 percent of total industrial production. Industry and Manufacturing: Industry and construction produced 53. 1 percent of China’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2005. Industry (including mining, manufacturing, construction, and power) contributed 52. percent of GDP in 2004 and occupied 22. 5 pe rcent of the workforce. The manufacturing sector produced 44. 1 percent of GDP in 2004 and accounted for 11. 3 percent of total employment in 2002. China is the world’s leading manufacturer of chemical fertilizers, cement, and steel. Prior to 1978, most output was produced by state-owned enterprises. As a result of the economic reforms that followed, there was a significant increase in production by enterprises sponsored by local governments, especially townships and villages, and, increasingly, by private entrepreneurs and foreign investors.By 2002 the share in gross industrial output by state-owned and state-holding industries had decreased to 41 percent, and the state-owned companies themselves contributed only 16 percent of China’s industrial output. An example of an emerging heavy industry is automobile manufacture, which has soared during the reform period. In 1975 only 139,800 automobiles were produced annually, but by 1985 production had reached 443,377, then j umped to nearly 1. 1 million by 1992 and increased fairly evenly each year up until 2001, when it reached 2. 3 million.In 2002 production rose to nearly 3. 3 million and then jumped again the next year to 4. 4 million. Domestic sales have kept pace with production. After respectable annual increases in the mid- and late 1990s, sales soared in the early 2000s, reaching 3 million automobiles sold in 2003. With some governmental controls in place, sales dipped to 2. 4 million sold in 2004. Some forecasters expect sales to reach 6. 9 million by 2015. By 2010 China’s automobile production is projected to reach 9. 4 million, and the country could become the number-one automaker in the world by 2020.So successful has China’s automotive industry been that it began exporting car parts in 1999. China began to plan major moves into the automobile and components export business starting in 2005. A new Honda factory in Guangzhou was being built in 2004 solely for the export market and was expected to ship 30,000 passenger vehicles to Europe in 2005. By 2004, 12 major foreign automotive manufacturers had joint-venture plants in China. They produced a wide range of automobiles, minivans, sport utility vehicles, buses, and trucks. In 2003 China exported US$4. billion worth of vehicles and components, an increase of 34. 4 percent over 2002. By 2004 China had become the world’s fourth largest automotive vehicle manufacturer. Concomitant with automotive production and other steel-consuming industries, China has been rapidly increasing its steel production. Iron ore production kept pace with steel production in the early 1990s but was soon outpaced by imported iron ore and other metals in the early 2000s. Steel production, an estimated 140 million tons in 2000, was expected to reach more than 350 million tons a year by 2010.Energy: As with other economic categories, China is a major producer and consumer of energy resources. In 2002, the most recent year avai lable for United Nations statistics, China produced 934. 2 million tons of oil equivalents and consumed 889. 6 million tons. Per capita consumption was 687 kilograms, only a quarter of North Korea’s estimated consumption, a third of that in Hong Kong, and well below the average for Asia. China’s energy consumption has risen dramatically since the inception of its economic reform program in the late 1970s.Electric power generation—mostly by coal-burning plants—has been in particular demand; China’s electricity use in the 1990s increased by between 3 percent and 7 percent per year. In 2003 electricity use increased by 15 percent over the previous year, and supplies could not keep up with demand, thus slowing economic development. Government statistics indicate that the overall demand for electric power for 2004 was projected to be around 2 trillion kilowatt-hours, but by June of that year a 60-b

Cyber crime Essay

In the 21st century, with the improvements in technology and science new concepts are integrated in our lives. Cyber crime is among those concepts that did not previously exist 15-20 years ago. Back In the old day’s only conventional crime was discussed, which refers to those traditional, illegal behaviors that most people think of as crime. In today’s one has to be careful not only against conventional crime but also cyber crime as it is the latest and the most complicated problem in the new century. Cyber crime consists of all criminal actions against communication devices in a network such as Internet, telephone lines or mobile networks. Cyber crime can be observed among people at various age groups as it is easier to commit compared to other types of crime like murder, kidnapping or human trafficking. According to, (Cybercrime.gov, 2009,para8) can divide cyber criminals into four groups. This division may be classified under what they have in their mind. These group s are, children and adolescents between the age group of 6 – 18 years, organized hackers, professional hackers, crackers and discontented employees. Cyber crimes can be divided into 11 groups and each of them is different. Those are unauthorized access to computer systems or networks (hacking), theft of information contained in electronic form, email bombing, data diddling, salami attacks, denial of service attack, virus and worm attacks, logic bombs, Trojan attacks, internet time thefts and web jacking. International estimates announce that cybercrime costs approximately $50 billion annually. Cyber crime costs the United States more than $5 billion per year. According to Michigan State University Library, in England, cybercrime is estimated to cost approximately 250 million pounds or $417.7 million annually. Looking at these figures it can be said that cyber crime is a concept that should be reviewed carefully taking different aspects of it into consideration like the causes, victims and statutory provisions. Still there are so many countries that have not updated their laws against cyber crime. The lack of strong regulations ma kes it nearly impossible to arrest cyber criminals in those countries. In order to diminish cyber crime all organizations and governments should cooperate, as it has no boundaries. Firstly, it is important to know why people commit cyber crime and what they have in their minds, as it is not possible to resolve a problem without knowing its real cause. According to(Cybercrime.gov, 2009,para8) Children and adolescents between the age  group of 6 – 18 years are committing cyber crimes because of exploring new things, curiosity and to be outstanding amongst other children in their group. Younger people are more motivated to learn and try new ideas, which make them bolder. As they also have less life experience they are more prone to cyber crime. Another group consists of organized hackers who are the most dangerous ones. They are organized and ordered properly to make a move. According to the analysis conducted by the institute for security technology studies at Dartmouth college, the reason is generally political and these hackers may deface elect ronic information sites all over the world to spread disinformation and propaganda. Pakistani hackers can be given as an example who are the most skilled and qualified hackers in the world. Their main target is the Indian government sites but also NASA and Microsoft sites are also being attacked by them often. The third group is made up of professional hackers, who are only after money. They crack or steal information for their customers. Generally competitor companies hire them to get information about their rivals. The final group consists of discontented employees, which includes people who have been fired from their job and want to take revenge from their employers. As a result it can be stated that the authorities should approach cyber crime from various angles as each criminal group has different motives. The victim of crime is another aspect that has critical importance as the impacts of cyber crime and the damage it creates depends on the target subject. Although authorities in developing countries do not agree with this argument and pay no attention to the issue, by taking customized precautions to protect specific victim group’s cyber crime can be avoided before it takes place. This shows that only developing countries give importance to the matter, which makes the problem more serious. The classification of subjects of cyber crime is as follows: individuals, organizations, society at large and nation s. At the individual level cyber crime can be against a person or personal property. According to(Cybercrime.gov, 2009,para9), this can take several forms as harassment via e-mails, cheating & fraud, defamation, transmitting viruses, IPR crimes etc†¦For example to protect individuals more secure operating systems can be used instead of stand-alone anti-virus programs. As operating systems are not secure enough to provide protection against cyber attacks people have to pay for anti-virus programs. When organizations are taken  into consideration firms, companies, foundations or even governments can be the victims. The most common methods are unauthorized control/access over computer system, possession of unauthorized information, distribution of pirated software and cyber terrorism against a government organization. Organization wide trainings can be a solution for companies or institutions as people tend to be more precautious when they know about the potential threats and fear f rom losing their jobs. Some government organizations and private companies in developed countries use training as a tool to stop cyber crime. The most signification damage is given to the society at large as more people are affected by the results of cyber crime. Pornography is one significant example, which may take several forms including child harassment. Uncontrolled websites with harmful material have negative impact on young people and especially adolescents who are easily brainwashed. This affects moral values of the society, increases the rate of conventional crime and creates an insecure environment for people. Trafficking is another example of cyber crime where masses can feel the damage. Materials that cannot be explicitly sold by other means are traded on the Internet, which can include illegal items. Financial crimes, forgery and online gambling are other examples of cyber crime that have impacts both on individuals and the general public. Authorities should carefully examine these different groups, which are open to cyber crime and take measures specifically to protect them. Considering all the negative impacts it is becoming necessary to enforce legal sanctions on people or organizations that commit cyber crime. The most important step is to adopt legislations that define cyber crime, regulate and control the activities in cyber world in an effective way. Although certain governments do not view the problem seriously, developed countries like the U.S. have established mechanisms like Computer Crime and International Property Section (http://www.cybercrime.gov/) to take fast action against cyber crime. The Model Law on Electronic Commerce adopted by the United Nations Commission on Trade Law is an example to statutory provisions, which was followed by the Information Technology Act. The Information Technology Act deals with various types of cyber crimes like unauthorized downloading, virus attacks, disruption, denial of access, interference with the service availed by a person, hacking and tampering with computer source documents. According to the Information Technology Act,  the measures against cyber crime may include imprisonment up to 2-3 years to 10 years. According to(Cybercrime.gov, 2009,para3), the following are criticisms against Information Technology Act (ITA). First of all, the ITA does not serve the desired purpose and only deals with e-commerce. Additionally it does not deal with issues like cyber harassment, cyber nuisance etc which can have harmful effects. Another weakness of the ITA is that it is not comprehensive or exhaustive at the same time the definitions a re not clear enough. There should be a uniform law in the world against cyber crime it is a worldwide issue. Along with other issues, universal jurisdiction is also a very important aspect of the problem as cyber crime is a universal concept. Although some countries do not view the problem as a global one, provisions enforced in other countries should be accepted. As mentioned before, the International Technology Act focuses on e-commerce and does not deal with other types of cyber crimes. As a result it is necessary to raise a cyber army like Cyber Crime Investigation Cell of the Central Bureau of Investigation, which deals with various forms of cyber crime. In developing countries like Turkey the laws against cyber crimes are not very effective although some authorities believe that the necessary action is taken. As relevant measures are not implemented by the Turkish Government the problem is getting worse everyday. For example child porn is a very serious problem, which cannot be stopped without serious action. During the last months several child porn cases were reported by the TV channels in Turkey. Another example is internet fraud which is very common in Turkey. Turkish people are not willing to use internet banking because they are afraid of fraud. As Turkish laws are not effective enough these problems are not resolved. Instead of dealing with these serious issues Turkish authorities put a ban on websites like Youtube. In order to avoid cyber crime relevant legal measures should be taken through international cooperation. It is also important to build a control mechanism and develop a uniform law against it. Although it is not possible to totally stop cyber crime there are steps that can be taken by countries and international organizations like the United Nations. Another important thing is to educate people about the cyber risks and tell them what their rights are. If people are informed about the actions they can take against cyber crime the problem can be solved. To reduce the level of cyber crime it is necessary to have a strong legal mechanism worldwide. REFERENCES criminal justice(2008) retrieved from http://www.lib.msu.edu/harris23/crimjust/cybercri.htm Cyber life and coping with identity theft (2010) retrieved from –http://www.naavi.org/pati/pati_cybercrimes_dec03.htm cybertech crimes of the 21st century retrieved from- http://digitaloman.blogspot.com/2006/10/cyber-crime-age-no-bar.html Witt, J (2011). Soc.2011 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020 McGraw Hill Database: EBSCO Publishing Citations government’s hold on cyber bullies retrieved from http://www.cybercrime.gov/ Web Accessibility at Academic Libraries: Standards, Legislation, and Enforcement,Library Hi Tech); 2007 Vol. 24 Issue 4, p494-508, 15p. Document Type: article; (AN LHT.BD.DID.PROVIDENTI.WAALSL) [Citation Record]

Pestel Analysis Essay

Australia is the 15th richest nation in per capita terms and is the 6th oldest continuously functioning democracy in the world. Australia has the 14th biggest overall economy in the world and the 9th biggest economy. Australia’s economy is open and innovative. Over the past decade solid productivity gains have been accompanied by low inflation and interest rates. Also Australia has low barriers to trade and investment .Australia foreign and trade policies promote the security and long term prosperity of Australia in a global context. Australia’s economy is highly susceptible to the impact of climate change. In 2008 the Australian Government committed to create an organization called â€Å"Infrastructure Australia† to provide a new national approach to planning ,implementing and funding the nations future. Being a safe, stable and prosperous country Australia is an increasingly attractive hub for international and regional business and business operations. Politic al environment In Australia, it is a liberal-capitalistic democracy. The state keeps interfering substantially in the economy through the use of various roles; for instance the parliament might decide to set up importation taxes aimed to protect the national economy, or it might create environmental protection laws aimed to protect the natural heritage of the country. This affects international business because when taxes keep varying and increasing especially there will be an impact on the economy which in turn will affect the exchange rates and currency rate. According to surveys Australia’s economy continued to gather pace in March as world demand for commodities boosted the nation’s coffers. However due to recent uncertainty from the European debt crisis could lower expectations of economic growth in the future.

Nursing and the Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Nursing and the Media - Essay Example The media can either positively or negatively influence the public image of nursing depending on the stories, news, or advertisements on nursing broadcasted to the public. The media can positively impact on the public image of nursing through broadcasting shows/films of nurses working to save victims of natural disasters like earthquakes and hurricanes and news stories relating to nurses importance to a safer public positively affected nursing and aided in augmenting respect for nurses (Donelan et al., 2008). However, news. Films, or advertisements on nurse’s strikes and nurses not taking their duty well in terms of caring for the patients and participating in unethical behavior endangering the lives of the patient's results in a negative public image of nurses. News relating to nurse shortage and the general outlook on nursing as a career does not positively or negatively impact on the public image of nurses (Donelan et al., 2008). Avenues of educating the general public include nurses writing articles in newspapers aimed at informing the public regarding nursing roles and scope and changing health care system. Other avenues include posting and circulation of nursing accomplishments, making announcements in dailies, nurses speaking to civic and community groups on nursing roles and responsibilities. Other avenues are posting online in blogs and on social media sites and contacting media outlets and program developers on the need to portray nursing in a positive manner and in the true light of nursing roles and scope.

Business proposal(reserch) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business proposal(reserch) - Essay Example (Abercrombie & Fitch, 2007) A&F clothing are manufactured in different countries all over the world including El Salvador, Indonesia, Peru and Thailand among others. (Pascal, n.d.) By subcontracting the production of clothing in Asia and other third world countries, the company is able to save more money at the expense of low-paid labours. The difference between the high selling price and the cost of clothing per unit makes the high profitability of the company. Considering that the brand name A&F sells on its own, the company saves a lot of money from the need to invest on expensive external advertising. A&F products are delivered straight to the consumers via branded retail stores, catalogs, and on-line networks. (Abercrombie & Fitch, 2007) As of June 2007, the company operates 355 A&F stores, 182 Abercrombie stores, 409 Hollister Co. stores, and 17 RUEHL stores selling young adult clothing all over the United States. Six of these stores are located in Canada. (PR Newswire, 2007) A&F has recently opened stores in Savile Row, London and expanded its store outlets in North America in Edmonton, Alberta, and Canada. (Earnest, 1999) For kids clothing, the company has opened a total of 175 stores to serve customers between ages seven to 14 years old. In June 2007, as part of A&F global expansion, the company announced its plan to expand its retail store throughout Europe particularly in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Denmark, and Sweden. An Australian retailer Harvey Norman opens a store in Ireland. (Callanan, 2005) In line with store expansion, A&F invests on Oracle system to enhance the efficiency of its supply chain network across more than 950 stores. (Friedlos, 2007) A&F outsource the manufacturing of its products offshore by entering into a contract with MAGIC. (Sourcing at MAGIC, 2007) Through MAGIC, A&F place the order by bulk in order to maximize the

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statement Essay

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statement - Essay Example In the statements of financial position, the Johnson’s Company is kept separately from its owners. The owners’ equity is made as an independent entity in the statement of financial position and classified under liabilities. In the year ended 2003, the Johnson’s Company had total stockholder’s equity worth $900,082. Among this were 7% preferred stock worth $300,000, common stock worth $400,000 and additional paid-in capital worth $737,500. The going concern concept states that the firm remains in operation till the future. The business will continue running for a fairy long time and that it has no intention of scaling down its operations. Therefore, preparation of statements of the financial position of The Johnson’s Company is made under this concept. It is against this concept that it justifies charging depreciation over the entire life of an asset. The total accumulated depreciation of plant, property and equipment for The Johnson’s Company in the year ended 2003 was worth $634,600. There is also the monetary measurement concept. This concept states that accounting should be done only to those items that are measurable in monetary terms / monetary value can be attached. The Johnson’s Company follows the monetary measurement concept by recording all its transactions and assets in monetary terms. This makes it easy to calculate profits and show the financial position of a business. The historical cost concept assumes that assets are entered in books of accounting at the cost at which they were initially acquired. The Johnson’s Company records its transactions while following the historical cost concept. All the assets are entered in the statements of financial position in their initial cost of acquisition. According to the accounting period concept, business life is divided into segments in order to study the results shown in financial statements after

Reflection of knowledge Acquired in Cross-cultural Management Assignment

Reflection of knowledge Acquired in Cross-cultural Management - Assignment Example From this discussion it is clear that managers that operate in their countries too often find themselves in conditions where they have to interact with clients, suppliers or employees originating from different countries with varying cultural practices and beliefs. Above these challenges, the modern organizations are increasingly consisting of people from diverse cultural backgrounds, making them multicultural organizations. It is therefore not enough to only seek and acquire traditional knowledge or training, but it is essential to be equipped with knowledge of surviving through cross-cultural organization systems. Managers therefore need the complex skills of operating through the multicultural settings of organizations to succeed internationally.This study discusses that every life aspect gets influenced by culture and this is dictated by the perspective someone adopts to view the   world and give direction to what is ethically tolerable in terms of behaviour. The definition of culture can be broadly said to be mutual interpretations, shared values or motives, identities and beliefs and, these factors are the outcomes of shared by members of a society and are passed over across generations. Society is a distinguishing factor that denotes a communal mind training of people mind from other people of a diverse class.  Today, managers are confronted with an array of cultural challenges with the increased international businesses across borders and diversified workforce emanating from different backgrounds.

The style of clothing and hairstyles of the 1800 Essay

The style of clothing and hairstyles of the 1800 - Essay Example A large number of Americans imitated the clothing and hair styles from overseas, while underprivileged Americans utilized economical fabrics so as to afford clothing (Dror, 2004). Despite women having long hair, they were likely to wear it up. During this time, France was experiencing economic hardships. Napoleon proposed new culture and fashion style because he realized the probability of revenue in the textile industry. Members of the noble class were not permitted to wear the same clothes twice, thus were compelled to buy additional fabrics. Ladies dresses were characterized by high waists and full skirts. Additional fabrics were used for evening wear. White was the dominant color among the wealthy and style was inspired by Classical Grecian robes. Moreover, for females’ dresses, the waistline moved towards the bustline. Dresses were created using thin fabric, typically, muslin, and skirts were not full. Necklines were square and low, and sleeves were capped and tight (Dror, 2004). Females frequently put on pelisses during winter. The pelisse is a coat with a waist that matches the waistline of the dress. During the early part of this period, males wore derbies and top hats. Breeches were tightly fitted and longer, highlighting male’s calves. Later, males begun wearing trousers and pants were longer. Moreover, coats contained long tails at the back and were short in the front. Males put on double-breast coats with stiff and thick collars. Also, blouses were made of muslin or linen. Females in this period designed their hair in a Y or T shape. The back of the hair was put in a bun or braided and pinned, while the front was trimmed approximately chin size and frequently coiled into soft ringlets (Dror, 2004). Later, females’ hairstyles were ornate and extravagant, for example, Madonna, which contained a central part with numerous coils in layers on the crown and front of the head, and Apollo knot, which was made up of two outsized knots decorated

The Significance and the Necessity of Ethics and Law in the Field of Research Paper

The Significance and the Necessity of Ethics and Law in the Field of Business - Research Paper Example The presence of the different forms of laws helps in establishing the minimum adequate and satisfactory norms relating to the conduct of behavior. The laws would help in ascertaining that the business organizations are operating in agreement with the laid down specifications so that the interests and the well being of the employees, the society, the environment, the country and the organization on the whole remain protected. This also gives rise to the need of comprehension of the subject matter of business ethics. It aids in making a distinction amid the right as well as the incorrect act. The law could be stated to be fundamentally a codification or rather an institutionalization of the ethical aspects into particular social regulations, legal guidelines and prohibitions. Therefore, the thesis statement for the paper is that legal issues in the present day business context certainly raise ethical concerns which in turn create a derogatory impact upon an organization’s sustai nability in the long run. Analysis of a Legal Issue in the Business World The collapse of the company Enron and the downfall of its auditor Arthur Andersen could be cited as an instance with regard to the violation of legal issues along with unethical practices in the business world. ... The auditor of the company Arthur Andersen was found to be involved with such illegal practices. The revelation of the corruption and the deliberate fraud proved fatal for both the company Enron as well as for Arthur Andersen. The company was compelled to announce itself to be a bankrupt and the subsistence of the ace auditing firm came to an end with the exposure of this scandal. The particular scandal was observed and analyzed to entail both unethical as well as illegal conducts (Healy & Palepu, 2003). The chief problem that arose for the company, Enron was to predict the market worth of its contracts, few of which were for a time period of as long as 20 years. The revenue was predicted or calculated on the base of the current worth of the net cash flows in the coming years. The other significant issue associated with these kinds of predictions was the practicability of the contracts and costs relevant to them. All these issues along with other accounting problems were faced by the company. These gave rise to accounting abnormalities and business malfunctions and ultimately led to the final breakdown of the company (Healy & Palepu, 2003). The Issue The business model of Enron was stated to be quite complicated as it involved a broad range of products from trading functions, physical assets as well as going beyond the national borders. All these factors extended the boundaries of accounting. Enron took the opportunity of exploiting these accounting boundaries to the maximum in controlling its revenues along with its balance sheet so as to depict a favorable performance scenario (Gupta, 2004). However, in this case two matters emerged out to be extremely problematic for the company. The company’s transactions related to trading engaged

Alternative hypothesis or testable hypothesis Essay

Alternative hypothesis or testable hypothesis - Essay Example Testing of hypothesis involves the precautious formation of two assertions. These assertions are the alternative hypothesis and null hypothesis. The null hypothesis states that there are no observed effects for the experiment conducted. In a mathematical interpretation of this hypothesis, the researcher uses an equal sign to indicate no relationship. This hypothesis is signified by H0. It is the hypothesis that the researcher aims at changing by testing the alternative hypothesis1. On the other hand, the alternative hypothesis reflects that there can be an observed effect in a research experiment. It is also the experimental hypothesis. In this mathematical computation, there is the use of inequality symbol that indicates there is a relationship between the research variables2. Either, H1 or Ha signifies the hypothesis. Therefore, the alternative hypothesis is the hypothesis used in testing hypothesis that is contrary to the null hypothesis. It is usually perceived to be the observed effect after the research process.3 Alternative hypothesis H1 There is a significant relationship between people’s attitudes and the American democracy. H2 There is a significant relationship between democracy and the doctrine of the sovereignty of the people in American democracy. H3 There is a significant relationship between democracy and Despotism 3. H4 There is a significant relationship between democracy and individualism in America.... H2 There is a significant relationship between democracy and the doctrine of the sovereignty of people in American. H0 There is no significant relationship between democracy and Despotism5. H3 There is a significant relationship between democracy and Despotism Ho There is no significant relationship between democracy and individualism in America. H4 There is a significant relationship between democracy and individualism in America. It is important for the researcher to understand that the alternative hypothesis and null hypothesis in reference to the population values, and not perceived statistics. Data can be obtained through descriptive surveys by the use of questionnaires and interviews that will present people’s opinions and attitudes towards democracy.5The test will be conducted using the Z scores where, the researchers will use the z statistics or score to observed the mean obtained from the sample and the mean obtained from the entire population signified by the symbol ?06. The next step after the z statistics is determining the p value, and this is calculated through converting the test value to a conditional probability known as a P-value. This value answers the question whether the null hypotheses statement are true and the probability of observing obtained current dada or the observed data was more extreme7. A small P-value indicates that the null hypothesis was not true and a big P-value indicates that the null hypothesis is correct and that it should not be rejected. The use of significance level in this case indicates that the observed difference is not because of chance. The P-value of an alternative hypothesis is the possibility of obtaining a value of the analysis measurement as extreme than that experimental by chance, in case

Why Did the United States Enter World War One Essay Example for Free

Why Did the United States Enter World War One Essay The industrial era had many effects, not the least of which was plunging the world into world war. One must consider the relationship between eras and events as a student of history. The industrial era created a perceived need in America for raw materials and markets for goods. The United States was not alone in this desire for expansion. All the industrial nations were in open competition to develop vast empires that would provide them with the fuel to run the factories of industrialism. This imperialist competition led to tension and the creation of vast armies. The willingness to use these armies was known as militarism. In order to feel safe (there was a pretty fair degree of paranoia as you can imagine) nations began to sign secret treaties formingalliances and Europe was divided into an armed camp. Tension was high, the subjugation (taking over) of other nations led to feelings of nationalism that would eventually light the spark that would explode Europe into the flames of conflict. The causes of World War One as discussed above can be summarized by the following acronym as a mnemonic device: A- Alliance: European nations signed secret treaties that created a system of alliances pitting nation versus nation. N Nationalism: There were intense feelings of nationalism on the part of subjugated nationalities. These feelings would eventually lead to rash acts. I Imperialism: Competition to develop vast empires caused tension and conflict. M Militarism: Nations built huge armies to defend themselves and help to gain these empires. It was a natural feeling for them to want to use these militaries. A Anarchy: There was no international organization to help them deal with their problems. L Leadership: It was poor. Just look at the system they set upquite poor indeed. These were the conditions facing Europe as a crisis emerged in the Balkans. The Archduke of Austria Hungary, a traditional power, was touring the nation of Serbia. Meanwhile Bosnian nationalists desiring freedom from Serbia plotted to assassinate the Archduke. Gabriel Principe, a member of the Black Hand, the aforementioned Bosnian nationalist group, shot and killed Franz Ferdinand on June 28th 1914. Austria Hungary blamed the Serbian government for the assassination of the  Archduke and issued an ultimatum (demands). The Serbians agreed to all but two of the demands, one of which was the placement of Austro Hungarian troops within Serbia. The Serbians appealed to Russia for support and Russia as the protector of the Slavs agreed to support Serbia. Meanwhile the Austro Hungarians still wanting revenge and fearing Russia secured the support of their traditional ally, Germany. In a famous decision Germany issued what has become know as Carte Blanche, of blank check, to Austria Hungary. This unqualified military support from Germany made Austria Hungary rather confident that Russia would not attack. At this point the Austro Hungarians declared war on Serbia. In response to the declaration of war Russia mobilized her military forces. Perhaps it was a bit of saber rattling, perhaps not. Regardless Germany demanded Russia demobilize its army. When Russia refused Germany attacked Russia. The effect of the war on the Russian front were devastating. The Russians were ill prepared for war and lost millions of men. In the end the Czars refusal to exit the war cost him his throne as the Bolsheviks (Communists) revolted in 1917 overthrowing Czar Nicholas II. When the Russians were attacked by Germany, France was obligated to declare war on Germany as a result of a treaty she had signed with Russia. The Germans attacked France by marching through Belgium. The Belgians who did not give Germany permission to do this now were in a state of war with Germany as well. The most important byproduct of this was the fact that England had a treaty with Belgium! Now England was obligated to declare war on Germany as well. Italy, which had a treaty with Germany switched sides so that she might gain territory from Austria Hungary (A gamble that more or less worked) and the Ottoman Empire entered the war on behalf to the Austro Hungarians (they wanted to gain territory from the Russians and gain control in the Balkan region). Now most of Europe was engulfed in war. In the end the Triple Entente (England, France and Russia later to be joined by Italy, the United States and Japan) defeated the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria Hungary and the Ottoman Empire). The conflict which was long and bloody was marked by trench warfare and the use of chemical weapons. It was fought mostly in French territory. At the conclusion of  hostilities Germany was still in French territory but it was relatively clear that the combined industrial might of the Triple Entente would prevail. In actuality the influence of the United States is questionable. Germany hoped to negotiate a favorable treaty but as we shall see this was not to be the case. The Treaty of Versailles was signed ending the war and blaming Germany for the entire conflict. This blame and the consequent punishment set the stage for years of resentment and another world war, something American President Woodrow Wilson had hoped to avoid. So, what did all this have to do with America and why did we enter World War One? Most Americans favored staying out of the conflict and President Wilson publicly and formally stated that the United States would follow a policy of neutrality. In three short years, however, the United States would find itself in the middle of what later became known as the first World War. As the war in Europe raged on America sympathies were clearly on the side of the allies. American propaganda posters urged citizens to buy war bonds and support the allies. The Kaiser and Germans were painted as the aggressors in the war. True or not Americans came to see Germany as vicious and blood thirsty. The poster below was used by the US Army in 1917 to recruit soldiers. Notice how the Germans are pictured? This is a clear example of anti German propaganda. When the war began England enforced a naval blockade of Germany in the hopes of cutting off supplies. Germany responded by unleashing the U Boats. U Boats were submarines capable of staying submerged for long periods of time. They would sneak up upon their victims, often at night, an torpedo them. The Germans did not limit their attacks to military vessels. Any ship sailing in the war zone was considered an enemy. This became known as unrestricted submarine warfare. On May 7th 1915 the British cruise ship Lusitania was sunk off the coast of England. Over 1,198 passengers including 128 Americans were killed. America was furious at the brutality and demanded a stop to this type of attack. In 1916, after the sinking of the passenger liner Sussex, Germany agreed to end unrestricted submarine warfare in the Sussex pledge. The Sussex pledge only put off the inevitable American entry into the war. America shared acultural bond with England and France. Woodrow Wilson began to actively campaign for Americans to support the allies. Besides being culturally similar England and France  were our trade partners. From 1914 to 1916 trade with the Allies grew from 825 million dollars to 3.2 billion dollars. If the Allies were to lose the war our trade would be threatened. American increasingly saw Germany as the enemy. Germany was a dictatorship fighting against the great democracies of the world and America as a democratic nation felt an obligation to support them. As America became increasingly less neutral, the British government intercepted a message from the German ambassador Zimmerman to the Mexican government. This message termed the Zimmerman Note asked Mexico to attack the United States if war broke out between the U.S. and Germany. The note was turned over to American government a short time later and eventually published in the newspapers. Americans were outraged. Then the Kaiser announced that Germany was going to re initiate the practice of unrestricted submarine warfare violating the Sussex Pledge. Wilson had campaigned for office promising to protect freedom of the seas and now it seemed he had little choice. He had to ask Congress to declare war. Many Americans still wanted to stay out of Europes war and there was much debate in Congress. Wilson closed his speech to Congress by saying it is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war But the right is more precious then peace and we shall fight for the things which we have always carried in our hearts. On April 6, 1917, by a vote of 82 to 6 in the Senate and 373 to 50 in the House of Representatives, the United States of America declared war on Germany. Wilson strongly believed that the American system would save the world, meaning: 1. American economic goods 2. Americas democratic political structure 3. Americas blend of morality and Christianity Wilson stated: When properly directed, there are no people in the world not fitted for self-government. Note the caveat, when properly directed. Wilson saw the U.S. as the rightful and natural director. He was determined to provide that direction in a framework where morality, democracy and economics were closely related. Wilson believed that other nations of the world had to look to the U.S. as an example, at the same time America was dependent on the rest of the world, mostly for economic markets. The world market must act as the new frontier for the American system. Wilson was determined to direct the affairs of other nations so that they could eventually achieve self-government, as long as this government was based on the American model, and he was even more willing to intervene in other countries than Roosevelt. For instance, he sent U.S. troops to Mexico to intervene in their civil war (1913-1917). When World War I broke out in Europe in 1914, Wilson tried to keep the U.S. neutral, but Germany repeatedly violated Americas neutral status. When America finally entered the war in 1917 it was because, as Wilson stated, The world must be made safe for democracy.