Country Profile - China

People's Republic of China (China), home to one-fifth of the world's population , is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. The history of China dates back to at least 4000 years and its contribution to arts and science is remarkable. Some of the significant inventions that contributed to the progress of the human civilization: paper, gunpowder, credit banking, the compass, and paper money were developed in China. In the 19th and 20th centuries, China experienced civil unrest, famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the communists under the leadership of Mao Zedong defeated the nationalists and established a dictatorship in the country.

However, in the late 1970s, under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, China opened up to the outside world. The country introduced market-oriented reforms and decentralized economic decision-making. This was the time when collective farming gave way to private enterprise (although both forms exist now, the contribution of private enterprise is going up).

Due to the availability of cheap labor, companies based in China could produce goods at a low cost and earn significant profits by selling them in the international markets. As a result, China quickly became a leading exporter in the world surpassing its South East Asian neighbors, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.