A Global Player
China is becoming a stronger, more powerful player on the world stage. While economic growth in the rest of the world has been rather sluggish in recent years, China's economy is growing faster than ever. China could soon overtake the UK and France to become the fourth biggest economy in the world.
In October 2003, China joined the USA and Russia to become the third country to put an astronaut into space. The spacecraft, Shenzhou 5 - nicknamed "the divine ship" in China - may be a sign of the country's technological and economic ambitions for the future.
During 2004, the city of Shanghai will boast the world's tallest building. The Shanghai World Financial Centre will have 94 storeys, and tower over 460 metres. This is nearly twice the height of Canary Wharf, the UK's tallest building.
China is beating other records too. Click on the circle of facts and decide whether they are true or false. When you have completed the circle click on the answers to see if you were right. If you made a mistake have another go.
By cutting tariffs and quotas on foreign imports, China gradually opened its doors to world trade. Removing these trade barriers were a precondition for China becoming a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Since joining the WTO in 2001, new markets overseas have been opened to Chinese companies. At the same time, WTO rules make it easier for foreign companies to invest and have bases in China. Thanks to its low wage costs and improving infrastructure, China is proving irresistible to transnational companies. Many are now out-sourcing large parts of their production chains to new factories here.
China's provinces can be divided into three regions - the west, the central region and the eastern region along the coast. In the past, each of these regions had a different focus for economic development. Roll over the map to find out more.
The East was expected to be the engine for growth, using links to the rest of the country to bring jobs and wealth through a kind of multiplier effect. But if anything, the difference in living standards between the regions has been getting worse, not better. Today, the average GDP per capita in the west is half that of the east.
Even in the east, fast economic growth is not all good news. Go to the next page to find out about Guangdong, one of China's booming eastern provinces.
