![](media/image1.png){width="0.6701388888888888in"
height="0.44027777777777777in"} **Country Fact Sheet -- China**

![](media/image3.jpeg){width="1.25in" height="1.1875in"}**Frank Mok\
**U.S.-China Education Resource Coordinator

Institute of International Education, IIE China\
American Center for Educational Exchange\
Suite 2801 Jingguang Center, Hujialou, Chaoyang District\
Beijing 100020, China\
Tel: (86-10) 6597-3242 Ext. 206

Mobile: (86) 1391-056-3057\
Fax: (86-10) 6597-3247

Email: <mokfw@state.gov>, <frankmok@iiebeijing.org>

**COUNTRY PROFILE**

**Official name**: [People\'s Republic of
China](http://www.state.gov/p/eap/ci/ch/)\
**Capital**: Beijing

**Other major cities**: Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenyang, Wuhan, Guangzhou,
Chongqing, Chengdu.

**Population** (2006 est.): 1.3 billion.

**Languages**: Mandarin (Putonghua), plus many local dialects. Pinyin is
now widely seen in China, and it replaces earlier Romanization spelling
systems.

**History**: China is a country with 5,000-year-long civilization.
People\'s Republic established October 1, 1949.\
**Administrative divisions**: 23 provinces; 5 autonomous regions,
including Tibet; 4 municipalities directly under the State Council.

**Currency**: Renminbi (RMB)/yuan

**Economy**: GDP (2005): \$2.26 trillion (exchange rate based).Per
capita GDP (2005): \$1,700 (exchange rate based).

**National Holidays:**

National Day: October 1; Spring Festival (the celebration of Chinese New
Year, generally between the last 10-day period of January and
mid-February); International Labor Day: May 1. Starting in October 1999,
China\'s three official holidays became \"Golden Weeks\" each with seven
days.

**Higher education:**

By the end of 2004, China had 2,236 schools of higher learning, with
over 20 million students; the gross rate of enrollment in schools of
higher learning reached 19 percent. Postgraduate education is the
fastest growing sector, with 24.1 percent more students recruited and
25.9 percent more researchers than the year before. In 2004, the total
enrollment in ordinary schools of higher learning was 4.473 million,
651,000 more than in 2003. Schools of higher learning and research
institutes enrolled 326,000 postgraduate students, 57,000 more than the
previous year. The UNESCO world higher education report of June 2003
pointed out that the student population of China\'s schools of higher
learning had doubled in a very short period of time, and was the
world\'s largest. No SAT or ACT tests could be taken in China currently.

**Basic education:**

China\'s basic education involves pre-school, nine-year compulsory
education from elementary to junior high school, standard senior high
school education, special education for disabled children, and education
for illiterate people.

China has over 200 million elementary and high school students, who,
together with pre-school children, account for one sixth of the total
population. In 2004 high school enrollment was 8.215 million, 2.3 times
that of 1988.

**Educational Development:**

International cooperation and education exchanges increase every year.
China has more students studying abroad than any other country; since
1979, there have been 697,000 Chinese students studying in 103 countries
and regions, of which 185,000 have returned after finishing their
studies. The number of foreign students studying in China has also
increased rapidly; in 2004, over 110,000 students from 178 countries
were studying at China\'s universities.

Investment in education has increased in recent years; the proportion of
the overall budget allocated to education has been increased by one
percentage point every year since 1998. According to a Ministry of
Education program, the government will set up an educational finance
system in line with the public finance system, strengthen the
responsibility of governments at all levels in educational investment,
and ensure that their financial allocation for educational expenditure
grows faster than their regular revenue. The program also set out the
government\'s aim that educational investment should account for four
percent of GDP in a relatively short period of time.

**Data from *Open Doors*:**

**2004/05 2005/06**

Chinese students in the U.S. 62,523 62,582 (increase 0.1%)

U.S. students in China: 4,373 6,389 (increase 34%)

**EducationUSA Advising Centers in China:**

A total of 44 centers over the following 24 cities: Beijing, Wuhan,
Jinan, Tianjin, Zhengzhou, Changsha, Xi'an, Chengdu, Kunming, Chongqing,
Fuzhou, Nanning, Guangzhou, Haikou, Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Ningbo,
Hefei, Shenyang, Changchun, Ha'erbin, Hong Kong and Macao.