China

CHINA
With nearly 4,000 years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest civilizations. Prior to the 19th century, it possessed one of the most advanced societies and economies in theworld; but through successive dynasties it then missed the Industrial Revolution and began to decline. In the 19th and 20th century, imperialism, internal weakness and civil wars damaged the countryand its economy, and led to the overthrow of imperial rule.
In 1949, after major combat ended in the Chinese Civil War, two states calling themselves "China" emerged:
* The People's Republic ofChina (PRC), established in 1949, commonly known as China, has control over mainland China and the largely self-governing territories of Hong Kong and Macau.
* The Republic of China (ROC)established in 1912 in mainland China, now commonly known as Taiwan, has control over the islands of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, the Pratas island group, and a few other outlying islands.
In the 1950s,change to economic policies in Taiwan transformed the island into a technology-oriented industrialized developed economy after a period of high growth rates and rapid industrialization. In mainlandChina, in the 1970s, reforms known as the Four Modernizations improved agriculture, industry, technology and defense, raising living standards and making the PRC one of the great powers. By 2011 challengesincluded the growing divide between rich and poor, environmental degradation, and rampant corruption.
After its victory in the Chinese Civil War, the Communist Party of China (CPC) led by Mao Zedonggained control of most of Mainland China. On 1 October 1949, they established the People's Republic of China as a socialist state headed by a "Democratic Dictatorship" with the CPC as the rulingpolitical party, thus, laying claim as the successor state of the ROC. The central government of the Chinese Nationalist Party led by Chiang Kai-shek retreated to the island of Taiwan that it had...