# China and France compared China and France side by side: 41 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, their chronicles record no events of each other. Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/chn-vs-fra Updated: 2026-08-10 (latest of the two dossiers' refreshes and the two chronicles' verification dates) Two sourced records set beside each other — nothing on this page was written for the pair. Every figure is the same observation, with the same source, as on the two national dossiers; every event is the same record, with the same sources, as on its own chronicle. Figures are compared, never graded. A "—" is an absence in the source data, never a zero; each value shows its own observation year — vintages differ by indicator and nation. ## Formation - China: 221 BCE — Qin Shi Huang completes the unification of China - France: 10 August 843 — The Treaty of Verdun gives Charles the Bald West Francia ## Economy | Metric | China | Observed | France | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | GDP | $18.74 T | 2024 | $3.16 T | 2024 | | GDP per capita | $13,303 | 2024 | $46,103 | 2024 | | GDP growth | 5.0% | 2024 | 1.2% | 2024 | | Inflation | 0.2% | 2024 | 2.0% | 2024 | | Trade openness | 37.2% | 2024 | 68.1% | 2024 | ## Society | Metric | China | Observed | France | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population | 1.41 bn | 2024 | 69 m | 2024 | | Life expectancy | 78.0 yrs | 2024 | 83.0 yrs | 2024 | | Urban population | 65.9% | 2024 | 78.8% | 2024 | | Fertility rate | 1.0 | 2024 | 1.6 | 2024 | ## Governance | Metric | China | Observed | France | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Voice & accountability | 27.9 | 2024 | 77.0 | 2024 | | Political stability | 63.3 | 2024 | 61.8 | 2024 | | Government effectiveness | 68.8 | 2024 | 74.7 | 2024 | | Regulatory quality | 53.7 | 2024 | 72.9 | 2024 | | Rule of law | 47.0 | 2024 | 73.8 | 2024 | | Control of corruption | 49.6 | 2024 | 72.5 | 2024 | ## Health | Metric | China | Observed | France | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Health spending | 5.9% | 2023 | 11.5% | 2024 | | Physicians | 3.11 | 2022 | 3.28 | 2022 | | Under-5 mortality | 5.7 | 2024 | 4.3 | 2024 | | Measles immunisation | 95.0% | 2024 | 95.0% | 2024 | | Safe drinking water | — | — | 99.7% | 2024 | ## Education | Metric | China | Observed | France | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Adult literacy | 96.7% | 2020 | — | — | | Education spending | 3.9% | 2023 | 5.3% | 2022 | | Primary enrolment | 99.6% | 2024 | 103.4% | 2024 | | Secondary enrolment | 92.3% | 2012 | 103.8% | 2024 | | Tertiary enrolment | 76.9% | 2024 | 71.5% | 2024 | ## Technology | Metric | China | Observed | France | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | R&D spending | 2.6% | 2023 | 2.2% | 2023 | | Researchers (per million) | 2,107 | 2023 | 5,369 | 2023 | | Internet users | 91.6% | 2025 | 88.7% | 2024 | | Mobile subscriptions | 132 | 2024 | 117 | 2023 | | High-tech exports | 26.3% | 2024 | 23.1% | 2024 | ## Geography | Metric | China | Observed | France | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Land area | 9,388,210 km² | 2023 | 538,950 km² | 2023 | | Forest area | 24.0% | 2023 | 32.5% | 2023 | | Agricultural land | 55.4% | 2023 | 52.5% | 2023 | | CO₂ per capita (t) | 9.3 | 2024 | 4.0 | 2024 | | Renewable energy | 15.2% | 2021 | 16.2% | 2021 | ## Resources | Metric | China | Observed | France | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Resource rents | 1.7% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 | | Oil rents | 0.3% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 | | Mineral rents | 0.5% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 | | Forest rents | 0.1% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 | | Electricity access | 100.0% | 2023 | 100.0% | 2023 | | Copper (mined) | 1.8 Mt | 2025 | — | — | | Iron ore | 290 Mt | 2025 | — | — | | Gold (mined) | 380 t | 2025 | — | — | | Lithium (mined) | 62.0 kt | 2025 | — | — | | Cobalt (mined) | 2,000 t | 2025 | — | — | | Nickel (mined) | 120 kt | 2025 | — | — | | Rare earths | 270 kt | 2025 | — | — | | Bauxite | 87 Mt | 2025 | — | — | | Zinc (mined) | 4.1 Mt | 2025 | — | — | | Phosphate rock | 110 Mt | 2025 | — | — | ## Military | Metric | China | Observed | France | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Military burden | 1.7% | 2024 | 2.1% | 2024 | | Defense spending | $314 B | 2024 | $65 B | 2024 | | Armed forces | 2.5 m | 2020 | 304,000 | 2020 | Each metric is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/.md). Full dossiers: https://terralore.co/country/CHN.md and https://terralore.co/country/FRA.md. ## Entangled histories (0 events) Neither nation's sourced chronicle names the other — across both archives, no recorded event crosses between them. That is a fact about the two records as they stand, not a gap filled here. ## Sources - World Development Indicators — World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://data.worldbank.org - Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) — Worldwide Governance Indicators / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators - Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) — WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.who.int/data/gho - Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) — UNICEF and WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://childmortality.org - R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) — UNESCO Institute for Statistics / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://uis.unesco.org - ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) — ITU / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics - Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 — U.S. Geological Survey · Public domain (U.S. Government work) · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center - Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) — SIPRI / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex Chronicle references are cited inline above and resolve in full at https://terralore.co/country/CHN/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/FRA/chronicle.md. Citation template: Terralore, "China and France compared", terralore.co/compare/chn-vs-fra, retrieved .