# China — national dossier

China — economy, society, governance, health, education, technology, geography, resources and military in one sourced dossier: 53 indicators, each with…

Canonical: https://terralore.co/country/CHN
Updated: 2026-08-14 (latest domain refresh; each figure carries its own observation year)

## Overview

- Official name: People's Republic of China
- Capital: Beijing
- Region: Eastern Asia, Asia
- Population: 1.38 bn
- Area: 9,706,961 km²
- Languages: Chinese
- Currency: Chinese yuan (CNY)

A "—" is an absence in the source data, never a zero. Each figure shows the year it was observed — vintages differ by indicator and nation.

## Economy

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| GDP | $19.50 T | 2025 | World Development Indicators |
| GDP per capita | $13,862 | 2025 | World Development Indicators |
| GDP growth | 5.0% | 2025 | World Development Indicators |
| Inflation | 0.1% | 2025 | World Development Indicators |
| Trade openness | 38.0% | 2025 | World Development Indicators |

## Society

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 1.41 bn | 2025 | World Development Indicators |
| Life expectancy | 78.0 yrs | 2024 | World Development Indicators |
| Urban population | 66.3% | 2025 | World Development Indicators |
| Fertility rate | 1.0 | 2024 | World Development Indicators |
| Literacy rate | 96.7% | 2020 | World Development Indicators |

## Governance

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voice & accountability | 27.9 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) |
| Political stability | 63.3 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) |
| Government effectiveness | 68.8 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) |
| Regulatory quality | 53.7 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) |
| Rule of law | 47.0 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) |
| Control of corruption | 49.6 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) |

## Health

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health spending | 5.9% | 2023 | Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) |
| Physicians | 3.11 | 2022 | Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) |
| Under-5 mortality | 5.7 | 2024 | Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) |
| Measles immunisation | 95.0% | 2024 | Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) |

## Education

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult literacy | 96.7% | 2020 | R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) |
| Education spending | 3.9% | 2023 | R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) |
| Primary enrolment | 99.6% | 2024 | R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) |
| Secondary enrolment | 92.3% | 2012 | R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) |
| Tertiary enrolment | 76.9% | 2024 | R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) |

## Technology

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| R&D spending | 2.6% | 2023 | R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) |
| Researchers (per million) | 2,107 | 2023 | R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) |
| Internet users | 91.6% | 2025 | ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) |
| Mobile subscriptions | 132 | 2024 | ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) |
| High-tech exports | 26.3% | 2024 | World Development Indicators |

## Geography

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Land area | 9,388,210 km² | 2023 | World Development Indicators |
| Forest area | 24.0% | 2023 | World Development Indicators |
| Agricultural land | 55.4% | 2023 | World Development Indicators |
| CO₂ per capita (t) | 9.3 | 2024 | World Development Indicators |
| Renewable energy | 15.2% | 2021 | World Development Indicators |

## Resources

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resource rents | 1.7% | 2021 | World Development Indicators |
| Oil rents | 0.3% | 2021 | World Development Indicators |
| Mineral rents | 0.5% | 2021 | World Development Indicators |
| Forest rents | 0.1% | 2021 | World Development Indicators |
| Electricity access | 100.0% | 2024 | World Development Indicators |
| Copper (mined) | 1.8 Mt | 2025 | Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 |
| Iron ore | 290 Mt | 2025 | Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 |
| Gold (mined) | 380 t | 2025 | Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 |
| Lithium (mined) | 62.0 kt | 2025 | Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 |
| Cobalt (mined) | 2,000 t | 2025 | Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 |
| Nickel (mined) | 120 kt | 2025 | Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 |
| Rare earths | 270 kt | 2025 | Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 |
| Bauxite | 87 Mt | 2025 | Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 |
| Zinc (mined) | 4.1 Mt | 2025 | Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 |
| Phosphate rock | 110 Mt | 2025 | Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 |

## Military

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Military burden | 1.7% | 2024 | Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) |
| Defense spending | $314 B | 2024 | Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) |
| Armed forces | 2.5 m | 2020 | Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) |

Every metric above is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/<metric>.md).

Machine-readable claims — every figure above as an addressable claim ID (TL:CHN:<metric>:<year>) with value, source, license and a ready citation string: https://terralore.co/country/CHN.claims.json

History: "Four thousand years of civilization, from oracle-bone kings to the world's second-largest economy." — the sourced chronicle is at https://terralore.co/country/CHN/chronicle.md (6 eras, 29 events).

## Sources

- World Development Indicators — World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://data.worldbank.org
- Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) — Worldwide Governance Indicators / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · 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 2026-08-14 · 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 2026-08-14 · https://childmortality.org
- R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) — UNESCO Institute for Statistics / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://uis.unesco.org
- ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) — ITU / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics
- Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 — U.S. Geological Survey · Public domain (U.S. Government work) · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center
- Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) — SIPRI / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex

Citation template: Terralore, "China — national dossier", terralore.co/country/CHN, retrieved <YYYY-MM-DD>.