China

Country starter pack
Introduction to China
9
Another reason to consider China: Apart from the
intrinsic merits of doing business with China, there is
another important reason to consider making it your
first port of call in Asia. China in recent decades has
become a global business hub: it provides access to some
of the largest markets in the world. It has 12 free trade
agreements in force, including with ASEAN, Switzerland,
Iceland, Pakistan, Chile and Singapore. Several more are
under negotiation, including a proposed deal with the EU.
Its geographically central position has also made it a global
transport hub. It houses six of the world’s 10 leading
seaports, and has freight rail links to Russia, the Middle
East and Western Europe.
1.2 CHINA AT A GLANCE
Geography
China is the world’s fourth largest country by land area
(after Russia, Canada and the US, followed by Australia
as fifth) covering about 9.6 million square kilometres.
East to west it measures more than 5,200 kilometres,
and from north to south more than 5,500 kilometres.
Its geography is highly diverse, with hills, plains and
river deltas in the east, and deserts, high plateaus and
mountains in the west. Two-thirds of China is covered by
mountains, hills and plateaus. Of the world’s 12 highest
peaks, China has seven. Its two major rivers, the Yellow
and the Yangtze, both in the southeast, track through
much of China’s main population and agricultural regions.
Because of the huge differences in latitude, longitude
and altitude across the country, China has an extremely
diverse climate, ranging from tropical in the far south
to sub-arctic in the far north and alpine in the higher
elevations of the Tibetan Plateau. Southern regions
experience a monsoon season between April and
October, with severe rainstorms that can bring flooding
and mudslides – and interruption to essential services.
Typhoons can occur along the southern and eastern
coasts between May and November. More northern
regions experience four distinct seasons – spring from
March to May, summer from June to August, autumn
from September to November, and winter from
December to February. Within China, the warmest city is
Haikou on the southern island of Hainan, which averages
24.4°C for the year. The coldest city is Changchun in the
northeast, near the Russian and North Korean border,
which averages 5.5°C for the year.
YEARLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURES IN O C
Beijing Shanghai Guangzhou
January -3.9 4.1 14.1
February -1.5 5.1 14.9
March 5.4 8.9 18.3
April 13.6 14.6 22.3
May 19.8 19.6 26.1
June 24.3 23.8 27.9
July 26.2 28.2 29
August 25 28.1 28.9
September 20 23.9 27.6
October 13.2 18.5 24.6
November 4.9 12.7 20.1
December -1.8 6.5 15.8
Greater China includes a number of other high-profile
regions in addition to the mainland, notably the delicate,
political matter of Taiwan, and the areas of Hong Kong
and Macau, which were formerly European colonies and
have operated with varying degrees of autonomy since
being returned to Chinese rule.
Hong Kong and Macau
Hong Kong and Macau are classified by Beijing as Special
Administrative Regions (SARs). Hong Kong Island was
acquired by the British in 1842 as part of the Treaty of
Nanking at the end of the First Opium War, followed
by the Kowloon peninsula in 1860. The entire area, now
known as Hong Kong, was leased to Britain from 1898
to 1997, when ownership returned to China. Under the
'one country, two systems' agreement between Beijing
and Hong Kong, which extends to at least 2047, Hong
Kong’s Chief Executive and legislature are able to make
independent decisions for the region. Hong Kong has its
own currency, government, separate customs territory
and an independent legal system that continues to follow
British law. However, there have been recent tensions
in regards to Chinese control of Hong Kong particularly
with the Chinese Government introducing electoral
reforms associated with the Chinese Communist Party
in the democratic Hong Kong. Concerns of Hong Kong
citizens in regards to their civil rights and liberties resulted
in the 2014 peaceful but extensive protests known as
the ‘Umbrella Revolution’ (due to rain not deterring the
100,000 people protesting). This brought international
focus on the future of Hong Kong and the approach
Beijing has taken to address it.