Environment - current issues: air pollution from the overwhelming use of high-sulfur coal as a fuel, produces acid rain which is damaging forests; water shortages experienced throughout the country, particularly in urban areas; future growth in water usage threatens to outpace supplies; water pollution from industrial effluents; much of the population does not have access to potable water; less than 10% of sewage receives treatment; deforestation; estimated loss of one-fifth of agricultural land since 1949 to soil erosion and economic development; desertification; trade in endangered species
Environment - international agreements: party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified : Desertification
Geography - note: world's fourth-largest country (after Russia,
Canada, and US)
@China:People
Population: 1,221,591,778 (July 1997 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years : 26% (male 166,319,939; female 150,125,798) 15-64 years: 68% (male 427,340,489; female 393,914,502) 65 years and over: 6% (male 36,201,623; female 41,689,427) (July 1997 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.93% (1997 est.)
Birth rate: 16.52 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Death rate: 6.87 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Net migration rate: -0.34 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)