Position Paper China APEC

Committee: Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

Country (Complete and official name): People's Republic of China

Delegate Name: Aldana Correa Maria Fernanda

Topic (A): Global health epidemics: Threats to agriculture, trade and tourism

Geography

Total area: 9,596,961 sq. km. (about 3.7 million sq. mi.).

Cities: Capital--Beijing. Other major cities--Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Harbin, Chengdu, and Dalian.

Terrain: Plains, deltas, and hills in east; mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west.

Climate: Tropical in south to subarctic in north.

Government

Type: Communist party-led state.

Constitution: December 4, 1982; revised several times, most recently in 2004.

Independence: Unification under the Qin (Ch'in) Dynasty 221 BC; Qing (Ch'ing or Manchu) Dynasty replaced by a republic on February 12, 1912; People's Republic established October 1, 1949.

Branches: Executive--president, vice president, State Council, premier. Legislative--unicameral National People's Congress. Judicial--Supreme People's Court, Local People's Courts, Special People's Courts.

Administrative divisions: 23 provinces (the P.R.C. considers Taiwan to be its 23rd province); 5 autonomous regions, including Tibet; 4 municipalities directly under the State Council.

Political parties: Chinese Communist Party, 76 million members; 8 minor parties under Communist Party supervision.

Economy

GDP (2010 est.): $5.88 trillion (exchange rate-based); $10.09 trillion (purchasing power parity).

Per capita GDP (2010): $7,600 (purchasing power parity).

GDP real growth rate (2010): 10.3%.

Natural resources: Coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest).

Agriculture: Products--Among the world's largest producers of rice, wheat, potatoes, corn, peanuts, tea, millet, barley; commercial crops include cotton, other fibers, apples, oilseeds, pork and fish; produces variety of livestock products.

Industry: Types--mining and ore processing, iron, steel, aluminum, and other metals, coal; machine building; armaments; textiles and apparel; petroleum; cement; chemicals; fertilizers; consumer products, including footwear, toys, and electronics; food processing; transportation equipment, including automobiles, rail cars and locomotives, ships, and aircraft; telecommunications equipment, commercial space launch vehicles, satellites.

Trade: Exports (2010)--$1.506 trillion: electrical and other machinery, including data processing equipment, apparel, textiles, iron and steel, optical and medical equipment.Main partners (2009)--U.S. 20.03%, Hong Kong 12.03%, Japan 8.32%, South Korea 4.55%, Germany 4.27%. Imports (2010 est.)--$1.307 trillion: electrical and other machinery, oil and mineral fuels, optical and medical equipment, metal ores, plastics, organic chemicals. Main partners (2009)--Japan 12.27%, Hong Kong 10.06%, South Korea 9.04%, U.S. 7.66%, Taiwan 6.84%, Germany 5.54%.

Currency: Renminbi.

The World Health Organization 2011 Malaria Report estimated the malaria cases and deaths of the South-East Asia

Region to be second highest in the world and a recent study shows malaria deaths have been dramatically underestimated in the past, with over twice as many deaths caused by the disease than formerly estimated.

Avian influenza (H5N1) is still a global threat with recent, if limited, outbreaks in the Asia-Pacific and other epidemics such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), dengue fever, would posit notable economic risks to agriculture, trade, and tourism.

While no new major outbreaks have occurred recently,

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