Top legislature -- National People's Congress (NPC)
Location -- In East Asia, by the west Pacific Ocean.
Territory area -- 9.6 million square km, second to Russia and Canada.
Largest city -- Shanghai
Currency -- Renminbi (RMB) yuan
Weights and measures -- metric system
Gross domestic product -- 13.65 trillion yuan (US$1.65 trillion) at the end of 2004
Topography -- High in its west and low in its east: mountain areas 33.3%, plateaus 26%, basins 18.8%, plains 12% and hills 9.9%.
Islands -- Among the 5,400 islands, Taiwan Island (about 36,000 square km) is the largest, Hainan Island (about 34,000 square km) the second.
Mountains -- Himalayas. Among the 19 mountains over 7,000 meters high in the world, seven are in China. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, known as "the roof of the world", has many high mountains. The Himalayas, with an average elevation of 6,000 meters, have the world's highest peak Mount Qomolangma, 8,844 meters above sea level.
Rivers -- Yangtze River. The Yangtze River, 6,300 km long, the third longest in the world after the Nile and the Amazon. The Yellow River, the second longest in China, stretching 5,464 km.
Canyon -- The canyon on the Yalu Tsangpo River, the world's largest, 504.6 km in length and 6,009 meters in depth.
Man-made river -- Grand Canal. The Grand Canal, 1,801 km long, the longest man-made river in the world. Its cutting began in the fifth century BC.
Lakes -- Poyang Lake. The Poyang Lake on the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River is China's largest freshwater lake; the Qinghai Lake on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the country's largest salt lake.
Climate -- Most of the country in the temperate zone, although geographically the country stretches from the tropical and subtropical zones in the south to the frigid zone in the north.
Wild animals -- Giant Panda. China has a great variety of wildlife, over 4,400 vertebrates, more than 100 rare species of the world: the giant panda, the golden monkey, the white-lipped deer, the South China Tiger, Crossoplilon mantchuricum, the white-flag dolphin, the Chinese alligator, and the crowned crane.
Plants -- China has a great variety of plants, 32,000 species of higher plants, including nearly all the major kinds of vegetation found in the frigid and temperate zones of the northern hemisphere.
Popular flowers -- Peony, azalea, primrose and felwort.