The People’s Republic of China comprises 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 2 special administrative regions and 4 municipalities directly under central government.

Head of Government: Premier Wen Jiabao, since 2003.

Head of State: President Hu Jintao, since 2003 .

The National People’s Congress (NPC) is the most powerful branch of government and elects all those with the principal executive functions – the President and Vice-President of the People’s Republic, the Premier and Vice-Premier of the State Council (after nomination by the president), other members of the State Council and the heads of individual ministries.

The State Council reports to the NPC or, when the Congress is not sitting, to its Standing Committee. The NPC is held every five years and attended by some 3000 delegates drawn from the provincial administrations, the military and various state branches. The NPC membership and all major appointments are ultimately under the control of the Chinese Communist Party, whose 22-member Politburo is effectively the country’s governing body.

China is officially Atheistic, but the stated religions and philosophies are Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism. There are 100 million Buddhists and approximately 60 million Muslims, 5 million Protestants (including large numbers of Evangelicals) and 4 million Roman Catholics, largely independent of Vatican control.