Among countries with the highest number of overseas Chinese on each continent, the largest Chinese diaspora community is living in Indonesia, numbering more than ten million people. Most of these people are descendants from migrants born in China, who have moved to Indonesia a long time ago. On the contrary, a large part of overseas Chinese living in Canada and Australia have arrived in these countries only during the last two decades. China as an emigration country Many Chinese people have emigrated from their home country in search of better living conditions and educational chances. The increasing number of Chinese emigrants has benefited from loosened migration policies. On the one hand, the attitude of the Chinese government towards emigration has changed significantly. Overseas Chinese are considered to be strong supporters for the overall strength of Chinese culture and international influence. On the other hand, migration policies in the United States and Canada are changing with time, expanding migration opportunities for non-European immigrants. As a result, China has become one of the world’s largest emigration countries as well as the country with the highest outflows of high net worth individuals. However, the mass emigration is causing a severe loss of homegrown talents and assets. The problem of talent and wealth outflow has raised pressing questions to the Chinese government, and a solution to this issue is yet to be determined. Popular destinations among Chinese emigrants Over the last decades, English speaking developed countries have been popular destinations for Chinese emigrants. In 2022 alone, the number of people from China naturalized as U.S. citizens had amounted to over 27,000 people, while nearly 68,000 had obtained legal permanent resident status as “green card” recipients. Among other popular immigration destinations for Chinese riches are Canada, Australia, Europe, and Singapore.

As of 2022, the European country with the most citizens of the People's Republic of China was Italy, with around 300,000 people. Spain also hosted a substantial number of Chinese nationals at roughly 193,000 people. These figures are likely to underestimate the number of people who were born in China or are of Chinese ancestry, as many of these immigrants receive the citizenship of the European country which they migrated to after living there for a period of time, and the People's Republic of China does not allow its citizens to hold dual citizenship.

This graph shows the population distribution of Chinese people living abroad in 2013 and 2023, by continent, according to official Taiwanese sources. By the end of 2023, around 2.44 million people of Chinese birth or descent who were living overseas were living in Europe. The figures of the source are in most cases higher - in some cases considerably higher - than figures published by the UN, as not only first generation migrants are included, but also their descendants.

China's total Exports in 2024 were valued at US$3.58 Trillion, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. China's main export partners were: the United States, Hong Kong and Vietnam. The top three export commodities were: Electrical, electronic equipment; Machinery, nuclear reactors, boilers and Vehicles other than railway, tramway. Total Imports were valued at US$2.59 Trillion. In 2024, China had a trade surplus of US$991.41 Billion.

China Population: Resided more than Half Year: Floating data was reported at 384,670.000 Person th in 2021. This records an increase from the previous number of 375,816.759 Person th for 2020. China Population: Resided more than Half Year: Floating data is updated yearly, averaging 245,000.000 Person th from Dec 1982 (Median) to 2021, with 16 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 384,670.000 Person th in 2021 and a record low of 6,709.164 Person th in 1982. China Population: Resided more than Half Year: Floating data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Socio-Demographic – Table CN.GA: Population.

China's total Imports in 2024 were valued at US$2.59 Trillion, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. China's main import partners were: South Korea, the United States and Japan. The top three import commodities were: Electrical, electronic equipment; Mineral fuels, oils, distillation products and Ores slag and ash. Total Exports were valued at US$3.58 Trillion. In 2024, China had a trade surplus of US$991.41 Billion.

This graph shows the population distribution of overseas Chinese people as of December 2013 and 2023, by continent, according to official Taiwanese sources. In 2023, almost 70 percent of people of Chinese birth or descent living overseas were living in other Asian countries. As the figures include not only first generation migrants, but also their descendants, the distribution varies considerably from figures published by the UN, which only include first generation migrants.

Context The current US Census Bureau world population estimate in June 2019 shows that the current global population is 7,577,130,400 people on earth, which far exceeds the world population of 7.2 billion in 2015. Our own estimate based on UN data shows the world's population surpassing 7.7 billion.

China is the most populous country in the world with a population exceeding 1.4 billion. It is one of just two countries with a population of more than 1 billion, with India being the second. As of 2018, India has a population of over 1.355 billion people, and its population growth is expected to continue through at least 2050. By the year 2030, the country of India is expected to become the most populous country in the world. This is because India’s population will grow, while China is projected to see a loss in population.

The following 11 countries that are the most populous in the world each have populations exceeding 100 million. These include the United States, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Russia, Mexico, Japan, Ethiopia, and the Philippines. Of these nations, all are expected to continue to grow except Russia and Japan, which will see their populations drop by 2030 before falling again significantly by 2050.

Many other nations have populations of at least one million, while there are also countries that have just thousands. The smallest population in the world can be found in Vatican City, where only 801 people reside.

In 2018, the world’s population growth rate was 1.12%. Every five years since the 1970s, the population growth rate has continued to fall. The world’s population is expected to continue to grow larger but at a much slower pace. By 2030, the population will exceed 8 billion. In 2040, this number will grow to more than 9 billion. In 2055, the number will rise to over 10 billion, and another billion people won’t be added until near the end of the century. The current annual population growth estimates from the United Nations are in the millions - estimating that over 80 million new lives are added each year.

This population growth will be significantly impacted by nine specific countries which are situated to contribute to the population growing more quickly than other nations. These nations include the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, and the United States of America. Particularly of interest, India is on track to overtake China's position as the most populous country by 2030. Additionally, multiple nations within Africa are expected to double their populations before fertility rates begin to slow entirely.

Content In this Dataset, we have Historical Population data for every Country/Territory in the world by different parameters like Area Size of the Country/Territory, Name of the Continent, Name of the Capital, Density, Population Growth Rate, Ranking based on Population, World Population Percentage, etc.

China Population: Resided more than Half Year data was reported at 280,000.000 Person th in 2019. This records a decrease from the previous number of 286,130.000 Person th for 2018. China Population: Resided more than Half Year data is updated yearly, averaging 20,059.571 Person th from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2019, with 23 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 297,770.000 Person th in 2014 and a record low of 56.083 Person th in 1996. China Population: Resided more than Half Year data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Socio-Demographic – Table CN.GA: Population: Sample Survey.

In the late 20th century, the number of Asians obtaining permanent resident status in the U.S. rose significantly. For decades, migration from Asia had been blocked through the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which was implemented after an influx of Chinese immigrants in the middle of the century. The Act was then expanded to block almost all Asian migration in 1917, before the Immigration and Nationality Act then removed targeted restrictions. Since the 1950s, the Philippines (a former territory of the United States) has been the largest country of origin for Asian immigrants, while migration from India and China, the world's most populous countries, has also been high.

As of October 2025, China has the world’s largest online population, with approximately 1.3 billion internet users. India, currently the most populous nation, ranks second with about 1.03 billion users. The United States follows in third place. Worldwide internet usage As of October 2025, there are more than six billion internet users worldwide. However, user distribution varies significantly by region. In 2024, Eastern Asia alone accounted for 1.34 billion internet users, while Africa and the Middle East reported considerably lower figures. As expected, urban areas also exhibited higher rates of internet access compared to rural regions. Internet use in China It is no surprise that China ranks first among countries with the most internet users. Driven by rapid economic development and a strong cultural embrace of technology, 91.6 percent of China’s estimated 1.4 billion residents are online. As of the third quarter of 2024, about 91.8 percent of Chinese internet users were active on WeChat, the country’s most popular social platform. During the same period, Chinese internet users spent an average of five hours and 33 minutes online each day.

Although China’s economic statecraft in other regions is well-documented, little is known about how Beijing utilizes economic instruments, especially official financing (COF), in Southeast Asia. What accounts for the amount of official financing China commits to a Southeast Asian country in a given year? We argue that China’s economic statecraft in Southeast Asia is mainly driven by trade concerns. Statistical evidence from mixed-effects models using the most updated aid data between 2000 and 2021 suggests that COF in Southeast Asia is significantly influenced by the volume of imported Chinese goods into a country in the previous year. This country-year panel dataset spans from 2000 to 2021, encompassing eight formal ASEAN member states. These countries include Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. The dataset contains approximately 200 observations. While this may seem like a modest sample size, it is adequate for our statistical analyses as it includes most stakeholders in the region. We use China's Official Financing (COF) as the Dependent Variable, aggregating annual Official Development Assistance (ODA), Other Official Flows (OOF), and Vague Official Financing (VOF) data for eight ASEAN countries from William and Mary College's AidData.

Statistics illustrates most promising supplying countries of dried mushrooms and truffles in Taiwan (Chinese) from 2007 to 2024.

Debt-trap diplomacy is a term in international finance which describes a creditor country or institution extending debt to a borrowing nation partially, or solely, to increase the lender's political leverage. The term was coined by Indian academic Brahma Chellaney.

The creditor country is said to extend excessive credit to a debtor country with the intention of extracting economic or political concessions when the debtor country becomes unable to meet its repayment obligations.The conditions of the loans are often not publicized, and benefit the lender. The borrowed money commonly pays for contractors and materials sourced from the creditor country. Although the term is most commonly associated with China, it has also been applied to the International Monetary Fund (IMF); both allegations, however, are disputed. The term "debt-trap diplomacy" began to be used in United States government documents during the Trump administration. A number of U.S. government documents refer to it, including the 2020 Department of State report "The Elements of the China Challenge".

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSSS5wVAPTMpMwBytqo9KRWTLqJUfsRdOFtlQ&usqp=CAU">

As of June 2025, about 79.7 percent of the Chinese population had used the internet. The penetration rate denotes the share of the population that has access to a certain communication medium. Internet coverage in China For comparison, the global average internet penetration rate had resided at about 67.9 percent as of February 2025. The internet penetration in China had also been above the average rate in the Asia-Pacific countries. However, neighboring countries such as Japan and South Korea have displayed substantially higher internet penetration rates than China. It is worth noting that the internet usage in the country has faced a large regional disparity. Some of the remote western regions had shown penetration rates of below 45 percent. Chinese online population Over the past decade, the number of Chinese internet users has grown at a remarkable pace. By December 2024, the total number of internet users in the world's second most populous country had amounted to approximately 1,108 million, up from 772 million at the end of 2017. Apart from extended access to broadband internet connections, mobile internet took up a large share in internet user growth. The share of users accessing the internet via mobile devices had significantly exceeded that of those via desktops in the country. About 99.9 percent of Chinese internet users accessed the web via mobile phone.

Abstract

The World Bank is interested in gauging the views of clients and partners who are either involved in development in China or who observe activities related to social and economic development. The World Bank Country Assessment Survey is meant to give the Bank's team that works in China, more in-depth insight into how the Bank's work is perceived. This is one tool the Bank uses to assess the views of its critical stakeholders. With this understanding, the World Bank hopes to develop more effective strategies, outreach and programs that support development in China. The World Bank commissioned an independent firm to oversee the logistics of this effort in China.

The survey was designed to achieve the following objectives: - Assist the World Bank in gaining a better understanding of how stakeholders in China perceive the Bank; - Obtain systematic feedback from stakeholders in China regarding: · Their views regarding the general environment in China; · Their perceived overall value of the World Bank in China; · Overall impressions of the World Bank as related to programs, poverty reduction, personal relationships, effectiveness, knowledge base, collaboration, and its day-to-day operation; and · Perceptions of the World Bank's communication and outreach in China. - Use data to help inform the China country team's strategy.

Geographic coverage

National

Analysis unit

Stakeholder

Universe

Stakeholders of the World Bank in China

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

December 2011 thru March 2012, 518 stakeholders of the World Bank in China were invited to provide their opinions on the Bank's assistance to the country by participating in a country survey. Participants in the survey were drawn from among employees of a ministry or ministerial department of central government; local government officials or staff; project management offices at the central and local level; the central bank; financial sector/banks; NGOs; regulatory agencies; state-owned enterprises; bilateral or multilateral agencies; private sector organizations; consultants/contractors working on World Bank supported projects/programs; the media; and academia, research institutes or think tanks.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The Questionnaire consists of 8 Sections: 1. Background Information: The first section asked respondents for their current position; specialization; familiarity, exposure to, and involvement with the Bank; and geographic location.

1. General Issues facing China: Respondents were asked to indicate what they thought were the most important development priorities, which areas would contribute most to poverty reduction and economic growth in China, as well as rating their perspective on the future of the next generation in China.

2. Overall Attitudes toward the World Bank: Respondents were asked to rate the Bank's overall effectiveness in China, the extent to which the Bank's financial instruments meet China's needs, the extent to which the Bank meets China's need for knowledge services, and their agreement with various statements regarding the Bank's programs, poverty mission, relationships, and collaborations in China. Respondents were also asked to indicate the areas on which it would be most productive for the Bank to focus its resources and research, what the Bank's level of involvement should be, and what they felt were the Bank's greatest values and greatest weaknesses in its work.

3. The Work of the World Bank: Respondents were asked to rate their level of importance and the Bank's level of effectiveness across fifteen areas in which the Bank was involved, such as helping to reduce poverty and encouraging greater transparency in governance.

4. The Way the World Bank does Business: Respondents were asked to rate the Bank's level of effectiveness in the way it does business, including the Bank's knowledge, personal relationships, collaborations, and poverty mission.

5. Project/Program Related Issues: Respondents were asked to rate their level of agreement with a series of statements regarding the Bank's programs, day-to-day operations, and collaborations in China.

6. The Future of the World Bank in China: Respondents were asked to rate how significant a role the Bank should play in China's development and to indicate what the Bank could do to make itself of greater value and what the greatest obstacle was to the Bank playing a significant role in China.

7. Communication and Outreach: Respondents were asked to indicate where they get information about development issues and the Bank's development activities in China, as well as how they prefer to receive information from the Bank. Respondents were also asked to indicate their usage of the Bank's website and PICs, and to evaluate these communication and outreach efforts.

Response rate

A total of 207 stakeholders participated in the country survey (40%).

In 2024, approximately 127.8 million people lived in Guangdong province in China. That same year, only about 3.7 million people lived in the sparsely populated highlands of Tibet. Regional differences in China China is the world’s most populous country, with an exceptional economic growth momentum. The country can be roughly divided into three regions: Western, Eastern, and Central China. Western China covers the most remote regions from the sea. It also has the highest proportion of minority population and the lowest levels of economic output. Eastern China, on the other hand, enjoys a high level of economic development and international corporations. Central China lags behind in comparison to the booming coastal regions. In order to accelerate the economic development of Western and Central Chinese regions, the PRC government has ramped up several incentive plans such as ‘Rise of Central China’ and ‘China Western Development’. Economic power of different provinces When observed individually, some provinces could stand an international comparison. Jiangxi province, for example, a medium-sized Chinese province, had a population size comparable to Argentina or Spain in 2024. That year, the GDP of Zhejiang, an eastern coastal province, even exceeded the economic output of the Netherlands. In terms of per capita annual income, the municipality of Shanghai reached a level close to that of the Czech Republik. Nevertheless, as shown by the Gini Index, China’s economic spur leaves millions of people in dust. Among the various kinds of economic inequality in China, regional or the so-called coast-inland disparity is one of the most significant. Posing as evidence for the rather large income gap in China, the poorest province Heilongjiang had a per capita income similar to that of Sri Lanka that year.

Key information about China Direct Investment Abroad

• China Direct Investment Abroad expanded by 39.9 USD bn in Sep 2025, compared with a growth of 30.1 USD bn in the previous quarter.
• China Direct Investment Abroad: USD mn data is updated quarterly.
• It is available from Mar 1998 to Sep 2025 and averaged 15.1 USD bn throughout the period.
• The data reached an all-time high of 70.8 USD bn in Jun 2024 and a record low of -754.0 USD mn in Sep 2000.

• In the latest reports of China, Current Account recorded a surplus of 195.6 USD bn in Sep 2025.
• Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) increased by 8.5 USD bn in Sep 2025.
• Its Foreign Portfolio Investment increased by 8.3 USD bn in Jun 2025.
• The country's Nominal GDP was reported at 4,953.4 USD bn in Sep 2025.

This uniquely granular dataset captures 13,427 development projects worth $843 billion financed by more than 300 Chinese government institutions and state-owned entities across 165 countries in every major region of the world from 2000-2017.

China Proportion of People Living Below 50 Percent Of Median Income: % data was reported at 11.600 % in 2021. This records a decrease from the previous number of 11.900 % for 2020. China Proportion of People Living Below 50 Percent Of Median Income: % data is updated yearly, averaging 15.100 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2021, with 19 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 19.500 % in 2010 and a record low of 8.900 % in 1990. China Proportion of People Living Below 50 Percent Of Median Income: % data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s China – Table CN.World Bank.WDI: Social: Poverty and Inequality. The percentage of people in the population who live in households whose per capita income or consumption is below half of the median income or consumption per capita. The median is measured at 2017 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) using the Poverty and Inequality Platform (http://www.pip.worldbank.org). For some countries, medians are not reported due to grouped and/or confidential data. The reference year is the year in which the underlying household survey data was collected. In cases for which the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the first year in which data were collected is reported.;World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are mostly from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see http://pip.worldbank.org.;;The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than 2000 household surveys across 169 countries. See the Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP) for details (www.pip.worldbank.org).