China

China the most populated country in the world has incredible amounts of potential for foreign investment. Some common beliefs of China are unfounded and untrue in modern society, it has been viewed by some of the public communist regime much like the Soviet Union. This is untrue, while China does have a communist and very centralized government; it also has one of the worlds largest markets and a long history of pride amongst its people. China is one of the oldest civilizations in the world, gaining its independence in 221 B.C. when the first emperor unified the country and formed the Qin dynasty. Competing dynasties would fight for power and control over the country for centuries. The arrival of the west in the mid 19th century and eventually went to war with China when Britain fought in the opium wars. British rule over some of the ports of China had a negative influence mostly based on the selling of opium by the British government lead the Chinese to rebel and reform. In 1912 a republic replaced the ruling Manchu Dynasty. With soviet help the Chinese Communist Party is formed in 1927 and came to power in 1949 behind Mao Zedong. The communist government implemented new reforms including land redistribution and agriculture cooperation. Since then there has been a shift to a more market based economy.

The political structure of China is very stable. The country's government is centralized in Beijing, and has an executive, legislative, and judicial branch of government. The executive branch is a two tier with a chief of staff and a head of government. The chief of staff is the President HU Jintao and serving under the President is the Vice President ZENG Qinghung. The current Premier is WEN Jiabo who serves as the country's head of government. The legislative branch of China is a unicameral body titled the Quanguo Renmin Daibia Dahui or National Peoples Congress. It consists of 2,985 seats. Members of the congress are elected by municipal, regional, and provincial peoples congresses to serve five-year terms (CIA WFB). This is a large government body, but with all members belonging to the same political party the Chinese Communist Party CCP it is relatively efficient. The National Peoples Congress elects the President who than nominates the Premier who is then confirmed by the congress. The last elections held were in December 2002 and February 2003. The next elections are scheduled to be held in Late 2007, and