On the historical, cultural, economic and political power of the People's Republic of China

In my geography classes, when I explained the political geography of the world, I used to say that there are several kinds of countries: small and medium-sized countries, the main world powers (such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia and France) and a separate and distinct category : China
This classification of China as a state belonging to a different category is expressed in three or four data that show the Chinese uniqueness worldwide.
In the first place, China is the country with the largest population in the world (1,400 million inhabitants),
Second, they have, by far, the largest ethnic group in the world: the Han ethnic group representing 92% of the population or 1,200 million people (in China). 
Thirdly, China icludes the largest number of people who write and read the same language (written) in one country (the Han script).
And fourth they have  the oldest history of any country in the world (4,000 years).
Although China had serious economic and political problems during the nineteenth and twentieth century, after the revolution in 1947 it managed to control its own destiny and solve the situation of poverty in which declive the majority of the population lived I was witness to that change. In 1989 I toured much of China and did not witness any begging situation as was seen in other Third World countries. The situation only improved since then.
After the 1990s the Chinese state established a mixed system (including strong elements of capitalism) and achieved a very rapid economic development that transformed it into the first economy in the world, displacing in the last years the USA, Japan and the European powers.
An element that allows to appraise the Chinese economic power is its financial power. At present, the largest banks in the world are located in China.
The 10 largest banks in the world
The 10 largest banks in the world belong to five countries; China, Japan, USA, United Kingdom and France.
The four largest ones are in China
The largest is: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China with a capital of 4 trillion (4,000,000,000,000) dollars,
Second, China Construction Bank Corporation with 2.4 billion, Third, the Agricultural Bank of China with 3.2 billion dollars and in four place the Bank of China with 2.9991 billion dollars.
The next six largest banks are Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group of Japan, JPMorgan Chase & Co of the United States, HSBC Holdings PLC of the United Kingdom, BNP Paribas of France, Bank of America of the United States and Credit Agricole of France.

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