The People's Republic of China is a vast and vibrant nation with a geographical area roughly equivalent to that of the United States of America and a population of 1.3 billion (that's one fifth of the world's population).
The People's Republic of China is the world's second largest economy after the United States. It is the world's fastest-growing major economy, with average growth rates of 10 per cent for the past 30 years.
China's rapid growth is not just restricted to economy, but covers areas such as energy production, communications and education. For instance, China now offers over 5 million university places, up from 1 million in 1998.
On an international level, Chinese citizens are now travelling abroad more than ever before - in 2006, 32 million Chinese business and leisure tourists travelled to destinations worldwide, of which around 160,000 were issued visas to the UK.
In this section you can find out more about the links between Scotland and China.