China

The People's Republic of China, proclaimed by Mao Zedong on October 1, 1949, was from its founding the world's most populous state and, after its alliance with the Soviet Union (1950-60), appeared to make the communist bloc an overwhelming demographic force. The Sino-Soviet split of the early 1960s — driven by ideological disagreements and competition for communist world leadership — transformed the PRC from Soviet ally to strategic wildcard. Nixon's opening in 1972 aligned China tacitly with the United States against the Soviet Union. After Mao's death in 1976, Deng Xiaoping's reforms from 1978 onwards began the economic transformation that would make the PRC a global economic power, while maintaining Communist Party political control.

• Existed: 1949 CE – present
• Type: Polity
• Government: Single-party Marxist-Leninist state
• Capital: Beijing