China accounts for the largest population in the world. By Nov. 1, 2000, the national population had amounted to 1.295 billion. January 6th of 2005 was Chinese "1.3-billion population day". At present, Chinese population exceed 13 billion. Chinese people now constitute about 22% of the world population.

The population of China is not evenly distributed across the country. The east of China has large population, while the west is aparsely populated. People abound in the plain areas, but are sparse in the montainous and plateau regions.

The population in cities and towns contrasts sharply with that in the countryside - the former has small percentage in national population, while the latter constitutes a large proportion. Since 1949, China non-rural population has increased steadily in a planned way. The growth of the the non-rural population will accelerate even more and its percentage of the national population will also increase.