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Beijing – Being in and through China allows us to debunk deeply held myths of the West and discover things we never imagined.
From the absence of religion to the fight against drugs more than 100 years ago, they are part of today’s curiosity.
The majority of the population are atheists
Maybe it’s because of the number of temples we see in movies that we assume that most Chinese are Buddhists. The truth is, this is far from the truth. In fact, the majority of the Chinese population is atheist.
Only a third of Chinese people claim to have some kind of religious belief. That means only 100 million of the nearly 1.4 billion inhabitants believe in a religion, according to China’s State Council.
Data from other sources indicate that 81% of the population are atheists or agnostics, 14% are Buddhists, 3% are Christians, 1% are Muslims, and 1% are Taoists.
This is related to the revolution in 1949, when communism was established and cults were banned under the slogan “Religion is the opium of the people”. However, since 1982, the constitution guarantees religious freedom.
This also influenced Confucianism, which has a great influence in China, emphasizing education, morality and trust rather than souls and gods.
China’s religion originated from the Silk Road. Buddhism, Islam and Catholicism were introduced into China through the Silk Road.
The only native religion is Taoism.
This is the first country to crack down on drugs
In the mid-1820s, Britain was running a large trade deficit with China due to high British demand for tea, silk, and porcelain and the Chinese emperor’s refusal to open up trade on a large scale.
Because of this and the big business it involved, Britain began illegally exporting opium to China to offset its deficit.
Seeing the growth of consumption and addiction, Emperor Daoguang banned sales in 1839 and expelled European merchants.
The expelled merchants complained to the British government, which then attacked China, sparking the Opium War.
The war ended with the defeat of the Asian countries, culminating in the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842, in which the defeated parties agreed to open their ports to international trade and cede Hong Kong to Britain.
Most companies are privately owned
Most companies in China are privately owned.
In 2015 there were 12.6 million signatures, of which 8.5 million were private signatures, a number that has been increasing over the past three decades due to commercial openings.
Even the state’s involvement in industrial production has declined over time.
In 1998, listed companies accounted for 50% of industrial output, while in 2011 the figure was 26%. Moreover, private companies are twice as profitable as listed companies.
The average profit margin for China’s private companies is 12%, while that for listed companies is 5%.
Finally, the private sector is the largest employer in China, providing approximately 80% of jobs.
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