China has experienced profound social change over the course of recent decades. In an effort to modernize, the Chinese government has experimented with economic reforms that involve greater reliance on market mechanisms. These reforms have been remarkably successful in promoting economic growth. From 1990 to 2003, China’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased an average of 9.3 percent annually. China’s 2003 GDP was $1.4 trillion, making China’s economy the seventh largest in the world (China Statistical Yearbooks 1990 – 2003; China National Statistical Bureau 1989-2003; Zhang 2004/7/30).