Mainland China

Mainland China

Mainland China, also known as the Chinese mainland, China mainland, or the Mainland Area of the Republic of China is the geopolitical area under the direct jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China (PRC) since October 1, 1949. It includes Hainan, which is an island province in the South China Sea, but it excludes the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau, even though both are mostly on the geographic continental landmass (the "mainland"). The Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People's Republic of China (Chinese: ??????????????) defines two terms in Chinese that are translated to "mainland": Dàlù (??; ??), which means 'the continent'. It includes Hong Kong and Macau. Nèidì (??; ??), literally 'inland' or 'inner land'. It excludes Hong Kong and Macau.In the People's Republic of China, the usage of the two terms is strictly speaking not interchangeable. To emphasize the One-China policy and not give the Republic of China (ROC) "equal footing" in Cross-Strait relations, the term must be used in PRC's official contexts with reference to Taiwan (with the PRC referring to itself as the "mainland side" dealing with the "Taiwan side"). But in PRC's relations with Hong Kong and Macau, the PRC government refers to itself as "the Central People's Government". The term "mainland area" is the complementary term to "free area of the Republic of China" used in the ROC Constitution by the Government of the Republic of China.

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