The China Intercontinental Press has published an interesting book, "China in Diagrams," in both Chinese and English.

Compiled by the State Council Information Office, the book offers up-to-date information about the country in an easy-to-read format with many charts.

The economic and social progress that China is making has captured world attention. Gaining a better understanding of China has thus become the desire of many far-sighted people in the world.

Since the book's Chinese version was first published in 2003, feedback from readers has been positive, says chief editor Jing Xiaomin.

The new version hits the market this month. It contains basic information on geography, natural resources, history, culture and the political organization of the country.

The book also includes statistics that reflect changes in Chinese people's lives.

For instance, in the chapter "Livelihood" a chart compares per capita consumption of food in urban families in 1978, 1988, 2001 and 2003.

The consumption of food grains decreased from 152.5 kilograms in 1978 to 137.2 kilograms in 1988, 79.7 kilograms in 2001 and 79.52 kilograms in 2003. Vegetables also followed the downward trend.

But edible plant oil, pork, beef, mutton, poultry, fresh eggs and aquatic products all are on the rise. Poultry consumption jumped from 1 kilogram in 1978 to 9.20 kilograms in 2003.

Another chart illustrates the changing Engle Coefficient of urban residents, which dropped from 57.5 percent in 1978 to 37.1 percent in 2003. (The Engle Coefficient is the proportion of spending on food in total consumer spending. It is an index used worldwide, which indicates residents' standard of living.)

According to this chart, Chinese urban residents have advanced from just "having enough food to eat" to the status of being "affluent," since their Engle Coefficient is now below 40 percent.

A number of charts show the incomes of rural residents, their living conditions, access to tap water, household consumer goods, sanitary toilets and durables.

A chapter about science and education predicts that about 100 million people the world over are expected to study Chinese in the next four years.

Statistics from the China State Foreign Chinese Language Education Leading Group Office show that in 2000, 4,765 foreigners applied for HSK (Chinese proficiency) tests. By 2004 the number had increased to 21,804.

Chinese has become the most common third language in the US, following English and Spanish, and the second language in Australia and Canada (excluding Quebec).

Numbers often sound dry, but when a reader opens the 200-page English version, chances are he or she will find its price of 158 yuan (US$19.5) quite reasonable.

(China Daily November 17, 2005)