People's Republic of China

American  

noun

1. a country in East Asia. 3,691,502 sq. mi. (9,560,990 sq. km). Beijing. PRC, P.R.C.

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People's Republic of China ¹ Cultural  

1. The government of China set up in 1949 after the victory of the communist forces of Mao Zedong. The People's Republic ruled the mainland of China, forcing the government of Nationalist China (see also Nationalist China) into exile on the island of Taiwan. For years, many Western nations, especially the United States, refused to recognize the People's Republic as the government of mainland China; instead, they exchanged ambassadors only with Nationalist China. The United States recognized the People's Republic as the government of China in 1979.

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People's Republic of China ² Cultural  

1. The official name for mainland China, which has a communist government.

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Compare meaning

How does peoples-republic-of-china compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• People's Republic of China vs. Republic of China

Example Sentences

Sun worked as an illegal agent for the People’s Republic of China, submitting reports to high-level government officials about work he was doing on the government’s behalf, according to a federal sentencing memorandum.

From Los Angeles Times • May 11, 2026

They are Mao Zedong, the long-deceased dictator who founded the People's Republic of China, and presided over some of the most traumatic chapters in China's recent history.

From BBC • Apr. 19, 2026

The work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China and the National Natural Science Foundation of China, along with other funding sources.

From Science Daily • Feb. 17, 2026

“Merely cooperating with representatives of the PRC does not make her an agent,” said another Sun attorney Kenneth Abell, of Abell Eskew Landau, referring to the People’s Republic of China.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 22, 2025

One, a color film, depicted the People’s Republic of China in celebration of its Fourteenth Anniversary.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey