United States of China

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United States of China (Traditional Chinese: 中華合衆國; Simplified Chinese: 中华合众国; Hanyu Pinyin: Zhonghua Hezhongguo) is a political concept first devised in the early 1920s by Chen Jiongming of a federalized China modeled closely after the United States of America. Given the political, social and linguistic realities of China in the warlord period, Chen Jiongming believed that a federalist approach was the only feasible way to eventually establish a united, democratic republic. Beginning with Guangdong as a model state, he wanted to organize a "United States of China in the manner of the American experience" through negotiation with federalists from all parts of the country (New York Times June 27, 1922).

The introduction of Special Economic Zones (SEZ) since the 1980s have led to the development of several distinct regional economies within the People's Republic of China, such as the Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta, and the Bohai Circle. Several of these regions have economies the size of small developed nations. Some scholars who use the term United States of China argue that during the process of Chinese economic reform the People's Republic has evolved into a de-facto federal state in which these economic regions have wide descretion to implement policy goals which are set by the PRC central government and in which provinces and localities actively compete with each other in order to advance economically.

Another concept of the United States of China involves a means of settling the political conflict between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan). This usage was popularized after Chinese president Jiang Zemin in 2001 made a comment that a united China can adopt a new national name and flag that satisfy the people of Taiwan. Large economic ties between mainland China and Taiwan have also motivated the occasional informal use of the term to describe a united China.