1.
China (the country); the People's Republic of China
The standard Japanese name for China.
中国に行ったことがある。
I've been to China.
中国は人口が世界で二番目に多い。
China has the world's second-largest population.
中国との貿易は年々増えている。
Trade with China is increasing year by year.
2.
Chugoku region; western Honshu
The western region of Japan's main island Honshu, comprising Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, and Yamaguchi prefectures. To avoid ambiguity with the country name, this region is sometimes called 中国地方.
広島は中国地方の中心都市だ。
Hiroshima is the central city of the Chugoku region.
中国出身と言っても、国ではなく中国地方のことだった。
When he said he was from Chugoku, he meant the region, not the country.
中国地方は瀬戸内海と日本海の両方に面している。
The Chugoku region faces both the Seto Inland Sea and the Sea of Japan.
Sense 1 (the country) is by far the more common everyday meaning. Sense 2 (the western Honshu region) often gets the disambiguating suffix 地方 when context might confuse it with the country.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 中国語: Chinese (language)
- 中国人: Chinese person
- 中国料理: Chinese cuisine
- 中国地方: the Chugoku region
- 中国大陸: the Chinese mainland