This depends on what standards we look at. In general archaeology, the appearance of cities is regarded as a sign of the beginning of civilization. Then the earliest urban site excavated by modern archaeology in China is Erlitou, which was abandoned from 1700 BC to 1500 BC. There is no new archaeological evidence. Then this is the earliest known certainty. This civilization has a history of more than 3,700 years.
Say 5000 years, it is based on the records of ancient books such as Historical Records, and roughly calculate this figure. But as for the history before Shang Dynasty, we really have no conclusive evidence to prove it, so we can only doubt it. So, you see, someone in history wrote | "The Legendary Three Emperors and Five Emperors" with great care.