Deng Xiaoping begins southern tour

Chinese troops used force to end the occupation of Tiananmen Square and surrounding protests, causing deaths and injuries. The crackdown isolated China diplomatically for a period and revealed the...

Nine students began a sit-in at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, demanding political reform and an end to the entrenched “ten-thousand-year” legislature. The six-day protest helped press Taiwan’s...

Premier Li Peng announced the decision to develop Pudong, across the Huangpu River from Shanghai’s historic center. The project became a showcase of urban modernization, finance, and foreign...

The Shanghai Stock Exchange was established as China rebuilt domestic securities markets. It became a key institution in the gradual expansion of market mechanisms under party-state supervision. Its...

China joined APEC at the Seoul ministerial meeting, alongside Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei under agreed names. Participation connected the PRC to a major regional economic forum and supported its...

China deposited its instrument of accession to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Accession integrated the country more deeply into global nuclear governance after it had developed its own...

The two governments signed a joint communique establishing diplomatic ties, opening a period of expanding trade and people-to-people contact. The rapprochement showed China’s ability to normalize...

The Party congress opened in Beijing and endorsed establishing a socialist market economy as the goal of reform. This accelerated integration with global markets while preserving state and Party...

A new tax system divided revenue between central and local governments and strengthened central fiscal capacity. It helped finance national infrastructure and state functions, while intensifying local...

The PRC launched missile tests near Taiwan during a period of political tension ahead of Taiwan’s first direct presidential election. The crisis brought US carrier deployments and exposed the risk...