Shanghai Five states sign a border confidence-building agreement

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...

The UN conference brought governments and a large international civil-society forum to Beijing. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action became a major global gender-equality framework; the...

Voters elected Taiwan’s president directly for the first time, choosing Lee Teng-hui. The election consolidated democratic legitimacy rooted in Taiwan’s electorate and took place amid military...

The United Kingdom transferred Hong Kong to China under the Joint Declaration and Basic Law framework. The event ended formal British colonial rule and carried symbolic weight in China’s recovery of...

US President Bill Clinton met Chinese President Jiang Zemin during a state visit, addressing Taiwan, trade, human rights, and strategic relations. The meeting reflected efforts to manage an...

NATO aircraft struck the Chinese embassy during the Kosovo war, killing three Chinese journalists and injuring staff. NATO described the bombing as a targeting error; China condemned it as a serious...

The United States and China reached a bilateral market-access agreement that cleared a major step toward China’s WTO accession. The agreement followed years of negotiation and required China to accept...

Portugal transferred administration of Macau to China under a high-autonomy arrangement. The event completed the transfer of the last major European colonial possession on the Chinese coast, while...