Mainland-Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement signed

The International Olympic Committee selected Beijing to host the 2008 Summer Games. The decision gave China a highly visible platform to present itself as a modern global power after decades of...

APEC leaders meeting in Shanghai adopted the Shanghai Accord, setting a regional agenda for trade facilitation, transparency and digital commerce. Hosting the meeting showed China’s growing role in...

China became the 143rd member of the World Trade Organization after a 15-year accession process. Membership accelerated trade and investment integration and helped make China a major manufacturing and...

China and ASEAN states signed a declaration intended to manage disputes and encourage confidence-building. It reflected China’s growing role in regional diplomacy but did not resolve territorial...

The World Health Organization issued a global alert after cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome appeared across several countries. The outbreak tested China’s public-health transparency and...

A mass march in Hong Kong opposed proposed national-security legislation under Article 23 of the Basic Law and voiced broader dissatisfaction with governance. Estimates of turnout differed...

The World Health Organization announced that the last known chain of person-to-person SARS transmission had been interrupted. SARS began in southern China and became a transnational health crisis; the...

Yang Liwei launched aboard Shenzhou 5, making China the third country to independently send a human into space. The mission signaled technological and industrial capabilities associated with a...

The National People’s Congress amended the constitution to state that citizens’ lawful private property is inviolable and that the state protects inheritance rights. The change recognized a larger...

The National People’s Congress adopted a law setting out the PRC’s position on preventing Taiwanese independence and authorizing “non-peaceful means” under specified conditions. Beijing framed it as a...