Four pilot special economic zones are designated

Eighteen households in Xiaogang, Anhui, signed a secret agreement to divide collective land use among families and link each household’s rewards to output after meeting state obligations. This local...

In a speech preparing the Third Plenum, Deng urged leaders to emancipate thought, seek truth from facts and use economic methods in managing the economy. He argued for changing relations of production...

The Third Plenum of the Eleventh Central Committee moved the Party’s focus from class struggle to socialist modernization and endorsed reform and opening as the new strategic direction. It marked a...

The establishment of diplomatic relations created conditions for expanded trade, educational exchange and technology contact after decades of US-led embargo and strategic isolation. The opening was...

Higher state purchase prices improved incentives and rural incomes after years in which agricultural surpluses had been mobilized to support industry. The change mattered alongside household...

The National People’s Congress adopted the Law on Chinese-Foreign Equity Joint Ventures. It allowed foreign capital and technical cooperation under Chinese law and state approval, beginning a...

A central decision authorized Guangdong and Fujian to use more flexible economic policies and attract overseas Chinese and foreign investment. The measure combined decentralization with an...

Membership restored access to international financial institutions and development expertise after the People’s Republic had been excluded from their systems. Engagement was selective: Beijing...

The Standing Committee formally approved special economic zones in Guangdong and Fujian, giving legal standing to the opening experiment. The zones reversed the colonial-era role of treaty-port...

The Sixth Plenum’s historical resolution formally criticized the Cultural Revolution and affirmed modernization as the central task. Economic changes were framed as a way to rebuild national...