WTO transition ends for foreign banks’ local-currency business

The People’s Bank moved from a strict dollar peg to a managed float referencing a basket of currencies and revalued the renminbi. The adjustment responded to international pressure and domestic...

The Standing Committee voted to repeal the agricultural tax, ending a long-standing fiscal burden on farming households from 2006. The change recognized rural grievances and strengthened rural...

The end of the tax marked a major reversal in the fiscal relationship between state and peasants. It relieved one burden on farm households but did not eliminate other local fees or structural...

The policy waived tuition and miscellaneous fees in western rural schools as part of a phased national rollout. It addressed unequal access to education, although school quality, household costs and...

The Sixth Plenum adopted proposals emphasizing social development, public services and more balanced growth. The agenda acknowledged costs associated with rapid marketization, but implementation...

The law defined protections for state, collective and private property and became effective in 2007. It sought predictable property relations in a market economy, but did not privatize rural land;...

The law set a unified corporate income-tax framework, replacing separate preferential regimes over a transition period. It reduced one formal distinction between domestic and foreign firms while...

The law sought to formalize employment contracts and strengthen worker protections after years of flexible hiring and restructuring. Employers and workers contested its scope; legal protections...

The law established rules against monopolistic conduct and administrative barriers, and created a framework for competition policy. It applied to market actors within a state-led economy where state...

The rollout extended fee exemptions to rural pupils across the country. It widened access but did not erase disparities in school resources, teacher retention or the services available to children...