Labor Contract Law is adopted

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...

China completed a major banking-services transition under its WTO accession commitments, allowing foreign banks broader access to local-currency business. The opening expanded competition and...

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 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...

The congress emphasized balanced development and a more “people-centered” growth model. It signaled recognition of regional and social costs without reversing export- and investment-led growth or...

The new 25 percent standard rate applied to domestic and foreign-funded enterprises, with transitional treatment for some existing incentives. The reform standardized formal rules but altered the...

The law required written contracts and set rules for termination, severance and open-ended employment. It offered a legal tool for workers, but protections were unevenly enforced and migrant and...