China Reform History - From FT

Long, slow path of reform

1976: Cultural Revolution ends with the death of Mao Zedong, bringing to a close a decade of economic stagnation

1978: Deng Xiaoping asserts himself as leader and sets the country on the path of “reform and opening”

1984: Dismantling of rural communes largely completed, allowing peasant farmers to farm their own land and sell any excess produce for a profit

1989: Against a backdrop of inflation above 20 per cent, protests erupt across the country in solidarity with students in Tiananmen Square calling for political liberalisation

1990-1991: China’s first stock exchanges since the Communist victory in 1949 are opened in Shanghai and Shenzhen

1992: Deng tours southern China to press for faster economic reforms and quell the influence of party conservatives opposed to market liberalisation, sparking a fresh wave of market growth

1997: Hong Kong returns to Chinese rule

1998: The Asian financial crisis hits China, contributing to widespread layoffs in the state sector

2001: China joins the WTO, sparking spurt in export and investment-led growth

2005: China unpegs the renminbi from the dollar, letting it float within a tightly managed band