China: Execution of food quality official - timeline
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Timeline
- May 2007. China takes steps to cool rampant economic growth and reduce its trade surplus with the USA. US and Chinese officials agree on limited steps to opening Chinese markets.
- April 2007. Chinese officials pledge steps to address China's huge trade surplus at meeting of G-7 (Group of Seven) finance ministers.
- February 2007. The governor of the People's Bank of China (PBoC--the central bank) says that the yuan may be allowed to rise quicker to stem trade surplus.
- January 2007. Officials from China and the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) discuss opening key service sectors to trade as prelude to the goal of the formation of a free trade area including China by 2015.
- December 2006. China reports a US$22.9 billion trade surplus with the USA.
- November 2006. China agrees 16 deals in a trade accord with African countries believed to be worth some US$1.9 billion. The countries that recognise Taiwan (Republic of China) are not included.
- September 2006. The US treasury secretary announces that the Chinese currency, the yuan, is “significantly undervalued,” giving Chinese companies unfair advantages. The IMF expresses similar concern. The US government drops a legislative proposal to impose 27.5 per cent tax on Chinese imports.
- June 2006. The Chinese cabinet approves anti-monopoly legislation.
- April 2006. The Chinese cabinet publishes plans to crack down on infringements of intellectual property rights.
- March 2006. US officials warn of possible confrontation with China unless it opens its markets to US imports.
- November 2005. The USA and China resolve a contentious textile dispute. US President George W. Bush, on official visit to China, calls on the Chinese government to improve enforcement of intellectual property rights.
- September 2005. China enters into a textile trade agreement with the EU.
- May 2005. The EU and USA limit imports of Chinese textiles and clothing; a Chinese trade official threatens countermeasures.
- April 2005. The EU threatens to impose import restrictions on Chinese textiles if China does not limit textile exports.
- January 2005. The WTO eliminates tariffs on textiles, a move expected to benefit China more than any other country in the world.
- May 2004. The EU refuses to lift an arms embargo that was imposed after the Tiananmen Square massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators in 1989.
- April 2004. In talks with China, US Vice President Dick Cheney claims that Chinese currency valuation distorts trade and causes US job losses; the US government resists Chinese pleas to stop selling arms to Taiwan.
- October 2003. European Commission (EC) President Romano Prodi expresses hopes that the EU would become China's biggest trade and investment partner.
- May 2002. The Chinese authorities impose retaliatory import tariffs on nine categories of US steel.
- November 2001. After 15 years of negotiations, China accedes to the WTO.
- July 2001. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) names Beijing (the capital of China) as the site of the 2008 Olympic Games.
- September 2000. The US government approves permanent normal trading partner status for China. A series of mass trials by the Chinese government officials for smuggling and corruption is thought to involve up to 600 people.
- June 2000. A Chinese official rejects the US secretary of state’s criticism of his country’s human rights record, and insists on an end to US aid to Taiwan.
- June 1998. The US president renews China's “most-favoured-nation” (preferential trading) status.
- June 1996. A US trade representative describes the closure of illegal factories in China as “a genuine step” against film, music, and software piracy.
- November 1995. The Chinese authorities reduce tariffs and other trade barriers as part of bid to join the WTO.
- January 1994. The Chinese government devalues its currency by 30 per cent and removes tariffs on more than 283 items as part of trade pact with the US government.
- October 1992. China lowers barriers to investment and trade to defuse an impending trade war with the USA.
- October 1991. The US government threatens trade sanctions in response to alleged Chinese trade barriers.
- June 1989. A pro-democracy demonstration in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square is brutally suppressed.
- October 1985. The Chinese and US governments sign accords on textiles--including a country of origin agreement--and on shortfalls in Chinese purchases of US grain. Chinese officials also hold meetings and trade accords with key EU and Japanese governments and businesses.
- August 1984. A Chinese trade agreement with the Soviet Union is overshadowed by disagreement over Sino-US rapprochement.
- July 1982. The US secretary of state maintains that the sale of arms to mainland China is for defensive purposes. He also calls China “a friendly nation with which the United States is not allied but with which it shares many interests”. US companies continue to sell arms toTaiwan.
- March 1979. The Chinese and US governments agree to recognise each other from Jan. 1, 1979.
- June 1978. The Chinese government launches fundamental reforms on the way to becoming a free-market economy.
- October 1972. The authorities in Taiwan break off relations with the Japanese government after it recognises the People's Republic of China (mainland China).
- July 1972. The appointment of the first postwar Chinese ambassador to London is announced.
- March 1972. US President Richard Nixon goes to China and meets with Premier Chou En-lai and Chairman Mao Zedong.
- January 1972. US President Nixon declares that his visit to China is not intended to exploit China’s differences with the Soviet Union.
- June 1971. US President Nixon ends a 21-year embargo on the export of non-strategic goods to China.
- 1966. Chairman Mao launches the “Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution”.
- 1958. Chairman Mao launches the “Great Leap Forward” economic plan, collectivising agriculture and industry.
- October 1949. The communist People's Republic of China (PRC) is declared.
- August 1945. The Japanese surrender, ending World War II.
- October 1931. The League of Nations calls on Japan to withdraw its troops from Manchuria, China.
- September 1931. The Mukden incident, in which a number of Chinese soldiers were killed by the Japanese, is claimed by the Japanese to have been the result of a Chinese attack that justifies the Japanese occupation of Manchuria.
- August 1931. Tensions between China and Japan are increased by the murder of a Japanese captain in Mongolia.
