Top 10 domestic news for 2001 selected by China Daily
( 2001-12-31 10:47 ) (1 )

The past year included many events affecting China's development and is destined to leave a mark in history. In a brief revie, China Daily offers readers a list of the top 20 domestic news for the year 2001.

** 143rd member of WTO

China became the 143rd member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on December 11, concluding its 15-year quest to join the global trade club.

The country was unanimously accepted at WTO's fourth ministerial meeting in Doha, capital of Qatar.

The Chinese Government hopes WTO membership will boost its reform and opening up and grant domestic companies greater access to the global market.

It has pledged to abide by all its commitments during its negotiations with WTO members and create a stable, transparent and fair trade environment in line with WTO requirements.

Already, the country has amended and abolished hundreds of laws and regulations that were incompatible with WTO rules, and organized training courses for civil servants, business personnel and citizens.

Experts say China's accession to the WTO will push forward the country's market-oriented reforms and help reshape its political, economic, legal and social structures.

Foreign companies believe the move provides greater access to the world's largest untapped market and will help improve the country's investment environment.

The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation has released on its website the original English version and the Chinese translation of the legal documents on China's WTO entry.

The People's Publishing House and the Law Publishing House have been authorized to publish two series of books on the legal documents by early next year.

** Party turns 80, broadens ranks

The Communist Party of China (CPC) celebrated its 80th birthday on July 1.

General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPC Jiang Zemin called for improved Party building in accordance with the requirements of "the Three Represents" concept.

In his keynote speech at a grand gathering in Beijing marking the occasion, Jiang said the guiding principle of China's future is "the Three Represents," a call for the CPC to represent the development trend of China's advanced social productive forces, the orientation of China's advanced culture and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people in China.

While insisting that workers, farmers, intellectuals, servicemen and cadres are the backbone of the Party, Jiang said it is also necessary to accept outstanding people from other sectors of society who have subscribed to the Party's programme and Constitution into the Party.

Those people will include entrepreneurs from the non-public sectors, managerial and technical personnel employed by foreign-funded enterprises, the self-employed and private entrepreneurs, employees in varied service intermediaries and freelance professionals.

** US 'very sorry' after spy plane collision

On April 1, a US spy plane rammed into and destroyed a Chinese fighter that was keeping watch of the US aircraft above China's exclusive economic zone on the South China Sea.

Chinese pilot Wang Wei parachuted from his jet but was never found despite a thorough 10-day combing of the sea surface.

The US plane later entered Chinese airspace without approval and landed at Lingshui Airport on Hainan Island.

The Chinese Government strongly condemned the act as an encroachment upon Chinese sovereignty and airspace. In mid-April, the Chinese Government and the US Government held two days of negotiations on the incident.

The US Government finally said in a written statement that it was "very sorry" to the Chinese people for entering China's airspace and landing without verbal clearance.

China refused US requests to repair the plane on Chinese soil and fly it off the island. US technical personnel later dismantled the plane and flew the parts out.

The collision and subsequent row between the two countries caused a rift in bilateral relations during the first months of the George W. Bush administration.

Ties warmed up after President Jiang Zemin and his US counterpart George W. Bush held a phone conversation in early July and both expressed the wish to pursue better relations.

** APEC in Shanghai revs up economy

The Ninth Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting was held in Shanghai on October 20 and 21 following a series of multi-faceted gatherings of officials and scholars within the APEC framework in the previous eight months.

Against a sluggish world economy, leaders from 20 APEC members worked in the two days to boost confidence in the region's economy.

In the APEC Economic Leaders' Declaration and its attachment known as the Shanghai Accord, they reaffirmed their commitment to achieving the Bogar Goals of free trade and investment in the region.

The leaders voiced their support for the multilateral trading system and the launch of a new round of WTO talks at the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference.

By agreeing to implement an e-APEC strategy, the leaders vowed to promote the information and telecommunications industries in the Asia-Pacific region.

The leaders also condemned the September 11 terrorist attack on the United States in APEC's first-ever political statement, vowing closer co-operation in the fight against terrorism.

The October gathering of APEC economic leaders also provided opportunities for bilateral talks.

On the sidelines of the APEC forum, Chinese President Jiang Zemin held his first talks with his US counterpart, George W. Bush.

** Beijing to host 2008 Olympics

Beijing was picked as the host city of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting in Moscow on July 13.

Beijing beat out finalists Toronto, Paris, Osaka and Istanbul with an overwhelming 56 votes in the second round of voting, bringing the Olympic Games to the world's most populous nation for the first time.

China's capital won thanks to its combination of stable and rapid development in China, perceptive Olympic vision and significant sports achievements - including 28 gold medals for Chinese athletes in the 2000 Sydney Games.

This triumph compensates for the heartache the city endured when it narrowly lost to Sydney in 1993 for the 2000 Olympic Games.

This year's triumph sent the nation into ecstasy and weeks-long celebration, but it also presents a huge challenge to the city's capacity to host such an event.

City officials got down to work on preparations, establishing an organizing committee on December 13, exactly five months after its Moscow win.

** Men's soccer team make it to Cup Finals

China's national men's soccer team broke a 44-year-old jinx on October 7 to land in the World Cup Finals for the first time. They did so by beating Oman 1-0 in Shenyang Wulihe Stadium.

China was coached by the globe-trotting Yugoslav Bora Milutinovic.

They finished the Cup qualifying competitions with a 12-1-1 win-draw-lose record in their seventh attempt to enter the Cup finals since 1957.

They clinched an unbeatable lead after the October 7 win as well as a ticket for the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan in the 10-team, second-round qualifiers.

The top finishers of the two groups in those qualifiers enter the finals directly.

China was drawn with four-time Cup winners Brazil, Turkey and Costa Rica in Group C of the World Cup Finals.

** Six nations join major co-operation organization

The presidents of China, Russia and four Central Asian countries launched the Shanghai Co-operation Organization in Shanghai in June.

They signed a joint statement at a summit which declared the establishment of the organization as well as the Shanghai Convention on Combating Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism.

The Shanghai Co-operation Organization was established in June when Uzbekistan joined the group, which was previously known as the Shanghai Five.

The Shanghai Five is made up of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

They first met in April 1996 in Shanghai to resolve border issues between China and several countries within the former Soviet Union, and have since met rather regularly.

The presidents attending the summit praised the summit's outcome and nicknamed it the "Shanghai Spirit."

The spirit advocates mutual trust and benefit, equality, consultation and respect for different civilizations and the pursuit of common development.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin calls it a "precious treasure."

The Shanghai Co-operation Organization does not belong to an aligned body because the organization does not target any third country and is an open organization.

Economic and cultural exchanges between the six nations have been on the upswing in recent years thanks to the friendly political environment.

** State meets population goal

The population of China reached 1.295 billion at the end of 2000 - true to the nation's word of keeping the figure below 1.3 billion, according to the Fifth National Census released on March 28.

The population of 31 provinces and autonomous regions and municipalities (excluding Jinmen and Mazu islands) and of servicemen on the Chinese mainland was 1.26583 billion, the National Bureau of Statistics reported.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) was home to 6.78 million while Macao SAR had 440,000 residents.

The population of Taiwan Province and of Jinmen, Mazu and other islands of Fujian Province was 22.28 million.

Those figures represent an increase of 11.66 per cent, or 132.15 million people, over the findings of the 1990 census.

"This represents an average annual increase of 12.79 million or 1.07 per cent, which is 0.4 percentage point lower than the average growth rate at the end of the 1980s, said Zhu Zhixin, director of the bureau.

China has not only held back the tide of its third baby boom since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 but also put in place effective population control measures, he said. China has entered the stage of a low fertility rate, Zhu said.

The census also found the population is better educated.

** 108 die, 38 injured in string of explosions

A string of four explosions on March 16 in Shijiazhuang, the capital of North China's Hebei Province, killed 108 people and injured 38.

Police arrested Jin Ruchao, a 41-year-old deaf man, on March 23 in Beihai in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

He told police he set off the explosions out of revenge against his neighbours, ex-wife, stepmother, ex-mother-in-law and a lover.

Jin also killed Wei Zhihua, a woman who had lived with him for three months but was preparing to leave him, police said.

Her death occurred in Yunnan Province seven days before the explosions.

He was sentenced to death by the Shijiazhuang Intermediate People's Court on April 18 and executed months later.

The tragedy alarmed the nation and moves were taken across the country to strengthen control of explosives.

** share market opens up to domestic traders

The Chinese Government opened the formerly foreigners-only B-share market to Chinese citizens on February 19. The move triggered a flood of new retail investors who pushed prices to more than double their previous heights and sent markets to the top of world charts.

More than 340,000 trading accounts were opened in just two days in its Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses, doubling the total number of accounts since the B-share market was established in 1992. Many counters quadrupled in the following three months of euphoria.

B shares started to subside on June 1, when foreign currencies deposited after February 19 were allowed into the market.

On June 13, the government unveiled a much disputed programme to sell State-held shares in listed companies, causing the stock markets to nosedive. The government suspended the scheme on October 23 and has been seeking proposals from the public to improve the method of the sale.

In the meantime, the central government allows the delisting of three-year consecutive losers at the A-share market.