Milestones

Milestones: 1981

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-30 05:12

Milestones: 1981
Female workers at the Shanghai Chemical Fiber Plant carry their children after completing examinations at the factory clinic in 1981. The poster reads: "Family planning is good." Xinhua

-- In May, Soong Ching Ling, vice-chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and honorary president of the People's Republic of China, dies in Beijing.

-- In June, Hua Guofeng resigns as chairman of the CPC Central Committee and the CPC Central Committee Military Commission. Deng Xiaoping officially becomes core of the PRC's second-generation leadership.

-- The Beijing subway, with 19 stations and a length of 27.6 km, opens to the public in September.

-- Deng Xiaoping proposes the idea of "One country, two systems" as a solution for the reunification of the country. Taiwan, as a province or region of PRC, would not be made to practise socialism, current social system and standard of living would be unchanged, foreign capital left intact, and be allowed to keep its own armed forces.