Milestones

Milestones: 1979

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

-- The opening of four special economic zones in Guangdong and Fujian is approved. These zones enjoy special flexibility in their economic ties with other countries.

-- Vice premier Deng Xiaoping visits the US in late January and holds talks with President Jimmy Carter.

-- Chinese frontier troops launch a counterattack against Vietnamese aggressors in Guangxi and Yunnan in February, and withdraw from Vietnam a month later. Clashes persist until 1992.

-- Pierre Cardin becomes the first internationally renowned fashion designer to visit China and stage private catwalk shows in Beijing and Shanghai. Time magazine says he is made "exclusive consultant to China's embryonic fashion industry".

-- The family planning policy is promoted, encouraging most urban families to have only one child.