Nasdaq Closes at 4041, First Time Above 4000
On December 29, 1999, the Nasdaq Composite closed at 4041.45 points, crossing the 4000 mark at the close for the first time, marking its 60th closing record of the year.
On December 29, 1999, the Nasdaq Composite closed at 4041.45 points, crossing the 4000 mark at the close for the first time, marking its 60th closing record of the year.
In November 1999, Jiang Zemin instructed Zhu Rongji to facilitate the China-US WTO accession negotiations at all costs, and the basic framework was ultimately determined.
On November 3, 1999, the Nasdaq Composite closed above 3,000 for the first time (at about 3,028), its fourth consecutive closing record, after which it entered a phase of rapid ascent.
In 1999, the market gradually came to believe that the Y2K risk had been exaggerated; to guard against year-end liquidity problems, the Federal Reserve set up backup financing and special liquidity arrangements.
In June 1999, under the leadership of Harbin Institute of Technology professor Fang Binxing, the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team/Coordination Center of China was established, aiming to technically block Chinese people from accessing overseas networks, and becoming the origin of the Great Firewall.
On May 8, 1999 (Beijing time), bombs dropped by a US Air Force B-2 bomber of NATO hit the Chinese Embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, killing 3 Chinese journalists; people in many parts of China subsequently took to the streets to protest.
In 1999, the United States bombed the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia, triggering a surge of anti-American sentiment in China.
In 1999, the Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia was bombed, triggering a crisis in China-US relations.
In 1999, under Li Hongzhi's direction, Falun Gong leaders across China coordinated via email to launch a mass siege of Zhongnanhai, prompting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to tighten internet controls.
On April 20, 1999, central leaders issued instructions to thoroughly investigate the Xiamen Yuanhua smuggling case, and the “April 20” special task force was established to probe the smuggling and corruption of Lai Changxing’s Yuanhua Group.
In April 1999, Zhu Rongji visited the United States to negotiate China's entry into the WTO and made a number of concession commitments.
After the Yuanhua case broke out in 2000, Lai Changxing fled to Canada and hid for many years.
China entered an aging society in 1999, and illnesses among the elderly increased; the National Health Commission says that population aging is accelerating and clinical blood demand keeps rising, while the imbalance between blood supply and demand remains fairly evident.
In 1998, Xu Wenli, Wang Youcai, and Qin Yongmin, founders of the China Democracy Party, were sentenced for their party-building activities, marking the establishment of political parties as a taboo in China.
The Ministry of Finance issued 270 billion yuan in special treasury bonds to replenish the capital of the Big Four banks, and set up four major asset management companies to strip off 1.4 trillion yuan in non-performing assets.
The central authorities issued Document No. 10, characterizing the mass layoff of workers as an inevitable process in the economic transition, acknowledging that it would bring temporary difficulties to some workers, while claiming that this accords with the long-term interests of the working class.
By the end of 1997, a total of 12.74 million workers had been laid off or reassigned by state-owned enterprises nationwide, of whom 6.34 million had still not been re-employed; some enterprises were unable to guarantee basic living allowances and social insurance.
After taking office as Premier of the State Council, Zhu Rongji initiated the three-year relief program for state-owned enterprises. Through the policy of 'seizing the large and releasing the small' and downsizing for efficiency, he triggered a massive wave of layoffs among SOE workers.
In 1998, Wen Jiabao was promoted to Vice Premier and served as the overall commander of disaster relief in the catastrophic floods that year, rushing to the front lines.
Between 1998 and 2003, the total number of laid-off workers nationwide reached 28.18 million, among which the three northeastern provinces accounted for a huge share, with workers in Liaoning, Heilongjiang and other places subjected to the buyout of their years of service.
Zhu Rongji replicated in the State Council Shanghai's approach to streamlining processes, cutting the number of ministries and commissions in half from 40; large numbers of cadres at division level and above were reassigned to the private sector or took early retirement, making the scale of personnel changes unprecedented.
At the CCP's 15th National Congress in September 1997, Xi Jinping was elected as an alternate member of the Central Committee for the first time; some commentators said he ranked last among the 151 alternate members by number of votes.
Deng Xiaoping died on February 19, 1997. Jiang Zemin took full hold of supreme power, ushering in the Jiang Zemin era.
Following the death of Deng Xiaoping in 1997, Jiang Zemin broke free from the constraints of the supreme elder, assumed comprehensive control of party, government, and military power, and ushered in his era of governance.
The state-owned sector's push for "grasping the large and letting go of the small" and the buyout of employees' seniority led to about 40 million workers in state-owned and collective enterprises losing their jobs; the breakdown of the social contract triggered serious social and economic problems.
On the night of March 31, 1996, Phoenix Television officially launched in Hung Hom, Hong Kong, unveiling its golden station logo. Its early shareholders included Today's Asia controlled by Liu Changle, Satellite Television under Rupert Murdoch, and Huaying International representing CCTV. Before the launch, Liu Changle reported the station's stance to Beijing, establishing Phoenix's special political affiliation and licensing mechanism.
Zhou Beifang, suspected of illegally mobilizing massive funds from Shougang to help Deng Zhifang pay off gambling debts, was sentenced by the court to death with a reprieve, while Deng Zhifang escaped legal prosecution and safely retreated behind the scenes.
During the 1996 Taiwan Strait crisis, cross-strait relations and U.S.-China relations faced heightened tensions.
Teresa Teng passed away on the way to the hospital in Chiang Mai, Thailand, due to an asthma attack, at the age of 42. Her family refused an autopsy.
With the suicide of Beijing Vice Mayor Wang Baosen and Chen Xitong's resignation taking responsibility, he was subsequently removed from office and sentenced to 16 years in prison for embezzlement and dereliction of duty.
Illegal short selling and a bull-bear battle broke out in the treasury bond futures market; Wanguo Securities was hit and forced into liquidation; the exchange subsequently declared the last eight minutes of trading void, and treasury bond futures were shut down that May.
Starting in 1995, Jiang Zemin and Zhu Rongji proposed the "grasping the large and letting go of the small" reform for state-owned enterprises, requiring them to gradually withdraw from non-critical industries.
Russia implemented a loans-for-shares scheme, where oligarch banks used funds lent to the government as collateral to acquire controlling stakes in core enterprises such as oil and metallurgy through auctions.
The Chinese government intervened in the reincarnation process of the Panchen Lama. The Panchen Lama designated by the Dalai Lama was taken away by the Chinese side, after which China selected and promoted a Panchen Lama of its own.
From 1995 to 1996, China carried out missile tests and military exercises to intimidate Taiwan ahead of its 1996 presidential election.
Deng Zhifang, the younger son of Deng Xiaoping, lost nearly 200 million RMB at the Casino Lisboa in Macau. The debt was subsequently covered using overseas public funds from Shougang by Zhou Beifang, which triggered Zhou's eventual arrest and sentencing.
On January 1, 1994, the official and market exchange rates of the Renminbi were merged, forming a unified exchange rate.
In 1994, China carried out price reform, abolishing the dual-track pricing system of capitalism and socialism, and the problem of official profiteering (guandao) was initially resolved.
Zhu Rongji pushed forward the tax-sharing reform, allocating 75 percent of value-added tax to the central government and retaining 25 percent for local governments, while establishing a vertical national tax team. This led to a massive surge in central government fiscal revenue alongside a sharp increase in local fiscal pressure, laying hidden dangers for land finance and local government debt.
The tax-sharing reform, finalized at the end of 1993 and implemented the following year, established the framework for central-local fiscal distribution and land finance.
At the time, Chinese Public Security Minister Tao Si Ju publicly said that as long as Hong Kong's triad organizations are patriotic and care about Hong Kong's prosperity and stability, they should be united.
The video claims that the Japanese government implemented PKO market support by channeling public pension funds into the stock market, restricting short selling, and designating trust banks to buy shares, and that the support failed after the Nikkei index rose 2.9% in 1993; no public reports of this figure can be found.
In 1993, China exported large quantities of fuel and food to North Korea, accounting for 77% and 68% of North Korea's fuel and grain imports that year; North Korea subsequently fell into a food crisis during the "Arduous March" period.
In 1993, Jiang Zemin abolished Su Shi's statistical system and formally adopted GDP as the main criterion for measuring development results and official promotions.
In June 1993, Zhu Rongji led the introduction of the sixteen measures for macroeconomic control to curb inflation; in 1994 the tax-sharing reform was implemented, redividing central and local finances, and the economy subsequently made a soft landing.
In 1993, during the later stages of his doctoral studies, Zhu Yuejun had serious disagreements with his supervisor's team over his academic views and research direction. He was unable to sit for and pass his dissertation defense, and ultimately obtained only a doctoral completion certificate from Shanghai Second Medical University, after which he left the university research system.
At the 14th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Yang Shangkun was forced to retire completely and handed the position of President to Jiang Zemin, Yang Baibing was dismissed from his military posts, and the Yang brothers' power was purged.
At the First Plenary Session of the 14th CCP Central Committee in October 1992, 64-year-old Zhu Rongji was promoted directly from alternate member of the Central Committee to the Politburo Standing Committee, ranking first among vice premiers, becoming a leader at the national level.
In April 1992, Zhu Yuejun, as first author, published the academic paper "Molecular Markers of Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia and Their Significance in the Study of Cell Differentiation" in the National Medical Journal of China, with Wang Zhenyi, Chen Zhu, Chen Saijuan and others as co-authors. The paper systematically discussed molecular genetic markers and mechanisms of cell differentiation under all-trans retinoic acid-induced differentiation therapy.
On the platform of Wuchang Railway Station, Deng Xiaoping hurled a stern warning at Hubei Provincial Party Secretary Guan Guangfu and others: "Development is the absolute principle, and whoever does not reform will step down."