Special report: 30 Years of Reform & Opening Up 

    BEIJING, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- On this date 30 years ago, the Communist Party of China (CPC) made a landmark policy shift, known as the reform and opening up drive, which gave the then poverty-stricken nation hope of a better life through economic change.

    The radical economic and social changes in China have justified that decision.

    The world has witnessed a growing China with remarkable economic, social and technological achievements. Since the introduction of the policy, China has turned from an impoverished country into the world's fourth-largest economy.

    The past three decades have also been a critical era for China to embrace globalization and seek scientific, peaceful, harmonious and coordinated development at home.

    Following are some major events of the past 30 years:

    December, 1978 -- The Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee was held in Beijing. The meeting made the important decision to restore order by turning away from chaotic class struggle and focus on China's economic construction and opening up.

    The meeting established the collective leadership of the CPC Central Committee, with Deng Xiaoping as the core, and it restored the CPC's traditions -- including seeking truth from facts.

    July, 1979 -- Four pilot Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in the coastal provinces of Fujian and Guangdong were set up.

    The SEZs -- Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shantou and Xiamen -- enjoyed favorable policies and flexible measures on foreign economic activities and became China's window to accumulate economic and legal experience through contacts with foreign countries.

    January, 1982 -- The central government approved the practice of the Household Contract Responsibility System, which links personal income to an individual's contribution and hence stimulates farmers' initiative. The system was a milestone in releasing productive forces in the vast rural hinterland.

    October, 1984 -- The central government decided to further revive the domestic economy and uphold the opening-up policy. It urged efforts to create conditions for breaking up the planned economic system.

    December, 1986 -- State-owned enterprise reform began. Trial leasing and contract operations were encouraged and various forms of management responsibility in enterprises were adopted.

    These were major steps to stimulate enterprises' internal reform to meet competition, and they had great significance in giving enterprises more say over their development.

    October, 1987 -- The 13th National Congress of the CPC put forward a three-stage development plan that was to run through themid-21st century and emphasized the importance of economic growth by sticking to the reform and opening-up policy -- known as the principle of "one central task, two basic points".