China's population exceeds one billion. 1984 Premier Zhao Ziyang and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sign Sino-British joint Declaration, agreeing to Hong Kong handover in 1997. In a major shift, CCPs power is transferred from elder leaders to younger, better-educated ones. China becomes a member of the Asian Development Bank. Shanghai Stock Market reopens after nearly forty years.
Government encourages foreign investment in China.
The death of Hu Yaobang in April incites students in Beijing and other cities to demonstrate for Hu's rehabilitation, democratic freedoms, government accountability and the cleanup of CCP corruption. Demonstrations escalate during the spring, resulting, in widespread violence throughout Beijing, and the Tiananmen Square massacre in June. Deng praises China's military for suppressing counter revolutionaries. Deng and Mikhail Gorbachev announce normalization of Sino-Soviet relations. 1991-1992 GDP grows at a rate of 7.5 percent, then averages 11 percent per annum, through 1997, the most rapid growth rate of any major world economy.