July1
In his speech delivered at the meeting celebrating the 80th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, Jiang Zemin summarized the outstanding achievements and practical experience of the CPC over the past 80 years and expounded the Important Theory of Three Represents. He stressed that since the beginning of the reform and opening up, new changes had taken place in the composition of China's social strata, and there had emerged entrepreneurs and technical personnels of private scientific and technological enterprises, managerial technicians working in foreign-funded enterprises, self-employed personnels, private entrepreneurs, practitioners for intermediary 182 organizations, freelancers and other people. They were also to be seen as builders for the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
November 10
The 4th WTO (World Trade Organization) Ministerial Conference held in Doha of Qatar deliberated on, and then reached a unanimous decision to approve China's accession to the WTO. On December 11, China officially became a member of the WTO, entering a new stage of opening up.