-- The State Council launches reforms for State-owned enterprises (SOEs) by allowing multiple operating methods.
-- The Shenyang Explosive Devices Plant declares bankruptcy, the first SOE to do so since 1949.
-- The central government maps out a strategy to develop several hi-tech programs, including biotechnology, aviation, information technology, automation and new materials.
-- Computer scientist Liu Chuanzhi and 10 colleagues found the first private hi-tech company, which grows into the multinational Lenovo.