Agricultural Taxes Scrapped

In January, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) issued a document putting forward a plan to enlarge the program of scrapping agricultural taxes in terms of both area and extent. The plan was implemented nationwide over 2005. By the end of 2005, a total of 28 provinces and regions had achieved full exemption of agricultural taxes, benefiting a total of 800 million farmers.

(Beijing Review: Chinese Economy: Top 10 Events, No.52, 2005)

Shenzhou 6 Blasts Off

China made another great leap into space, sending Shenzhou 6 and two astronauts on its second manned flight mission on October 12. Astronauts Fei Junlong (40) and Nie Haisheng (41) were the focus of over a billion pairs of eyes as they stepped aboard the Shenzhou 6 spacecraft at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwest Gobi Desert.

(Beijing Review: Up Goes Shenzhou, Again, No.42, 2005)