Milestones

Milestones: 2003

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-29 15:59

Astronaut Yang Liwei greets the world at the door of his spaceship in Inner Mongolia on Oct 16, 2003 after completing China's first manned space mission. Xu Jingxing

-- Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is first reported in China in February. The epidemic spread worldwide, killing 774 people and infecting 8,098. Nearly 350 people are killed in China, the hardest hit country. The incident prompts China to start serious efforts to establish basic medical care systems for urbanites and new medicare cooperatives for rural people.

-- On Oct 15, China launches the Shenzhou V spaceship with astronaut Yang Liwei aboard. China becomes the third country to launch a human into space after Russia and the US.