China Daily began publishing in 1981, with the assistance of Australian grants, after a deal between Beijing and the newspaper's owner David Syme & Co. At the start, it struggled to get Chinese permission for even a company bicycle. Forty years ago, top Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping had started his market reforms, opening China to the world after the death of Mao Zedong. At the same time, the relationship with Australia, started under the Whitlam government, was developing. The Fraser government established the Australia China Council to bridge a big knowledge gap about China.
