| Key Dates | Milestones |
|---|---|
| 1842 | Treaty of Nanking – cession to Britain of Hong Kong Island. |
| 1860 | Convention of Peking – cession to Britain of the southern tip of Kowloon (only the part of Kowloon south of Boundary Street in Mongkok). |
| 1898 | Second Convention of Peking – lease to Britain of the New Territories for 99 years, expiring on June 30, 1997. |
| 1949 | Formation of the People’s Republic of China – all “unequal treaties” between China and foreign powers repudiated, including the three “unequal treaties” granting Hong Kong to Britain. |
| 1966 | Start of the Cultural Revolution (文化大革命). |
| 1976-79 | End of the Cultural Revolution and rise to power of Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平). |
| 1979-82 | Emergence of the policy of one country, two systems, originally designed for Taiwan. |
| 1982 | Enactment of new constitution of the People’s Republic of China, with Article 31 allowing for the creation of special administrative regions (特別行政區), the only parts of China allowed to have systems different from the socialist system. |
| Early 1980s | Increasing concern in Hong Kong about what will happen after the 99-year lease to Britain of the New Territories ends on June 30, 1997, especially in terms of the future of property rights in the New Territories. |
| 1982 | British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visits Beijing, and Britain and China agree to begin talks on Hong Kong’s future. |
| 1983 | Britain agrees to leave Hong Kong in 1997 and talks with China start to focus on implementation of one country, two systems in Hong Kong. |
| 1984 | Signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration. The Joint Declaration consists of a main text and three annexes: Annex I: Elaboration by the Government of the People’s Republic of China on the Basic Policies of the People’s Republic of China Regarding Hong Kong. Annex II: Transitional Arrangements for Hong Kong Between 1984-1997. Annex III: Extension of Land Leases in Hong Kong Beyond 30 June 1997. Paragraph 3(12) states that the Joint Declaration will be followed by a basic law of the HKSAR. |
| 1985 | Basic Law Drafting Committee established by the National People’s Congress to begin the process of writing the Hong Kong Basic Law. |
| 1988 | Publication of first draft of the Hong Kong Basic Law. |
| 1989, February | Publication of second draft of the Hong Kong Basic Law. |
| 1989, June 4 | Tiananmen crackdown leads to significant changes in the final draft of the Hong Kong Basic Law. |
| 1990, April 4 | Enactment of the final draft of the Hong Kong Basic Law by the National People’s Congress. |
| 1997, July 1 | The Hong Kong Basic Law comes into force. Hong Kong becomes the first special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China. |