Thirty-six years ago today, on May 15th, 1989 (April 11th, 1989 in the lunar calendar), Gorbachev's visit to China normalized the relations between China and the Soviet Union. Mr. and Mrs. Gorbachev visited the Great Wall On May 15, 1989, Gorbachev, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, arrived in Beijing. On the morning of 16th, Deng Xiaoping, chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, and Mikhail Gorbachev, chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union and general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, announced that Sino-Soviet relations had been normalized. Deng Xiaoping said that he hoped that the three major obstacles between China and the Soviet Union could be eliminated and the meeting and dialogue between us could be realized at an early date. Our meeting can be summarized in eight words: end the past and open up the future. He reviewed the tortuous course of the relations between China and the Soviet Union and the two parties in the past, saying that China will not invade other countries and pose no threat to any country. Gorbachev said that the Soviet side believed that it was also at fault with the previous history of deteriorating relations between the two sides, but the Soviet side still had some different views. The two leaders said that the past is over, and the key point is to look ahead. We should do more practical things in developing bilateral relations. Gorbachev, a Russian, was born on March 2, 1931 in a peasant family in Privolinoye Village, Stavropol Krai, southern Soviet Union. From the age of 15, he worked as a mechanic in the tractor mechanical station of the farm. In 1950, he entered the Law Department of Moscow State University and joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1952. After graduating with honors in 1955, he returned to his hometown to work. He successively served as deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the Frontier District Committee of the Communist Youth League of the Soviet Union, first secretary of the Stavropol Communist Youth League Committee, and second and first secretary of the Frontier Youth League Committee. In March, 1962, he was appointed as an organizer of the Party of the Stavropol Regional Farm-Farm Production Administration of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In December of the same year, he was appointed as the director of the Party Bureau of the Stavropol Agricultural Territory of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. From September 1962 to 1967, he completed correspondence studies at Stavropol Agricultural College and obtained a diploma in agricultural economics. In September 1966, Gorbachev was appointed as the first secretary of Stavropol Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the second secretary of Stavropol Territory Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in August 1968, and the first secretary in April 1970. He has been a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union since 1971, and has served as a representative of the 22nd, 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th Congresses of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev was appointed secretary of the CPSU Central Committee in November 1978, alternate member of the Political Bureau of the CPSU Central Committee in November 1979, and promoted to member of the Political Bureau in October of the following year. On March 11, 1985, he was elected General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU. He was a representative of the 8th-11th Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, a former representative of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation, and a member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1988. On October 1, 1988, he was elected Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev won three Lenin Medals, the October Revolution Medal and the Labor Red Flag Medal. Deng Xiaoping Meets with Gorbachev