On July 1, 1979, the National People's Congress (NPC) of the People's Republic of China (PRC) adopted the first criminal law code in the history of the PRC. The code went into effect on January 1, 1980. That was at the beginning of the period of Open Policy and Reform that followed the Cultural Revolution. As a result of the new policies and reforms, many new organizations came into being and economic activity increased in the country quite rapidly. That increase also led to the emergence of more and more economic crime, which was not adequately addressed by the new criminal code.