March 3, September 10, September 15 and September 21

China successively unveiled the official names of the Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islands, the baselines of the territorial sea, the geographic coordinates of the Diaoyu Island and some of its affiliated islands, and the official names and location diagrams of some geographic entities of the Diaoyu Island and other islands and their surrounding waters.

April 26

The first China-CEE leaders’ meeting was held in Warsaw, Poland. Since then, such meetings have been held every year and now the “17+1 cooperation platform” is in operation.

June 27

The Jiaolong manned submersible made a 7,062-meter deep-sea dive, which showed that China’s scientific research and resource exploration capabilities in the field of manned submersibles were leading the world.

July 6

At the National Scientific and Technological Innovation Conference, Hu Jintao delivered a speech requiring that the country must take innovation-driven development as a major strategy for the future and stick to it, so as to strive for major leaps in scientific and technological strength, economic strength and overall national strength.

July 24

A ceremony was held to officially unveil the city of Sansha, Hainan Province. Sansha was thus established with jurisdiction over the Xisha Islands, the Zhongsha Islands, the Nansha Islands and their territorial seas, and the People’s Government of Sansha set on the Yongxing Island of Xisha.

August 17

Eleven departments, including the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, jointly issued a notice to launch the national special support plan for high-level talents (also known as the National Special Support Plan or the Ten Thousand Talents Program).

September 25

China’s first aircraft carrier Liaoning was commissioned to the PLA Navy. Hu Jintao attended the commission ceremony and boarded the carrier for inspection.

November 8–14

The 18th CPC National Congress was convened. The report titled “Firmly March on the Path of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, and Strive to Complete the Building of a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects” specified the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way and deepening reform and opening up, and it also stipulated the content of and relations between the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the system of theories of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the socialist system with Chinese characteristics. The Congress approved the Constitution of the Communist Party of China(Revised), making the Scientific Outlook on Development, together with Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory and the Important Theory of Three Represents the theoretical guidance of the Party and part of the Constitution.

November 15

The 1st Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee elected Xi Jinping general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, appointed Xi Jinping as chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission, and approved Wang Qishan as secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

November 29

When attending the exhibition “The Road to Revival” in the National Museum of China, Xi Jinping pointed out that realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation represented the greatest dream of the Chinese nation in modern times. In his speech at the closing ceremony of the 1st Session of the 12th NPC on March 17, 2013, Xi Jinping remarked that realizing the Chinese Dream embodied the prosperity of the country, the rejuvenation of the nation and the happiness of the people. To fulfill the Chinese Dream, it would be imperative to adhere to the Chinese path, encourage the Chinese spirit and pool Chinese strength.

December 4

A meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee adopted the Eight-Point Regulation of the 18th Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to Improve the Conduct of the Party and Maintain Close Contact with the People.

December 29

When inspecting Hebei Province, Xi Jinping pointed out that the most arduous tasks in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects fell on rural areas, and particularly poor areas. The goal of building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way would not be achieved if the tasks in rural areas, especially poor areas, were not fulfilled. In November, 2013, when visiting Hunan Province, Xi Jinping put forward the idea of targeted poverty alleviation. From November 27 to 28, 2015, a work conference of the central government concerning poverty alleviation and development was convened in Beijing, and on November 29, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council approved the Decision on Winning the Battle against Poverty. On April 23, 2016, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the Opinions on Establishing a Poverty Alleviation Mechanism. Since 2015, Xi Jinping has presided over six symposiums on poverty alleviation, stressing that the rural poor held the key to building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, genuinely poor people were to genuinely shake off poverty and poverty was to be truly eliminated, and both quantity and quality should be considered for evaluating whether people were poor or not. On April 16, 2019, Xi Jinping stated at a forum concerning the prominent issues of “ensuring the basic living needs of the rural poor are met and the compulsory education, basic medical services and basic living conditions of the rural poor are guaranteed,” that the battle against poverty was entering a crucial stage of a decisive victory, so the Party must fight resolutely and persistently and would never withdraw a step until winning the battle. For the six consecutive years from 2013 to 2018, China exceeded the annual poverty reduction targets, benefiting millions of people in poverty in rural areas. During this period, the country reduced the rural poverty population by 82.39 million in total, and the poverty headcount ratio dropped from 10.2% at the end of 2012 to 1.7% at the end of 2018.

From: Chronicle of the People's Republic of China(October 1949—September 2019),edited by The Institute of Party History and Literature of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, PP.226-231.