January 15

At the 2nd Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Hu Jintao pointed out that the Party should enhance its capacity to fight corruption and uphold integrity by focusing on improving the system for punishing and preventing corruption.

March 3–14

The 1st Session of the 11th CPPCC National Committee was held, at which Jia Qinglin was elected chairman of the CPPCC National Committee.

March 5–18

The 1st Session of the 11th NPC was convened. It adopted the Institutional Reform Plan of the State Council to explore ways of establishing greater departments with integrated functions. It elected Hu Jintao president of the PRC and chairman of the PRC Central Military Commission, and Wu Bangguo, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, and appointed Wen Jiabao as premier of the State Council.

May 12

Wenchuan County, Sichuan Province suffered from a destructive earthquake with a magnitude of 8.0 on the Richter scale. Under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee, the State Council and the Central Military Commission, the country carried out earthquake relief operations with the fastest rescue speed, the most extensive scope of mobilization and the largest input of resources in history, winning a major victory in earthquake relief.

June 5

The State Council issued the Outline of the National Intellectual Property Strategies.

June 8

The CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the Opinions on Comprehensively Promoting the Reform of the Collective Forest Tenure System, which stipulated that the contractual term of forest land was 70 years and could be extended upon expiration in accordance with relevant the regulations of the country.

July 4

Weekend chartered flights were opened across the Taiwan Straits.

August 1

The Beijing-Tianjin Intercity Railway, China’s first world-class high-speed railway built completely with China’s proprietary intellectual property rights was opened to traffic. By the end of 2018, China’s high-speed railways had exceeded 29,000 kilometers.

August 8–24 and September 6–17

The 29th Summer Olympic Games and the 13th Summer Paralympic Games were successfully held in Beijing. It was the first time China hosted the Summer Olympic Games and the Summer Paralympic Games.

September 14

The CPC Central Committee issued the Opinions on Carrying out Activities to Study in Depth and Put into Practice the Scientific Outlook on Development throughout the Party. From September 2008 to February 2010, the whole Party carried out such activities group-by-group.

October 7

The Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee convened a meeting to learn from the special reports on the international financial crisis and the measures to combat it. On November 5, the State Council held a meeting to study and prepare measures for further expanding domestic demand to promote steady and rapid economic growth. Prior to this, in mid-September, the international financial crisis triggered by the US sub-prime mortgage crisis in 2007 had fully emerged.

October 12

The 3rd Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee adopted the Decision on Several Major Issues of Promoting the Development of Rural Reforms, which provided farmers with more adequate and secure land contract and management rights and required that existing land contract relationships should remain stable and unchanged for a long time.

November 15

Hu Jintao attended the first G20 Leaders Summit in Washington and delivered a speech, proposing to implement necessary reforms to the international financial system.

December 15

The Chinese mainland and Taiwan held a kick-off and celebration ceremony for establishing direct links of mail, transport and trade at the same time in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Fuzhou, Shenzhen, Taipei, Kaohsiung, Keelung and other cities.

December 23

The General Office of the CPC Central Committee distributed the Opinions of the Central Talents Work Coordinating Group on Implementing the Plan for Attracting Overseas High-Level Talents.

December 26

According to the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, the first fleet of PLA Navy ships sailed to the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters in order to provide escort missions. This was the first time the Chinese Navy mobilized maritime combat forces in order to fulfill overseas international humanitarian assistance and to protect the safety of important transportation lines in the open sea.

December 31

Hu Jintao delivered a speech entitled “Work Together to Push Forward the Peaceful Development of the Cross-Straits Relations and to Realize the Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation” at the forum on the 30th anniversary of the issuing of the Message

to Compatriots in Taiwan, issuing six opinions on promoting the peaceful development of the cross-Straits relations.

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.211-216.