March 16

The 5th Session of the 10th NPC adopted the Property Law of the People’s Republic of China and the Enterprise Income Tax Law of the People’s Republic of China.

April 14

China successfully launched the first navigation satellite Beidou-2, which indicated that the country had officially begun to build its second-generation system of satellite navigation. The first and second networking satellites of the Beidou-3 navigation satellite successfully took off on November 5, 2017, marking the beginning of the global networking of the Beidou satellite navigation system. This was a global satellite navigation system which could compete with the United States Global Positioning System (GPS), the Russian Glonass system and the European Galileo system. On December 27, 2018, it was announced that the basic system of Beidou-3 had been completed and had started to provide global services.

June 3

The State Council issued China’s Action Plan for Addressing Climate Change, the China’s first comprehensive policy document on addressing climate change and the first national plan in developing countries for addressing climate change.

July 1

Hu Jintao delivered a speech at the conference for celebrating the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland and the inaugural ceremony of the third-term government of the HKSAR, stating that “one country, two systems” was an integrated concept and that “one country” and “two systems” must not be torn apart or set against each other. “One country” means safeguarding the power of the central government in accordance with the law and the sovereignty, unity and security of the country. “Two systems” means ensuring a high degree of autonomy for the HKSAR in accordance with the law and supporting the chief executive and the HKSAR government in governing the region in accordance with the law.

July 10

The State Council issued the Guiding Opinions of the State Council on Launching the Pilot Program for Basic Medical Insurance for Urban Residents, aiming to gradually establish a basic medical insurance system for urban residents with a focus on providing a comprehensive insurance arrangement for serious diseases.

July 11

The State Council issued the Circular on Establishing a National Minimum Living Security System for Rural Residents, which aimed to provide total overage for the rural poor who met certain criteria to ensure that basic subsistence problems of the rural poor across the country could be resolved in a stable, enduring and effective way.

August 1

In his speech delivered at the conference for celebrating the 80th anniversary of the founding of the PLA and the conference for representatives of models and heroes of the whole army, Hu Jintao pointed out that after 80 years of tenacious efforts, the PLA had cultivated and formed excellent revolutionary traditions, which could be summarized into three aspects: following the Party’s orders, serving the people and fighting valiantly and skillfully. On December 24, 2008, Hu Jintao gave a speech at an enlarged meeting of the Central Military Commission and put forth the core values for revolutionary soldiers in the contemporary era: staying loyal to the Party, loving the people, serving the country, remaining devoted to the mission and advocating honor.

September 6–8

The first Summer Davos Forum was held in Dalian, Liaoning Province. Tianjin and Dalian would thereafter alternate as host cities.

October 15–21

The 17th CPC National Congress was convened. The report entitled “Hold High the Great Banner of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and Strive for New Victories in Building a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects” adopted by the Congress fully expounded the content, the essence and the fundamental requirements of the Scientific Outlook on Development. It clearly defined development as the essence of the Scientific Outlook on Development, making putting people first its core, comprehensive, balanced and sustainable development its fundamental requirement and overall consideration its fundamental approach. The Congress also approved the Constitution of the Communist Party of China (Revised) with the inclusion of the Scientific Outlook on Development. It was at this Congress that ecological construction was put forth for the first time as a new requirement for attaining the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

October 22

The 1st Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee elected Hu Jintao general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, appointed Hu Jintao as chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission, and approved He Guoqiang as secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

October 24

China’s first lunar probe Chang’e-1, was launched. On November 5, it entered the lunar orbit, marking the complete success of China’s first lunar exploration program. On October 1, 2010, Chang’e-2 lunar probe blasted off. On December 2, 2013, Chang’e-3 lunar probe was successfully launched, and achieved a soft-landing on the moon on December 14. On May 21, 2018, the relay satellite of Chang’e-4 lunar probe was launched. On December 8, 2018, Chang’e-4 lunar probe was successfully launched, and soft-landed on the far side of the moon on January 3, 2019, making China the first country to do so. It then started to carry out in-place and patrol detection.

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.205-210.