2012:

-- From Jan. 6 to 7, a national financial work conference was held. Premier Wen Jiabao said at the conference that China would further open up its financial sector to the outside world in an "independent, gradual, safe and win-win" way in order to ensure the country's economic and financial security.

-- On Jan. 17, the National Bureau of Statistics said that the number of urban dwellers had hit 690.79 million as of the end of 2011 on the Chinese mainland, accounting for 51.27 percent of total population. For the first time, the urban population exceeded that of the rural areas.

-- From Feb. 13 to 22, Vice President Xi Jinping paid official visits to the United States, Ireland and Turkey.

-- From March 3 to March 13, the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country's top political advisory body, held its fifth annual session.

-- From March 5 to 14, the 11th National People's Congress (NPC) held its fifth annual session, at which a major amendment to the Criminal Procedure Law was adopted.

-- On March 14, the CPC Central Committee announced that Zhang Dejiang had been appointed Party chief of Chongqing, replacing Bo Xilai.

On April 10, the CPC Central Committee said that it had decided to suspend Bo's membership in the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau and the CPC Central Committee; meanwhile, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC would start an investigation.

-- On March 22, President Hu Jintao met with Wu Po-hsiung, honorary chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) party, in Beijing.

-- From April 26 to May 4, Vice Premier Li Keqiang paid official visits to Russia, Hungary, Belgium and the EU headquarters in Brussels.

-- On May 4, China held a rally to mark the 90th founding anniversary of the Communist Youth League of China.

-- On May 23, a symposium was held to commemorate the 70th anniversary of a celebrated speech on art and literature delivered by late Chairman Mao Zedong at the former revolutionary base of Yan'an on May 23, 1942.

-- From May 30 to 31, the 3rd National Work Conference on "pairing assistance" projects to support Xinjiang's development was held. President Hu, Premier Wen, Vice President Xi, Vice Premier Li and senior Chinese leader Zhou Yongkang met delegates to the meeting. Li Keqiang and Zhou Yongkang delivered speeches.

-- On June 16, China launched the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft, when Liu Yang became the country's first woman in space. The three-person crew successfully conducted the first manual space docking on June 24 before returning to Earth on June 29.

-- From June 20 to 26, Premier Wen attended the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Rio de Janeiro. He also paid official visits to Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile.

-- On June 21, the central government announced the establishment of the city of Sansha to administer the Xisha Islands, Zhongsha Islands and Nansha Islands and their surrounding waters in the South China Sea.

The move raised the administrative status of the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha islands from county-level to prefectural-level.

On July 24, a ceremony was held in Sansha to mark the official establishment of the city. The municipal government's seat is stationed on Yongxing Island, part of the Xisha Islands.

-- On June 27, China's manned submersible the Jiaolongset a new national dive record after reaching 7,062 meters below sea level during its dive into the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean.

-- On June 30, the CPC announced that its members had surpassed 82.6 million in 2011.

-- On July 1, President Hu addressed a gathering for the 15th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China and the swearing-in ceremony of the fourth-term government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

-- On July 4, China's Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydropower project, started operating at full capacity when the last of its 32 large turbine generators was put into operation, bringing its generating capacity to 22.5 million kilowatts.

-- From July 19 to 20, the Fifth Ministerial Meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was held in Beijing.

-- From July 23 to 24, a high-profile workshop for ministerial officials and provincial heads was held. President Hu addressed the opening session and urged efforts in promoting the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Hu said that "a decisive foundation" should be laid in the next five years for the formation of a well-off society in an all-around way by 2020 before "basically achieving socialist modernization by the middle of the century."

-- From July 27 to Aug. 12, mainland athletes took 38 gold, 27 silver and 23 bronze medals at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

From Aug. 29 to Sept. 9, China grabbed 95 gold, 71 silver and 65 bronze medals during the London Paralympics.

-- From Aug. 28 to 30, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsipaid a state visit to China and met with President Hu.

-- From Sept. 6 to 9, President Hu attended the 20th economic leaders' meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in Russia.

On Sept. 9, Hu met with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Nodaon the sidelines of the forum and made clear China's position on its relations with Japan and on the Diaoyu Islandsissue.

-- From Sept. 9 to 23, Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the NPC, paid official goodwill visits to Iran, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Fiji.

-- On Sept. 10, the Chinese government issued a statement on the baselines of the territorial waters of the Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islets.

On the same day, China's Foreign Ministry issued a separate statement to express firm opposition to, and strong protest against, the Japanese move of "purchasing" the Diaoyu Island and its affiliated Nan Xiaodao and Bei Xiaodao as well as the implementation of the so-called "nationalization" of the islands.

On Sept. 13, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, Li Baodong, met with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moonand filed a copy of the Chinese government's Diaoyu Islands baseline announcement with the United Nations, which includes charts showing straight baselines and archipelagic baselines as well as lists of geographical coordinates.

On Sept. 15, China released a string of geographic coordinates of the Diaoyu Island and 70 of its affiliated islets, as well as their location maps, three-dimension effect graphs and sketch maps for the Diaoyu Islands.

On Sept. 21, Chinese authorities released a list of standardized names for the geographic entities on Diaoyu Island and some of its affiliated islets, which also provided descriptions of the geographic locations of various mountains, creeks, capes and other geographic entities in the region.

On Sept. 25, the State Council Information Office issued a white paper titled "Diaoyu Dao, an Inherent Territory of China."

-- From Sept. 21 to 25, senior Chinese leader Zhou Yongkang paid visits to Singapore, Afghanistanand Turkmenistan. Zhou's visit to Afghanistan marked the first time that a Chinese leader had set foot on the soil of the landlocked Asian country in 46 years.

-- On Sept. 25, the Liaoning, China's first aircraft carrier, was delivered and commissioned to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy.

-- On Sept. 28, the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau decided at a meeting to submit the proposal on the date of the 18th National Congress to the seventh plenary meeting of the 17th CPC Central Committee, which will be held on Nov. 1. It was proposed that the 18th National Congress of the CPC would convene on Nov. 8 in Beijing.

At the same meeting, an investigation report on Bo Xilai's severe disciplinary violations, which had been submitted by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, was deliberated over and adopted.

The Political Bureau decided to expel Bo from the CPC, remove him from public office and transfer his suspected law violations and relevant evidence to judicial organs for handling.

-- On Oct. 11, Chinese writer Mo Yanwon the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature. Senior Chinese leader Li Changchun sent a congratulatory letter to the China Writers Association.

-- On Oct. 22, the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau deliberated a draft report by the CPC's 17th Central Committee to the 18th CPC National Congress and a draft amendment to the CPC Constitution, which would both be tabled for the seventh Plenum of the 17th CPC Central Committee for further review.