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by Staff Writers Beijing (AFP) Nov 6, 2012 China's decade under Hu Jintao has seen record economic growth, greater openness driven by Internet and social media use, yet also an unbending political system. Among notable events are: November 2002: The ruling Communist Party names Hu as its leader, or general secretary, at its 16th party congress, which is held every five years. March 2003: Hu also assumes the role of head of state at the annual gathering of the National People's Congress, or parliament, while Wen Jiabao becomes premier. October 2003: China becomes the third country to send a man into space, after the Soviet Union and United States. December 2004: IBM sells its personal computer division to Chinese computer maker Lenovo. July 2006: A new railway -- the world's highest -- opens connecting Tibet with the rest of China. January 2007: China fires its first anti-satellite missile in what Western nations interpret as an aggressive move. October 2007: China launches its first lunar probe, Chang'e, inaugurating an ambitious space programme aimed at sending an astronaut to the moon. March 2008: Riots erupt in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa and nearby Tibetan regions, leaving 20 dead according to officials and 203 dead according to Tibetans in exile. March 2008: Xi Jinping is named vice president. May 2008: A massive earthquake in southwestern Sichuan province kills 87,000 people. August 2008: Beijing hosts the Olympic Games, where Chinese athletes win the most gold medals. September 2008: A food scandal -- in which milk is laced with the chemical melamine -- kills six babies and sickens 300,000 others. November 2008: Authorities unleash a stimulus package worth four trillion yuan (about $640 million today) to counter the global financial crisis. November 2008: First commercial airliner made in China, the ARJ-21, starts flights. July 2009: Clashes between ethnic Uighurs and majority Han in the northwestern city of Urumqi leave 200 dead and 1,600 wounded, prompting China to block Facebook and Twitter. December 2009: China overtakes Germany as the world's top exporter. May 2010: The World Expo in Shanghai draws 73 million visitors over several months. October 2010: Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo wins the Nobel peace prize while he is serving an 11-year prison sentence for calling for the end of the Communist party's ruling monopoly. December 2010: China surpasses Japan to become the world's second largest economy. Early 2011: Fearing a spillover effect from the "Arab Spring" popular revolts in the Middle East, authorities crack down on dissidents including well-known artist Ai Weiwei, who is detained for three months. June 2011: A high-speed train running the 1,300 kilometres (810 miles) from Beijing to Shanghai opens. Late 2011: City-dwellers outnumber the rural population for the first time, while the number of Internet users tops 500 million in September. April 2012: Senior leader Bo Xilai is brought down following revelations about the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood. April 2012: The blind activist Chen Guangcheng escapes house arrest and takes refuge in the American embassy in Beijing before leaving for the United States. July 2012: The massive Three Gorges dam reaches full capacity, matching the output of 15 nuclear reactors, or 22.5 gigawatts. November 2012: The 18th Party Congress opens, where Hu is expected to step down as leader, to be replaced by Xi.
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