The following are the top 10 domestic news events in the year 2007 selected by Xinhua (in chronological order):
1. China's top legislature, the National People's Congress (NPC), adopted a landmark property law on March 16, granting equal protection to public and private properties.
2. Serious pollution caused a sudden stenchy algae outbreak in China's third largest freshwater lake Taihu in late May, cutting tap water supply to more than one million residents in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province.
3. China issued the National Climate Change Program, the first national plan to address climate change by a developing country, on June 4, pledging to restructure its economy, promote clean technologies and improve energy efficiency, demonstrating its determination to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in an all-round way.
4. China's State Council, or the cabinet, issued a circular on July 11 to introduce a system of minimum living allowance in all rural areas in the country, benefiting more than 20 million rural poor.
5. China marks the 80th founding anniversary of the People's Liberation Army on August 1 in Beijing, with President Hu Jintao delivering an important speech.
6. The Communist Party of China convened its 17th National Congress in mid October, charting a roadmap for the country's development in the future years, enshrining the Scientific Outlook on Development into the Party Constitution and electing a new central leadership of the Party.
7. China successfully launched its first lunar probe, Chang'e-1, on October 24, which entered the moon orbit 15 days later and transmitted back lunar images, marking a third milestone of the country's space programs after the earth satellite and the manned space missions.
8. The Chinese government on Dec. 16 officially announced a new holiday plan, scrapping one of the three "golden week" holidays and added three traditional festivals -- Tomb-Sweeping Day, Dragon-boat Festival and Mid Autumn Festival -- to the list of public holidays.
9. China's grain output, which includes rice, wheat, corn and soybean, exceeded 500 million tons in 2007, making it the fourth consecutive year of output increase since 2004.
The harvest has been expected to be a bumper grain output that can help slow price rises of the year. Rises in food prices lifted the nation's consumer price index (CPI) to an 11-year high of 6.9 percent in November.
10. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, on Dec. 29 adopted a decision on Hong Kong's constitutional development, allowing appropriate amendments to the method for selecting the fourth Chief Executive and forming the fifth term Legislative Council of the special administrative region in the year 2012.
The Standing Committee also decided that the election of the fifth Chief Executive in 2017 may be implemented through universal suffrage.
(Xinhua News Agency December 30, 2007)
