Contemporary Period

　　（1949- ）

　　On October 1， 1949， Chairman Mao Zedong declared the founding of the People's Republic of China on the forum of Tian'anmen Square.

　　From September 21 to 30， 1949， the First Plenum of the Chinese People&iexcl；&macr；s Political Consultative Conference （CPPCC） was held in Beijing， with the participation of various political parties， popular organizations， non-Party democrats and representatives from all walks of life. The CPPCC drew up a Common Program， which served as a provisional constitution. It elected a Central People's Government Council， with Mao Zedong as Chairman， and appointed Zhou Enlai Premier of the Government Administration Council and concurrently Minister of Foreign Affairs. On October 1， 1949， a grand ceremony inaugurating the People&iexcl；&macr；s Republic of China was witnessed by 300，000 people in Beijing&iexcl；&macr；s Tiananmen Square. On that day， Chairman Mao Zedong solemnly proclaimed the formal establishment of the People&iexcl；&macr；s Republic of China.

　　In 1992， Deng Xiaoping inspected the Shen Zhen Special Economic Zone of Guangdong Province.

　　The early days of New China were a period of economic recovery. While developing production， China gradually established socialist public ownership of the means of production. From 1953 to 1956， large-scale socialist transformation of the national economy was implemented， the First Five-Year Plan （1953-1957） for the development of the national economy was achieved ahead of schedule， and China established and expanded basic ndustries necessary for full industrialization， hitherto non-existent domestically， producing airplanes， automobiles， heavy machinery， precision machinery， power-generating equipment， metallurgical and mining equipment， high-grade alloy steels and non-ferrous metals.

　　From the evening of Dec. 31， 1999 to the morning of Jan. 1， 2000， people from all walks of life in Beijing gathered at the newly-built Altar of Centenary to celebrate the coming of the new century. The picture shows President Jiang Zeming at the celebration ceremony.

　　The 10 years from 1957 to the beginning of the &iexcl；°cultural revolution&iexcl；± in 1966 was the period in which China started large-scale socialist construction. The nation&iexcl；&macr；s total industrial fixed assets quadrupled between 1956 and 1966， and the national income increased by 58 percent in terms of constant prices. The output of essential industrial products increased several-fold， even over tenfold. A group of new and developing industries were founded， and large-scale agricultural capital construction and technological transformation unfolded on a large scale. Both the number of tractors used in agriculture and the volume of chemical fertilizer increased by more than 600 percent. The 12-Year Plan for Scientific and Technological Development （1956-1967） was completed five years ahead of schedule. Outstanding achievements were recorded in many new fields of science and technology.

　　However， during this dynamic decade， serious mistakes were also made in the Party and government&iexcl；&macr；s guidelines， harming the national economy.