They chart the highs and lows of an eventful six months, covering issues and events that brought people together across borders and divided them in debate.

They are the top 10 buzzwords of the first half of 2010, compiled from 16 leading Chinese newspapers.

The list was jointly released by the National Language Resource Monitoring and Research Center, Beijing Language and Culture University, the Chinese Information Processing Society and the China Association of Press Technicians.

EARTHQUAKE

A devastating earthquake hit Haiti in early January, leaving around 230,000 people dead.

Another serious quake hit Chile shortly after.

And on April 14, almost two years after the devastating south China earthquake of May 12, 2008, a 7.1-magnitude quake left at least 2,698 people dead and 270 missing in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu in the northwestern Qinghai Province.

Immediately after the quake, rescuers joined the race to find survivors while medical workers battled freezing temperatures and low oxygen to save lives.

Millions of people donated money and materials with a total value of 8.5 billion yuan (1.25 billion U.S. dollars) by the end of last month.

SHANGHAI EXPO

The 2010 World Expo in Shanghai is the first World Expo in a developing country since its debut in London in 1851.

The Chinese government has invested billions of yuan in infrastructure and services for the six-month event that opened on May 1.

The Shanghai Expo is the largest in Expo history with 189 countries and 57 international organizations participating.

By July 29, around 34.5 million people had visited the Expo, leading to a shortage of pavilion entrance tickets and long queues.

LOW CARBON

Since the Copenhagen climate talks in 2009, China has expressed its desire to play its role in environmental protection, to increase cooperation with other nations and to cut per-capita emissions of greenhouse gases.

China invested 1.4 trillion yuan (205.3 billion U.S. dollars) in environmental protection from 2005 to 2010.

Ordinary people are gradually becoming more aware of the necessity of living low-carbon lifestyles.