HOUSE PRICE CONTROL

In the first half, the country's housing prices continued to soar, especially in big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou.

Premier Wen Jiabao pledged the government would make efforts to curb rising property prices. A series of policies have been introduced, including higher taxes, an increased supply of affordable homes, and tighter controls of bank credit.

Home prices in 70 large and medium-sized cities rose by 12.4 percent year on year in May, 0.4 percentage points down from the rise in April, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

WORLD CUP

In the first World Cup ever held in Africa, 32 teams gathered in South Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup from June 11 to July 11.

Spain emerged as the champion, but Paul, the psychic octopus, stole the show by predicting all the winners in eight games.

However, scientists say the octopus merely favored the colors of the flags, which were similar to those of shrimps and crabs.

PEACEKEEPING POLICE

In January, eight Chinese peacekeeping police were killed in the earthquake in Haiti.

Four of the victims were officers of China's peacekeeping force in Haiti, and the rest were part of a team sent by the Ministry of Public Security to Haiti for peacekeeping consultations.

State funerals was held when their bodies returned to China and they were all honored as heroes.

DEBT CRISIS

On April 27, the Greek debt crisis sparked turmoil for Europe's economy and fears about the stability of the Euro zone.

European Union finance ministers agreed on an unprecedented rescue package worth up to 750 billion Euros (956 billion U.S. dollars) to prevent the spread of the debt crisis and rebuild confidence.