To whom it may concern

China Daily wants to hear from you. Every year newspapers tarditionally draw up a list of the top 10 stories that have dominated the headlines and held sway around water coolers for the past 12 months. Selecting the stories is a job usually left to editors, who peruse the year's events and use their judgment to select those that really stand out. It can be an interesting, though time-consuming process. Yet even the most wizened of veterans gets surprised on occasion by a story that has unexpectedly ignited the public's attention. So this year China Daily is asking you, our readers, to tell us which stories you think were the most important - those you couldn't turn away from, those that had a tremendous effect on the country, the ones that made you cheer or cry, and the ones that impacted you life. To give you a head start, we've drawn up a list of stories (we can't let you have all the fun) and we now invite you to pick those you deem the top news stories of the year. Fromthe following list of 20 significant events, pick the 10 that really stood out for you, the ones you feel most affected you life and the world around you. Or, if there's a story you think should make the top 10 but isn't on our list, feel free to suggest it to us and we will take it into consideration. Once you're done, China Daily will collect the responses and determine which stories readers pushed to the top of the list - and we'll publish the responses in the new year. And lastly, thank you for helping us out, and enjoy your chance to be in our shoes and play editor for the day.

Best wishes,

China Daily editors


	Ten top news of 2009(Max 10)

	The 60th anniversary of the fonding of PRC The past 60 years witnessed the rise of a New China. From a poor and weak country to the world’s economic powerhouse and a strong force to maintain world peace, the country has made a miracle A growth rate of percent Amid the global financial crisis, China announced a 4-trillion yuan stimulus package as well as a series of stimulus measures. As a result of that, China's GDP increased from 6.1 percent in the first quarter of the year - the slowest in nearly a decade - to 7.9 percent in the second and 8.9 percent in the third. There is little doubt that China can achieve an 8 percent GDP growth in 2009. US President Barack Obama's historic China visit United States President Barack Obama visited China in mid-November. He is also the first US president to pay a state visit to China within the first year of taking the office. During his four-day visit to Shanghai and Beijing, Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao released a joint statement, vowing to face various global challenges together. PLA Navy fighting for peace in Somali waters The PLA navy completed about 150 escorting missions up to mid-December, helping hundreds of ships pass through Somali waters, the most dangerous sea lane in the world. The PLA navy started the patrol mission in late December 2008. Faced with rampant piracy, Chinese soldiers are making efforts to preserve global peace and stability. July 5 riots in Urumqi, Xinjiang The bloody riots in Urumqi in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, fanned by separatists, left 197 people dead and 1,700 injured. A total of 41 people have been convicted for murder and other crimes committed during the riots. Seventeen have been sentenced to death. Nine of the 17 have been executed. Internet services are still cut off there. Climate change Climate change, global warming, low-carbon lifestyle … these phrases have never been so popular around the globe, including in China. A green industrial revolution is on its way. Rise of netizens and online supervision With the popularization of the Internet in China, netizens have become a strong force in exposing corruption and uphold justice. China now has about 350 million Internet users, people who go online at least once in six months. Nearly all major websites have chatrooms for netizens to discuss social trends and phenomena. One of their anti-corruption victories came in September, in Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu province. Zhou Jiugeng, the former director of the real estate management bureau of Nanjing's Jiangning district, was sentenced to 11 years in jail, with 1.2 million yuan ($175,000) of personal property confiscated, after netizens posted photos online of him smoking expensive cigarettes, sporting a Vacheron Constantin watch worth about 100,000 yuan and driving a Cadillac. Adoption of the Food Safety Law The tainted baby formula scandal last year, in which at least six babies died and about 300,000 children sickened, exposed loopholes in government supervision of food safety. The scandal also sped up legislation for the country’s first Food Safety Law, which was passed on February 28 and took effect in June. Forced housing demolition - the conflict between private property and public as well as commercial interests Forced house demolition has fired up public attention across the nation this year after constant violent conflicts between individuals and demolishers. The issue peaked recently after the death of a resident who set herself on fire to prevent local authorities in Chengdu, in southwest China's Sichuan province, from seizing and demolishing her home. Five scholars from Peking University have recommended to the country's top legislature that an existing regulation defining the government's ability to seize urban housing should be abolished or revised to protect property owners. Scholars said the State Council regulation is a breach of the country's Constitution and Property Law. World’s top auto producer and market China's total vehicle sales exceeded 12 million in the first 11 months, and is expected to reach at least 13 million in 2009, retaining its lead as the world's top auto market since January. The suspension of Green Dam software filter Online pornography filtering software, Green Dam, which the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology demanded PC manufacturers to include with all PCs sold in China by July 1, was aborted because of strong attacks from both netizens and media organizations. Chest open to prove occupational disease Zhang Haichao, a 28-year-old migrant factory worker who spent two years trying to prove that he suffered from dust lung disease, was only diagnosed as suffering from the disease in September after he ordered that his chest be opened up so a doctor could properly examine his lungs. He finally received 615,000 yuan ($90,000) compensation. Zhang’s case demonstrated how hard it is for workers to get compensation for occupational diseases, and many people like Zhang are still suffering. H1N1 flu A new type of flu – H1N1 – has made the whole world nervous about its possible deadly consequences. China is no exception. From trying its very best to prevent the disease from entering the country, to developing and offering vaccines, China provided answers. What is more important, China learned from the SARS epidemic in 2003 and has been trying its best to ensure transparency. Anti-gang campaign in Chongqing The campaign against Mafia-style gangs was initiated three years ago across the country, and reached a peak this summer in Southwest China’s Chongqing municipality. The anti-gang campaign, which started in June, has busted 61 alleged mafia-style gangs and hundreds of alleged gangsters have stood trial in the city. The crime sweep also seized dozens of senior police officers and judges, who are said to help gangs cover up their crimes. Among them is Chongqing’s former deputy police chief and justice chief Wen Qiang. “Hide-and-seek” death and the national detention houses overhaul A three-month campaign began in April to investigate the reasons behind a series of suspicious deaths of inmates at detention houses. The deaths are suspected to have been results of bullying and torture at detention houses under police officers' control, triggering an outrage in the country. The first case that caught the public's attention was the death of 24-year-old Li Qiaoming at the Jinning detention house in Yunnan province. Detention officers at first claimed Li died accidentally when playing hide-and-seek with inmates. Illegal taxi entrapment exposes wrongful law enforcement On Oct 14 in Pudong district in Shanghai, Sun Zhongjie, 19, cut off his finger to demonstrate his innocence after being entrapped in a scheme to show he was an illegal taxi driver. He cleared his name on Oct 26 when the district government apologized to him and admitted the entrapment. Media reported that more than 1,000 people in Shanghai work as baits to assist traffic law enforcement. Later, the Shanghai Party chief admitted that his city's illegal entrapment tactics to enforce traffic rules were "totally wrong," and happened because of a loophole in the law. Crackdown on drunk driving Zhang Mingbao, a 44-year-old construction contractor in Nanjing in East China’s Jiangsu province, became a target of public anger on the evening of June 30, when he allegedly drank hard liquor, got behind the wheel and ran into nine pedestrians. Among the five killed were a pregnant woman and her baby. The tragedy, followed by some similar ones, pushed the Ministry of Public Security to launch a crackdown against drunk driving starting in August. So far, police across the country have handled 213,000 drunk driving cases, and the death toll caused by drunk driving has dropped by 35 percent compared with the same period of last year. China's Nasdaq-like growth enterprises board, ChiNext, opens ChiNext, inaugurated in Shenzhen on Oct 23 and opening for trading on Oct 30, opens a new channel for companies to raise capital. It will complement two main stock exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen by targeting fast-growth start-up companies. ChiNext has already produced 82 IPO-generated tycoons, each worth at least 100 million yuan ($14.6 million) in stock value. Disneyland in Shanghai Mickey Mouse and friends are on their way to Shanghai after long-awaited plans for a Disney theme park near China's financial hub got the thumbs-up from central authorities. The new project is expected to push up prices of real estate in Shanghai. The Disneyland in Hong Kong, the only Disneyland in China, will expand to face competition. Crackdown on soccer match-fixing and gambling While the country has improved in the sporting arena and topped the medal table at last year's Beijing Olympics, soccer has proven the exception. The performances of the national team have lurched from bad to worse, and the league has struggled to shake off the cloud of match-fixing and corrupt referees – known as "black whistles". In response to growing frustration at the highest level of government about the ugly state of the soccer game in China, the country’s judicial departments started a crackdown against match-fixing and gambling. So far, at least seven executive officers from four soccer clubs in China have been arrested or detained by police departments. Name Telephone Email Address

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