Top 10 economic stories of 2008

　　Editor’s note: Sixteen Beijing-based news agencies, including the People’s Daily, Xinhua News Agency, China Daily and nine economists from government sectors and economic institutions, unvelied on Tuesday their picks for China’s top 10 economic events of the year:
　　The New Labor Contract Law introduced earlier last year entitles workers with over 10 years of service at a firm the right to sign contracts protecting them from dismissal without cause.
　　The snowstorms that hit the central, eastern and southern parts of China last winter left 129 people dead and caused $21 billion in economic losses.examda.com
　　The 8.0-magnitude quake in Sichuan province on May 12 killed more than 69,000 people and injured 374,000 others.
　　The Beijing Olympics saw over 80 Olympic and world records broken, seen by a 4.7-billion audience.
　　Dairy giant Sanlu’s milk powder was found tainted with melamine in September, with other companies also implicated. The scandal left six babies dead and 294,000 others sick.
　　Promoting reform and development in rural areas was put at the top of the agenda for the third Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee.
　　The central bank cut banks’ benchmark lending and deposit rates by 0.27 of a percentage point to boost economic growth after the main stock index tumbled 6.32 percent on Oct 28.
　　The government introduced a 4-trillion-yuan stimulus package in November after the sub-prime crisis in the US last summer led to a global economic slump.examda.com
　　The country unveiled a scheme on fuel taxes and the reform of its refined oil pricing on Dec 5.
　　A new era in cross-Straits relations began on Dec 15 with the launch of daily direct air, shipping and postal services.