Sixty years ago on October 1, Chinese leader Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) on the Tiananmen Rostrum in the heart of Beijing. The proclamation ushered in a new era in the history of the Chinese nation. Epoch-making changes have since taken place in the country's social, political, economic and cultural dimensions. This year on the National Day, the Tiananmen Rostrum once again witnessed a grand celebration ceremony. People of all ethnic groups and from all over the country gathered in front of the centuries-old structure, to proudly showcase the achievements of the past six decades.

Since its inauguration in 1958, Beijing Review has been dedicated to recording every step the nation has taken, forward or backward. In this process, we have produced a commemorative issue for every decennial anniversary of the growing People's Republic.

Sixty years is not a long time in the context of history. However, when looking back, every decade in the PRC's history has turned into a milestone of the Chinese people's unremitting struggles for a great national revival.

In the first 10 years, the first Constitution of the PRC was promulgated. The country also kicked off its march toward industrialization by carrying out the First Five-Year Plan for development.

The second 10 years featured more setbacks than any other period in the history of the PRC. In addition to severe natural disasters that ravaged the country in 1960-62, the start of the "cultural revolution" in 1966 marked the beginning of a 10-year-long stagnation and retrogression in the country's economic and social areas.

During the third 10 years of its founding, the PRC eventually established the development path that is most suitable to its actual conditions—reform and opening up. The first half of this decade was marked with such events as the successful launch of China's first satellite and the thawing of China-U.S. tension as a result of the "ping-pong diplomacy." In 1978, the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China launched efforts to correct all the mistakes committed before and during the "cultural revolution," and decided to shift the focus of the Party and the country toward economic construction.

In the following decade, the Chinese Government made earnest efforts to push forward reform and opening up. In rural areas, where economic restructuring first began, the household contract system was put into thorough practice. The country also opened 14 coastal cities to overseas investment and later designated the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta and the Xiamen-Zhangzhou-Quanzhou triangle area in Fujian Province as coastal opening-up areas. In 1984, the PRC made its Olympic debut in Los Angeles, the United States.

The fifth 10 years of the PRC saw China resuming sovereignty over Hong Kong and Macao. The successful launch and recovery of the unmanned Shenzhou 1 spacecraft in 1999 showed encouraging breakthroughs in China's space exploration program.

In the last 10 years, China acceded to the World Trade Organization. In 2003, the country's first manned spacecraft, Shenzhou 5, made China the third country in the world to be able to put astronauts into orbit, after Russia and the United States. Its first lunar probe, Chang'e-1, which was launched in 2007, also proved a big success. In August 2008, Beijing hosted the first ever Olympic Games in China.

The PRC took a bumpy road to modernization in the past six decades. It still has a long way to go before accomplishing all its developmental goals and is certain to encounter more challenges in the future. Despite this, all Chinese believe that the nation is en route toward even greater success.