Photo taken on April 30, 2010 shows the light, fountain and firework show at the opening ceremony of the Shanghai World Expo in Shanghai, east China. With the theme of "Better City, Better Life," the Shanghai World Expo ran from May 1 to Oct. 31 in east China city Shanghai. The Expo, the first of its kind staged in a developing country, was another great event in China after the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It attracted 246 participating countries and international organizations and a record number of 73 million visitors. [Xinhua]

Photo taken on June 29, 2010 shows Chen Yunlin (2nd R, front), president of the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), signing the long-awaited Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) and an agreement on intellectual property rights protection, with Chiang Pin-kung (2nd L Front), chairman of the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), in Chongqing Municipality, southwest China. Chinese mainland and Taiwan negotiators signed the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) in Chongqing on June 29, a move hailed by many as a milestone in cross-Strait relations. Agreed upon by the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), the ECFA is believed to be helpful for institutionalizing economic cooperation and facilitating and regularizing economic and trade exchanges between the mainland and Taiwan. [Xinhua]