c.5000 BCE
The Chinese civilization begins. Farming methods become more efficient and the population increases.

1600 BCE
The Shang dynasty comes to power in China.

1046 BCE
Following defeat at the at the Battle of Muye, the Shang dynasty is overthrown and the Zhou dynasty begins.

771–476 BCE
Spring and Autumn period. Zhou dynasty kings ruled China, but real power was held by powerful nobles.

551 BCE
Birth of the philosopher Confucius.

475–221 BCE
Period of unrest across China as separate states gradually become independent and begin to fight each other (Warring States period).

221 BCE
Qin rule begins in China. Qin Shi Huangdi becomes the first emperor. Work on the Great Wall of China and the Terracotta Army begins.
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210 BCE
Shi Huangdi dies.

206 BCE–220 CE
The Han dynasty rules China.

138–125 BCE
Zhang Qian travels around central Asia.

114 BCE
The first Chinese merchants journey west along the Silk Road.

100 BCE
Indian monks bring Buddhism to China.

220–280 CE
China splits into three kingdoms: Wei, Shu and Wu.

280–420
The Jin dynasty rules China.

399
Chinese monk Faxian visits India and Sri Lanka to study Buddhism.

420–581
China is ruled by Southern and Northern dynasties.

589
The Sui dynasty unites China.

618–901
The Tang dynasty rules China.
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629–645
Xuanzang, a Buddhist monk, travels around Central Asia and India. He returns with a large collection of precious religious texts and sacred relics.

755–63
An Lushan Rebellion: Tang general declares himself emperor of the new Yan dynasty, but his forces are eventually defeated. Up to 36 million people may have died of starvation and disease.

960–1279
The Song dynasty rules in China.

1162–1227
Life of Genghis Khan.

1211
The Mongols invade China under the command of Genghis Khan.

​​​​​​​1215
The Mongols capture Beijing.

1215–1294
Life of Kublai Khan.

1271–1368
The Mongol (Yuan) dynasty rules China.

1279
Kublai Khan finally conquers all of China.
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1368–1644
The Ming dynasty rules China.

1405–33
Voyages led by Admiral Zheng He, intended to establish Chinese overlordship in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean.
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1406
Building starts on the Forbidden City.

1644–1912
The Manchu (Qing) dynasty rules China.

1839–42 and 1856–60
The Opium Wars: war between China and Britain after British merchants try to illegally import the drug opium into China. China is forced to accept European trade in its territories.

1850–64
Taiping Rebellion: civil war breaks out between Qing dynasty and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, a breakaway state led by Hong Xiuquan. After one of the bloodiest wars in human history, with up to 70 million dead, the Taipings are eventually defeated following the siege of Nanjing.

​​​​​​​1861–1908
Dowager Empress Cixi is effective ruler of China

1894–95
War with Japan (Jiawu War) fought over competing influence in Korea. China is defeated and is forced to cede Taiwan (Formosa), the Penghu (Pescadores) Islands and the Liaodong Peninsula to Japan.

1900
Anti-foreigner Boxer Uprising is crushed by Western forces.

1911–12
The Chinese Revolution overthrows the Qing dynasty. The Republic of China is established, with Nationalist leader Sun Yat-sen briefly China's first president. Power passes to Yuan Shikai, who declares himself Emperor of China, before abdicating in 1916.
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1916–28
Warlord Era: following death of Yuan Shikai, control of China is divided between rival military factions

1921
The Chinese Communist Party is founded. Mao Zedong joins the party.

1927
Having seized control of the Nationalist Party (Kuomintang or KMT), Chiang Kai-shek brings most of south and central China under his rule by military force and establishes a government in Nanjing.

1927–36
The Chinese Civil War: war breaks out between forces loyal to the government of the Republic of China and the Communist Party.

1931
Japan occupies the northern Chinese province of Manchuria, which they call Manchukuo. They seize the neighbouring Jehol province in 1933.

1934–35
Mao Zedong leads 100,000 Communists on the Long March.

1937–45
Japan invades China. Nationalists and Communists join forces to fight against them.

1945–49
The Chinese Civil War resumes, ending in Communist victory.

​​​​​​​1949
Mao proclaims the People's Republic of China. Defeated Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek sets up a Nationalist government in Taiwan.

1958–61
The Great Leap Forward: a five-year plan to modernize industry is launched. Millions die in famine.

1966–9
The Cultural Revolution: Mao's attempts to get rid of the "impure" elements in society result in great social upheaval and the deaths of more than a million people.

1971
People's Republic of China is recognized as "the only legitimate representative of China to the United Nations"; UN removes recognition of the Republic of China, ruled by the Nationalist government in Taiwan

1976
Death of Mao. The Gang of Four are arrested and blamed for the disastrous impact of the Cultural Revolution.

1978
Guided by Deng Xiaoping, China's leaders introduce economic reforms which allow some private ownership of land and businesses. The reforms lead to significant economic growth for China over the coming decades. Reforms to loosen control over Chinese citizens' lives are introduced in the 1980s.
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1979
Government imposes one-child policy in an effort to curb population growth

1989
Student protests in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, are violently suppressed.

1997
Hong Kong, formerly a British possession, reverts to Chinese control. It is followed by Macau in 1999.

2006
Work on the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydro-electric power project, is completed (May); New China-Tibet railway line, the world's highest route, begins operatiions

2008
Violent anti-China protests in Tibet (March); Beijing hosts Summer Olympic Games

2013
China's economy has grown to be the world's second largest, after the USA's, and it is the world's largest exporter and importer of goods; government announces plans to relax one-child policy, in force since 1979 (November); China successfully lands the Yutu ("Jade Rabbit") rover on the surface of the Moon (December)

2014
Protests in Hong Kong against Beijing's plans to vet (approve or disapprove) candidates for elections in 2017

2015
China's economic growth falls to its lowest level for more than 20 years: 7.4%; China in dispute with US over artificial reefs it is building among disputed Spratly Islands in South China Sea (October); government announces the end of the one-child policy (October)
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2016
China replaces one-child policy with a two-child policy, in order to tackle the problem of a growing ageing population.

2017–present
Following unrest in the western province of Xinjiang, home to a number of ethnic groups including around 11 million Uighur Muslims, the Chinese government establishes what it calls Vocational Education and Training Centres there. Described by former detainees as "re-education camps", they hold up to a million Uighurs, who are forced to learn Mandarin Chinese and to renounce (give up) their faith, Islam. There are also allegations of torture.

​​​​​​​2018
National People's Congress votes to remove a two-term limit on the presidency, allowing President Xi Jinping to remain in office as long as he wishes

2020
An outbreak of a disease, Covid-19, caused by a new strain of the coronavirus occurs in Wuhan, Hubei province (December 2019). It escalates rapidly, soon spreading all over the world. In China itself, more than 84,000 people contracted the disease and more than 4600 people are reported to have died by July 2020.

2021
(May) China successfully lands a rover on Mars with Tianwen-1 space probe

2022
(February) Winter Olympics are held in Beijing, making it the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics

2022
(November) China's new space station, Tiangong ("Palace in the Sky"), becomes fully operational

2022
(November–December) Protests against Covid19 lockdowns, known as the White Paper Protests. Government abandons zero-Covid policy

2023
It is announced that China's population has fallen for the first time in more than 60 years, from 1,412,600,000 people at the end of 2021 to 1,411,750,000 people at the end of 2022, a drop of 850,000. It marks the beginning of what is expected to be a long period of population decline, despite government efforts to reverse the trend.

2024
(June) Chinese space probe Chang'e 6 lands on the far side of the Moon and collects rock samples, which are returned to Earth