On November 7, 1997, the Xinhua News Agency website (http://www.xinhua.org) was officially established .

On March 10, 2000, the Xinhua News Agency website was renamed the "Xinhuanet.com".

On July 5, 2000, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce approved the application of Xinhua News Agency for setting up the Xinhua Network Co., Ltd. On the same day, Xinhuanet.com started to use its new domain name, www.xinhuanet.com, while retaining its original one, www.xinhua.org.

In September of 2000, Xinhua News Agency held a meeting on online reporting at its headquarters in Beijing. Ding Guangen, a member of the Political Bureau and a member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), attended the meeting. Addressing the meeting, he urged Xinhua News Agency to work hard to build Xinhuanet.com into a leading news website.

In November of 2000, the website of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, constructed by Xinhuanet.com, opened officially.

On December 12, 2000, the Information Office of the State Council of China designated Xinhuanet.com as one of the websites eligible to release news online.

On January 4, 2001, media magnate Rupert Murdoch visited Xinhuanet.com. Mr. Murdoch praised the English website of Xinhuanet.com as the best English webpage he had ever seen in China for its rich content and beautiful design.

On January 23, 2001, Kofi Annan, the secretary-general of the United Nations, sent a letter to Xinhuanet.com to convey his greetings to the Chinese people on the Spring Festival, the traditional lunar New Year holiday.

On February 7, 2001, Ding Guangen, a member of the Political Bureau and a member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, visited Xinhuanet.com. He encouraged Xinhuanet.com to step up its efforts to become more influential.

In March of 2001, Xinhuanet.com was authorized to live broadcast press conferences of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). Li Peng, chairman of NPC, visited Xinhuanet.com's reporting site in the Great Hall of the People and praised Xinhuanet.com for its timely and accurate reports. Several provincial governors and ministers discussed with online users China's tenth Five-year Plan for Social and Economic Development on the Development Forum of Xinhuanet.com.

In June of 2001, Xinhuanet.com held the first China Forum on Internet & Media in Qingdao City in cooperation with the All-China Journalists Association. Leaders and experts from 150 major Internet media organizations nationwide attended the forum.

In October of 2001, Xinhuanet.com constructed the official website of APEC 2001 meeting, which received high praise from the world media as the best official website ever run for an international conference.

In January of 2002, Xinhuanet.com conducted its sixth face-lift, making several breakthroughs in its content, technology and services. Its bandwidth widened to 300M-1,000M, exerting a great impact on Internet media organizations.

On January 31, 2002, the official website of "Bo'ao Asian Forum" (http://www.boaoforum.org), which was run exclusively by Xinhuanet.com, opened officially. Xinhuanet.com is in charge of the website's long-term construction, updating, maintenance and management.

On February 21, 2002, Xinhuanet.com was authorized by the central authorities to live broadcast the major events such as the joint press conference held by the heads of states of China and the United States in the Great Hall of the People. It was the first time that video cameras of Xinhuanet.com were erected side by side with those from CNN and CCTV, drawing attention of domestic and foreign correspondents present on the occasion. Xinhuanet.com thus set the precedence in providing online multi-media live-broadcasting service, winning honor for the world Internet websites.

In March of 2002, Xinhuanet.com obtained the permission to open a studio for live-broadcast of major events and press conferences of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). This was the first live-broadcast studio in the history in covering annual sessions of the NPC and CPPCC National Committee, realizing in real terms the live-broadcast of multi-media services. Many CPPCC members and NPC deputies visited the studio of Xinhuanet.com, and exchanged views with Netizens online.

On March 28, 2002, Xinhuanet.com signed a contract with the Mount Qomolangma Nature Reserve Administration. In accordance with the contract, Xinhuanet.com will undertake the construction of the official website of the Mount Qomolangma Nature Reserve, as well as its updating and maintenance.

On April 1, 2002, Li Tieying, a then member of the Political Bureau of CPC Central Committee and president of the Chinese Academy the of Social Science, inspected Xinhuanet.com to learn about the development of Xinhuanet.com.

On May 8, 2002, Xinhuanet.com exclusively live broadcast the "2002 Tianjin 'Business Week' Forum". Chinese Vice-Premier Li Lanqing and former U.S. president J. Bush attended the dinner party hosted by the Forum. The live coverage of these events by Xinhuanet.com drew attention of domestic and overseas media organizations.

On August 25, 2002, Xinhuanet.com opened its second work zone in Golden Mansion in Xidan, downtown Beijing to expand its floor space to 4,300 square meters, thus becoming China's largest Internet platform for releasing news and information.

On September 9, 2002, the multi-media Internet broadcasting studio of Xinhuanet.com, which is also believed to be the largest in China, went into service. Well-known artists including Jiang Kun, Yu Lan and Wu Yanze were specially invited to the studio to meet online users.

On September 11-12, 2002, Xinhuanet.com held successfully in Guiyang, capital of Guizhou Province, "The First High-Level Forum on Internet China (Guiyang) and Western China Development" in cooperation with the Guiyang City Government.

On September 29, 2002, Richard Li, Chairman and CEO of PCCW of Hong Kong, visited Xinhuanet.com and watched with great interest the demonstration of multi-media news broadcast on Xinhuanet.com.

In September of 2002, International Project Management Professional (IPMP) China Committee set up IPMP Beijing Center in Xinhuanet.com, and authorized Xinhuanet.com to carry out IPMP training and authentication.

In November of 2002, Xinhuanet.com covered extensively the 16th CPC National Congress and released stories and information in five languages, namely, Chinese, English, French, Spanish and Russian. This was the first time for Internet media to participate in covering the CPC National Congress. Xinhuanet.com's reports were accurate, and timely with its theme distinct. Daily page views of Xinhuanet.com hit an all-time high in a row to exceed 30 million, with the highest daily clicks topping 120 million. The world-renowned search engine praised Xinhuanet.com as "the best news website in China," and "very outstanding and very good."

In December of 2002, together with Sina.com, Xinhuanet.com started the selection on the Internet top ten domestic and international news items. The event received zealous response from Internet users in China and overseas, with a total of 16 million people participating.

On December of 2002, Li Changchun, a Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, accompanied by Liu Yunshan, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, and Tian Congming, president of Xinhua News Agency, and Nan Zhenzhong, editor-in-chief of Xinhua News Agency, visited Xinhuanet.com, met with the managers & staff and learned about the development of the website.

On February 10, 2003, Xinhuanet.com successfully conducted its seventh all-round face-lift after making a comprehensive study of several hundred websites in China and overseas. It added 12 new channels including "Health", "Reading" and "Campus. " Its new layout was simple and natural, and its content more attractive. The number of visitors to Xinhuanet.com shoot up 30 percent after the introduction of the new layout.

In February of 2003, Xinhuanet.com signed contracts on full cooperation with schools of journalism and communication of Tsinghua University and Beijing University. The two universities designater Xinhuanet.com as their "bases for education, scientific research and practice."

During the annual sessions of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) held in March, 2003, thanks to its multi-media and all-round coverage, Xinhuanet.com became the main window on network reporting. Many NPC deputies and CPPCC National Committee members attended Xinhuanet.com's program of "Online Interview on Annual Sessions". Innovations and Successes.