History of Beijing - People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

Left:From atop Tiananmen Gate, Mao Zedong, proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China on October 1, 1949 and Beijing again became the capital of China. Right: Beijing middle school students attended the ceremony in Tiananmen Square. See also: History of the People's Republic of China

On October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong stood atop the rostrum of Tiananmen Gate, proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China. The city's name was restored to Beijing, which again served as the capital of China. At the time, the city limits contained 707 km2 of territory and had just over 2.03 million residents. Over the next sixty years, the city would reach unprecedented size in both territory (expanding 23-fold) and population (growing ten-fold) as well as political stature and importance. As the political center of a highly-centralized government, Beijing and its residents bore witness to many of the political events and developments that shaped modern China.

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