Top 10 world news events in 2008

7. Financial crisis seriously impacts world economy

U.S. Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke (2nd L), Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson (3rd L) and President George W. Bush (C) sit down to a G-20 Ministerial Meeting led by Brazil's Finance Minister Guido Mantega (2nd R) and Central Bank President Henrique Meirelles (R) at IMF Headquarters in Washington, October 11, 2008.

On Sept. 15, the fourth biggest investment bank of the United States, Lehman Brothers, filed for bankruptcy, in an indication that the subprime crisis was developing into a comprehensive financial crisis.

The crisis soon spread from the United States to the whole world, from developed nations to developing countries, and from the financial field to the field of the real economy.

Under the impact of the financial crisis, global economic growth slowed markedly. The three big economies -- the United States, the European Union and Japan -- sank into recession.

At the G20 summit on the financial market and world economy on Nov. 15 in Washington, leaders reached agreements on jointly handling the financial crisis and bolstering economic growth. Before and after the summit, major economies, such as the United States, the EU, Japan and China, put forward large-scale bailout and stimulus plans to stabilize the financial market and prevent a global economic recession.