1, Chinese peacekeepers depart from Beijing for the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is the second time China has sent a detachment of military personnel to join a UN-sponsored overseas peacekeeping mission. Before this, Chinese engineering troops participated in the peacekeeping mission in Cambodia between 1992 and 1993.

10, With the agreement of the family, Tongji Hospital in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, declares a patient, suffering from cerebral hemorrhage, to be China's first case of "brain death." The announcement was made according to the definition of authoritative medical institutions worldwide and the draft Brain Death Diagnostic Standards formulated by a task force of the Ministry of Health.

12, President Hu Jintao, who is on an inspection tour in Guangdong Province, meets with Tung Chee-hwa, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, in Shenzhen, a port city neighboring Hong Kong. Hu said that the Central Government was deeply concerned of the SARS outbreak in Hong Kong and would give full support to the region's efforts to win the battle against the epidemic. On April 14, the president visited the Guangdong Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

25, President Hu Jintao meets with visiting French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin in Beijing. Both sides exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern.

26, The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress removes Zhang Wenkang from the post of minister of health and appoints Vice Premier Wu Yi to the post.

26, President Hu Jintao talks telephonically with his U.S. counterpart George W. Bush, at the request of the U.S side. During the conversation, Bush spoke highly of the Chinese Government's extraordinary work in fighting against SARS and said the U.S. side was willing to offer any possible support and assistance. Hu said the Chinese Government always gives priority to people's health and life. Citing SARS as the common enemy of the humankind, he stressed that the Chinese Government is confident in and capable of effectively containing and winning the fight against SARS through arduous efforts.

26, The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress decides to transfer the regulatory powers formerly executed by the People's Bank of China, the central bank, to the Chinese Banking Regulatory Commission. On April 28, the commission was established.

28, At the invitation of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Premier Wen Jiabao leaves Beijing for the China-ASEAN Leaders' Special Meeting on SARS in Bangkok.