As Albert Einstein said "I never think of the future – it comes soon enough," the year of 2020 is knocking at the door.

If the key words of 2019 are "major development, transformation and adjustment," how will politics – the huge social power, define the first year of a new decade?

Here is CGTN's selection of the most significant events in politics that will play their own parts in history.

The beginning of the decade will be a big year for China as it will eradicate extreme poverty and build a moderately prosperous society in all respects, meeting its first centenary goal in 2020. Meanwhile, the country is due to unveil its 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) which will launch a batch of major reform and opening-up initiatives.

In the coming year, there are another two important political events related to China – 2020 Taiwan leadership election and the Legislative Council (LegCo) Elections of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). 

More than 12 million Chinese mainland and Taiwan netizens have picked the Chinese character "kun," meaning trapped, as the word of the year for 2019, expecting cross-Strait relations to break free from the trap next year. Will the 2020 election in the region with candidates from three political parties in Taiwan be an opportunity for change?

Although the district council elections of the HKSAR in November completed with over 71 percent turnout, experts noted that making sure the city's democracy and politics stays on the right track remains an important task considering 2019 has been the most grim and complex year for HK since it returned to the motherland.

Turning to diplomacy, further progress is expected for Sino-Japan relations during Chinese President Xi Jinping's possible state visit to Japan in the spring. A question for the new year is whether Sino-U.S. ties will return to a normal and healthy track after the two sides agreed on the text of a phase one economic and trade agreement at the end of the 2019.

And the U.S., presidential elections in 2020 has already been put under the spotlight as President Donald Trump struggles with the rising impeachment storm and 17 candidates vie for the Oval Office, such as Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York City, Joe Biden, the former U.S. vice president and Bernie Sanders, the U.S. senator from Vermont.

Talking about elections, the UK just had its general election on December 12 which helps to pave way for Brexit and brings more hurdles ahead at the same time. Will the winner Boris Johnson laugh at the end when the country leaves the EU as scheduled?

And finally, a focus on the international stage – the UN will launch biggest-ever global conversation on the world's future to mark its 75th anniversary, the 46th G7 summit will be held in the United States while it holds the presidency of the G7, the APEC will launch the Post-2020 Vision after the unprecedented cancellation announced by the hosting country Chile, the SCO summit will be held in Russia and more.

As Aristotle once claimed, "man is by nature a political animal", how could anyone not watch the upcoming political events in 2020?

Graphics: Yin Yating 

Cover Photo: Liu Shaozhen