2018 in China explained

The following lists events that happened during 2018 in China.

Incumbents

• General Secretary of the Communist Party – Xi Jinping
• President – Xi Jinping
• Vice President
  • Li Yuanchao (until 17 March 2018)
  • Wang Qishan (from 17 March 2018)
• Premier – Li Keqiang
• Congress chairman
  • Zhang Dejiang (until 17 March 2018)
  • Li Zhanshu (from 17 March 2018)
• Consultative Conference chairman
  • Yu Zhengsheng (until 14 March 2018)
  • Wang Yang (from 14 March 2018)

Governors

• Governor of Anhui Province  - Li Guoying
  • • • • • Governor of Fujian Province  - Tang Dengjie Governor of Gansu Province  - Tang Renjian Governor of Guangdong Province  - Ma Xingrui Governor of Guizhou Province  - Shen Yiqin Governor of Hainan Province  - Shen Xiaoming Governor of Hebei Province  - Xu Qin
• Governor of Heilongjiang Province  - Lu Hao (until March), Wang Wentao (starting May)
• Governor of Henan Province  - Chen Run'er
• Governor of Hubei Province  - Wang Xiaodong
  • Governor of Hunan Province  - Xu Dazhe Governor of Jiangsu Province  - Wu Zhenglong
• Governor of Jiangxi Province  - Liu Qi (politician, born 1957) (until August), Yi Lianhong (starting August)
• Governor of Jilin Province  - Liu Guozhong (until 4 January), Jing Junhai (starting 4 January)
  • Governor of Liaoning Province  - Tang Yijun Governor of Qinghai Province  - Wang Jianjun (until August), Liu Ning (starting August)
• Governor of Shaanxi Province  - Hu Heping (until 4 January), Liu Guozhong (starting 4 January)
  • • • Governor of Shandong Province  - Gong Zheng Governor of Shanxi Province  - Lou Yangsheng Governor of Sichuan Province  - Yin Li Governor of Yunnan Province  - vacant
• Governor of Zhejiang Province  - Yuan Jiajun

Events

January

• January 2 – Shaanxi, Henan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu and other places have been affected by heavy snow or blizzard, which has damaged housing, agriculture and power infrastructure in some areas, and traffic has been blocked.
• January 5 – As of 11:00, Blizzard snow caused 10 deaths in 5 provinces in Central China and East China, more than 567,000 people were affected.

February

• February 15 – The CCTV Spring Festival Gala, which airs to millions around the country, sparks widespread criticism and faces accusations of racism after featuring a comedy sketch that featured an Asian actress in blackface and with exaggerated buttocks.^[1]

March

• March 5 – 13th National People's Congress was opened.
• March 11 – National People's Congress approves a constitutional change that removes term limits for its leaders, granting General Secretary Xi Jinping the status of "President for life".^[2]
• March 28 – North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong-un met with China's paramount leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Kim's first reported trip outside the country since taking power.^[3]
• March  - scheduled date for the first plenary session to be held by the 13th National People's Congress

May

• May 2  - Censorship in China: Chinese authorities have blocked the popular British children's cartoon, Peppa Pig on its Douyin (TikTok) social media service for "subversive" content. The service had over 30,000 viral videos of Peppa Pig on its platform.^[4]
• May 8  - former Chinese Communist Party official Sun Zhengcai sentenced to life imprisonment for corruption.^[5]

June

• June  - planned launch of the lunar exploration mission Chang'e 4.

August

• August 18 to 19 - Tropical Storm Rumbia caused heavy rain in several province, causing 53 fatalities, including 2 policeman who were washed away by the flood.

September

• September 15 — the annual routine Air Defense Alert originally scheduled for Guangzhou was cancelled.^[6]
• September 16 — Typhoon Mangkhut gradually approached Guangdong. Urban public transportation in Guangzhou and Shenzhen is also affected, in which part of the Guangzhou Metro is out of service; in Shenzhen, buses, subways, and taxis are all out of service, and pure electric taxi charging stations are also closed.^{[7] [8]}

October

• October 3  - The PRC authorities ordered Fan Bingbing and the companies she controls to pay around 883 million yuan (around US$129 million) in taxes, fines, and penalties. She also broke silence on her Weibo account by apologizing for what she had done.

November

• November 13 — “Great Change – A Large-Scale Exhibition Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Reform and Opening-up” was grandly opened at the National Museum of the People’s Republic of China. On the afternoon of the same day, Xi Jinping came here to visit the exhibition, reviewing the glorious course of the 40 years of reform and opening up, and proclaiming the firm determination to carry out reform and opening up.

^[9]

Popular culture

Film

• List of Chinese films of 2018

Deaths

January

• 2 January – Ye Zhemin, 93, art historian.^[10]
• 9 January
  • Guan De, 85, aircraft designer.^[11]
  • Yuan Chengye, 93, chemist.
• 16 January – Liu Zhonghua, 101, major general.
• 17 January – He Yousheng, 86, hydrodynamicist.
• 18 January – Ding Guangquan, 73, comedian.

February

• 1 February – Su Bai, 95, archaeologist.^[12]
• 11 February – Sun Shu, 84, geologist.
• 12 February – Luo Haocai, 83, politician and legal scholar.
• 19 February – Zhang Junsheng, 81, optical engineer, politician, and academic administrator.
• 24 February – Yang Rudai, 91, politician.
• 25 February – Dai Fudong, 89, architect.
• 26 February – Li Boguang, 49, legal scholar and human rights activist.
• 28 February – Chen Xiaolu, 71, businessman and princeling.

March

• 3 March
  • Lin Hu, 90, air force general.
  • Yao Xian, 90, air force general.
• 7 March – Hao Bailin, 83, physicist.
• 15 March
  • Huang Wenpan, 22, swimmer.
  • Ling Yun, 100, politician.
• 18 March – Li Ao, 82, Chinese-Taiwanese writer and politician ^[13]

April

• 4 April – Li Zhengyou, 82, agronomist and politician, Vice-Governor of Yunnan Province.^[14]
• 7 April
  • Ai Xing, 93, mechanical engineer.
  • Li Zhen, 93, politician, Chairman of the Shandong People's Congress.^[15]
  • Wang Wusheng, 73, photographer.^[16]
• 10 April
  • Li Dawei, 47, director.
  • Li Yaowen, 99, politician, general and diplomat.
  • Wu Nansheng, 95, politician.
  • Yang Gui, 89, politician, chief designer of the Red Flag Canal.
• 11 April – Li Tian, 79, aerodynamicist and aircraft designer.
• 12 April – Hu Chengzhi, 100, palaeontologist and palaeoanthropologist.^[17]
• 16 April – Lü Chuanzan, 85, politician, Chairman of Hebei Provincial People's Congress (1993–1998).^[18]
• 20 April – Nie Bichu, 90, politician.

May

• 2 May – Wang Danfeng, 93, actress
• 10 May – Wu Dechang, 90, toxicologist.
• 18 May – Sun Fuling, 96, business executive and politician
• 19 May – Zhengzhang Shangfang, 84, linguist
• 22 May – Lu Chunling, 96, flautist
• 28 May – Lin Zunqi, 75, physicist and specialist in solid-state laser
• 30 May – Li Zaiping, 92, molecular biologist

June

• 8 June – Liu Jianfu, 100, politician
• 9 June – Zhang Junzhao, 65, film director and screenwriter (One and Eight, The Shining Arc).^[19]
• 17 June – Zhao Nanqi, 91, general and politician
• 20 June – Hu Wei, 97, general
• 21 June – Yan Jizhou, 100, film director
• 22 June – Ai Weiren, 86, Chinese soldier

July

• 2 July – Liu Boli, 87, nuclear chemist.
• 3 July – Wang Jian, 56, businessman
• 8 July – Liu Tonghua, 88, pathologist.
• 11 July
  • Wu Bing'an, 89, ethnologist
  • Ji Chunhua, actor (b. 1961)
  • Liu Zhenhua, general (b. 1921)
• 18 July – Ling Li, writer and historian (b. 1942).^[20]
• 26 July – Sha Yexin, 79, playwright
• 27 July – Song Yuquan, 85, materials scientist.
• 29 July – Lin Xiangdi, 84, optoelectronic engineer, President of the Southwest University of Science and Technology.
• 30 July – Zhou Yaohe, 91, materials scientist.
• 31 July – Su Hongxi, 103, surgeon.

August

• 1 August – Cui Xiuwen, artist.
• 3 August – Zhang Baosheng, 57–58, qigong master.
• 7 August – Liu Guangding, 88, geologist.
• 11 August – Li Chaoyi, 84, neurobiologist.
• 12 August – Ma Jin, 83, geologist.
• 19 August – Hong Chaosheng, 97, physicist.

September

• 1 September – Chen Xian, 98, politician.
• 7 September
  • Chang Baohua, xiangsheng actor (b. 1930).
  • Yang Side, general (b. 1921)
  • Sheng Zhongguo, 77, violinist
• 8 September – Yang Zhenya, 90, diplomat
• 11 September – Shan Tianfang, pingshu actor (b. 1934).
• 13 September – Lin Hujia, politician (b. 1916).
• 15 September – Zhu Xu, 88, actor
• 16 September
  • Min Naiben, 83, physicist and materials scientist.
  • Wang Guofa, 72, politician
• 19 September – Buren Bayaer, 58, singer and journalist.
• 20 September – Wang Mengshu, 79, tunnel and railway engineer
• 21 September – Xu Delong, 66, materials scientist, President of Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology.
• 23 September – Liu Jie, 103, politician
• 28 September
  • Zang Tianshuo, 54, musician
  • Shi Shengjie, 65, xiangsheng comedian

October

• 3 October – Fang Nanjiang, 75, novelist and general
• 5 October – Lin Xiao, politician (b. 1920).
• 9 October – Lü Junchang, 53, palaeontologist
• 16 October – Ismail Amat, 83, politician
• 18 October – Li Lianda, 84, pharmacologist
• 20 October – Zheng Xiaosong, 59, politician and diplomat
• 25 October
  • Chen Tiemei, 83, archaeologist^[21]
  • Li Yong, 50, television host
• 27 October – Yang Ziyuan, 90, politician
• 29 October
  • Wang Guangying, 99, entrepreneur and politician
  • Li Xifan, 90, literary scholar and redologist.
• 30 October – Jin Yong, 94, a Chinese wuxia novelist and newspaper founder.
• 31 October
  • Chen Chuangtian, 81, materials scientist
  • Hou Fusheng, 94, petroleum engineer

November

• 4 November – Wang Huanyu, 63, astrophysicist.
• 6 November – Deng Qidong, 80, geologist.
• 7 November – Xie Shileng, 83, port and coastal engineer.
• 10 November – Liu Xuyi, 105, historian.^[22]
• 12 November – Wang Junmin, 63, politician
• 15 November
  • Ba Zhongtan, 88, lieutenant general
  • Zhang Ting, 96, politician
• 17 November – Cheng Kaijia, 100, nuclear physicist and engineer.
• 19 November – Wu Jianchang, 79, engineer and politician
• 24 November – Shi Jiaonai, 97, plant physiologist
• 30 November – Chang Guitian, 76, xiangsheng actor

December

• 1 December – Zhang Ouying, 43, football player and coach
• 8 December – Wang Ruilin, 88, general and politician
• 9 December – Peng Sixun, 99, medicinal chemist
• 13 December
  • Gao Jindian, 79, army officer
  • Yuan Mu, 90, politician
• 15 December – Eryue He, 73, writer
• 19 December – Tömür Dawamat, 91, politician

Notes and References

1. News: China's biggest show in 'racist blackface'. 2018-02-16. BBC News. 2018-02-17. en-GB.
2. Web site: China's Xi allowed to remain 'president for life' as term limits removed. BBC News. 11 March 2018.
3. News: North Korea's Kim Jong Un visited China for secret summit. 28 March 2018. NBC News. NBC News.
4. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/02/peppa-pig-videos-removed-by-chinese-social-media-app-douyin.html Peppa Pig got big in China. Then she got censored
5. News: Former party boss in China's Chongqing city jailed for life for graft. Reuters. 8 May 2018. www.reuters.com.
6. Web site: 关于取消2018年9月15日防空警报试鸣的紧急通知. 广州市民防办公室. 2018-09-15. 2018-09-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20180915121836/https://www.gz.gov.cn/gzgov/gsgg/201809/a05c12cc7d79433dbc77eebccd48b2d3.shtml. 2018-09-15. dead.
7. Web site: 台风"山竹"将临：广深多处地铁、公交停运. 新京报新媒体. 2018-09-16.
8. Web site: 深圳全市出租车已全部停运. 人民网-深圳频道. 2018-09-16.
9. “Xi Jinping Attends Commemoration on the 40th Anniversary of China-US Ping-Pong Diplomacy.” Cz.china-Embassy.gov.cn, cz.china-embassy.gov.cn/cze/zgxw/201112/t20111212_2621193.htm. Accessed 5 June 2023.
10. Web site: 汝窑窑址发现认定第一人叶喆民逝世 享年94岁--书画--人民网. https://web.archive.org/web/20190903074236/http://art.people.com.cn/n1/2018/0103/c226026-29742678.html. dead. September 3, 2019. art.people.com.cn.
11. Web site: 年终纪念｜2018年，这些两院院士逝世. Jiang Ziwen 蒋子文. 2018-12-28. The Paper. 2019-03-16.
12. Web site: http://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1978714 . zh:考古学泰斗宿白病逝，一生献给考古却自认"只是个教书匠 . thepaper.cn . zh . 4 February 2018 .
13. News: Taiwanese author Li Ao dies after battling with brain tumour . . 18 March 2018 . 18 March 2018.
14. Web site: 李铮友同志逝世--新闻报道-人民网. https://web.archive.org/web/20200911013245/http://cpc.people.com.cn/n1/2018/0413/c87393-29925343.html. dead. September 11, 2020. cpc.people.com.cn.
15. Web site: 山东省人大常委会原主任、党组原书记李振逝世，享年94岁_逝者_澎湃新闻-The Paper. www.thepaper.cn.
16. Web site: 摄影师汪芜生辞世，一生执着于"黑白黄山"_艺术评论_澎湃新闻-The Paper. https://web.archive.org/web/20201002202644/https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_2071907. dead. October 2, 2020. www.thepaper.cn.
17. Web site: Obituary. https://web.archive.org/web/20180418042001/http://www.ivpp.cas.cn/xwdt/zhxw/201804/t20180413_4996684.html. dead. April 18, 2018.
18. Web site: 河北省政协原主席吕传赞逝世，享年86岁_中国政库_澎湃新闻-The Paper. https://web.archive.org/web/20180417105218/https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_2078523. dead. April 17, 2018. www.thepaper.cn.
19. Web site: 中国电影第五代奠基人、导演张军钊去世，张艺谋微博悼念_逝者_澎湃新闻-The Paper. https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143910/https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_2184238. dead. June 12, 2018. www.thepaper.cn.
20. Web site: 历史小说家凌力逝世 曾以《少年天子》获茅盾奖|少年天子|凌力|逝世_新浪娱乐_新浪网. https://web.archive.org/web/20180718174634/http://ent.sina.com.cn/v/m/2018-07-18/doc-ihfnsvza3062272.shtml. dead. July 18, 2018. July 18, 2018. ent.sina.com.cn.
21. Web site: 北京大学考古文博学院教授、著名科技考古学家陈铁梅逝世_中国政库_澎湃新闻-The Paper. https://web.archive.org/web/20190515040352/https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_2568144. dead. May 15, 2019. www.thepaper.cn.
22. Web site: 刘绪贻逝世. https://web.archive.org/web/20200807163848/http://sky.cssn.cn/sjs/sjs_zxgg/201811/t20181112_4773729.shtml. dead. August 7, 2020.