Events in the year 2008 in China.

Incumbents

Hu Jintao Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese politician who served as the 16–17th general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the 6th president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 2003 to 2013, an ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Wen Jiabao Wen Jiabao (born 15 September 1942) is a retired Chinese politician who served as the Premier of the State Council from 2003 to 2013. In his capacity as head of government, Wen was regarded as the leading figure behind China's economic policy ...

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

Zeng Qinghong Zeng Qinghong (born 30 July 1939) is a retired Chinese politician. He was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, China's highest leadership council, and top-ranked member of the Secretariat of the Central ...

to March 16,

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...

* Vice Premier: Wu Yi to March 16,

Li Keqiang Li Keqiang (born 1 July 1955) is a Chinese politician who is the outgoing premier of China. An economist by profession, Li is head of China's executive branch as well as one of the leading figures behind China's Financial and Economic Affai ...

* Congress Chairman:

Wu Bangguo Wu Bangguo (born 12 July 1941) is a retired high-ranking politician in the People's Republic of China. He was the Chairman and Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 2003 to ...

* Conference Chairman:

Jia Qinglin Jia Qinglin (; born 13 March 1940) is a retired senior leader of the People's Republic of China and of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He was a member of the CCP's Politburo Standing Committee, the party's highest ruling organ, between ...

Governors

* Governor of Anhui Province –

Wang Sanyun Wang Sanyun (; born December 1952) is a former Chinese politician. He began his political career in Guizhou province, before serving in Sichuan, Fujian, and Anhui provinces. He served as Anhui governor between 2007 and 2011, and was transferred t ...

* Governor of Fujian Province –

Huang Xiaojing Huang Xiaojing (; February 1946 - ) is a politician of the People's Republic of China and a former governor of Fujian Province. A native of Fuzhou, Fujian, Huang started working in September 1969, and joined the Chinese Communist Party in Decem ...

* Governor of Gansu Province –

Xu Shousheng Xu Shousheng (; 23 January 1953 – 5 December 2020) was a Chinese politician. He was the Communist Party Secretary of Hunan from 2013 to 2016. He served as the Governor of Hunan and Gansu provinces. Biography Xu was born in Rudong County, Jian ...

* Governor of Guangdong Province –

Huang Huahua Huang Huahua (born October 1946 in Xingning, Guangdong) is a retired Chinese politician, and the Governor of Guangdong between 2003 and 2011. Of Hakka heritage, he was once the mayor of Meizhou. Biography Huang was born in Xingning County, G ...

* Governor of Guizhou Province –

Lin Shusen Lin Shusen (born December 1946) is a politician of the People's Republic of China. He was Governor and Deputy Communist Party Chief of Guizhou Province from 2006 to 2010. Prior to that he was Communist Party Chief and Mayor of Guangzhou, capi ...

* Governor of Hainan Province –

Luo Baoming Luo Baoming (; born October 1952) is a Chinese politician who spent his career in Tianjin and Hainan province. Since 2011, Luo has served as the Communist Party Secretary of Hainan province; prior to that he served as governor of Hainan betwe ...

* Governor of Hebei Province –

Guo Gengmao Guo Gengmao (; born December 1950) is a politician of the People's Republic of China. He served as Communist Party Secretary and Governor of Henan Province, as well as Governor of his native Hebei Province. Biography Guo Gengmao was born in Ji ...

(until April),

Hu Chunhua Hu Chunhua (; born 1 April 1963) is a Chinese politician, a former member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and a Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China in Premier Li Keqiang's Cabinet. He worked in Tibet for much of ...

(starting April) * Governor of Heilongjiang Province –

Li Zhanshu Li Zhanshu (; born August 30, 1950) is a Chinese politician, and the current outgoing chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the Chinese Speaker. He was the third-ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committe ...

* Governor of Henan Province –

Li Chengyu Li Chengyu () (born August 1946) is a Chinese politician. He served as the Governor of Henan between 2003 and 2008, and president of All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives between 2008 and 2011. Biography Li Chengyu was born i ...

(until unknown),

(starting April) * Governor of Hubei Province – Luo Qingquan * Governor of Hunan Province –

Zhou Qiang Zhou Qiang (; born 25 April 1960) is a Chinese politician who is the current Chief Justice and President of the Supreme People's Court of China. Previously, he served as the secretary of the Chinese Communist Party's Hunan committee, the effect ...

* Governor of Jiangsu Province – Liang Baohua (until January), Luo Zhijun (starting January) * Governor of Jiangxi Province –

Wu Xinxiong Wu Xinxiong (; born 1949) is a Chinese politician. From 2013 to 2014, Wu was the Director of the National Energy Administration, China's national energy regulatory agency. He served as the Governor of Jiangxi from January 2007 to June 2011. Bi ...

* Governor of Jilin Province –

Han Changfu Han Changfu (; born 10 October 1954) is a Chinese politician. Until December 2020 he was Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Before he was Governor of Jilin province. Han joined the Chinese Communist Party in January 1974. He holds a do ...

* Governor of Liaoning Province –

Chen Zhenggao Chen Zhenggao (; born March 1952) is a Chinese politician. He is best known for his terms as Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and governor of Liaoning province. Biography Chen was born in Haicheng, Liaoning Province, China. He wa ...

* Governor of Qinghai Province – Song Xiuyan * Governor of Shaanxi Province –

Yuan Chunqing Yuan Chunqing (; born March 1952) is a retired Chinese politician. He was deputy chief of the Office for Rural Work and the Communist Party Chief of Shanxi province. Prior to that, he was Governor of neighbouring Shaanxi province. Biography Yu ...

* Governor of Shandong Province –

Jiang Daming Jiang Daming (; born 1953) is a politician of the People's Republic of China. He served as the Minister of Land and Resources, and formerly served as Governor of Shandong province. Career Jiang was born in Rongcheng, Shandong province. He joi ...

* Governor of Shanxi Province –

Meng Xuenong Meng Xuenong (; born August 1949) is a Chinese politician. Meng worked as a factory worker in Beijing before getting involved in politics through the local Communist Youth League organization. He was the Vice Mayor of Beijing between 1993 and 200 ...

(until September), Wang Jun (starting December) * Governor of Sichuan Province –

Jiang Jufeng Jiang Jufeng (; born 1948) is a Chinese politician. He served as the Governor of Sichuan from 2007 to 2013. Jiang was born in 1948 in Zhuji, Zhejiang Province. He graduated from Fudan University in 1982 and the same year joined the Chinese Com ...

* Governor of Yunnan Province –

Qin Guangrong Qin Guangrong (; born 25 December 1950) is a former Chinese politician. He previous served as deputy chair of the committee on internal legal affairs of the National People's Congress, from 2014 to 2018, the Communist Party Secretary of Yunnan p ...

* Governor of Zhejiang Province –

Lü Zushan Lü Zushan (born November 1946) is a politician of the People's Republic of China. He succeeded Xi Jinping as Governor of Zhejiang province in 2003. After retiring from provincial leadership in 2011, he has served as Vice-Chairman of the Financia ...

Events

January

* January 25 –

2008 Chinese winter storms The 2008 Chinese winter storms () were a series of winter storm events that affected large portions of southern and central China, where it does not usually snow severely or extensively, starting on 25 January 2008 until 6 February 2008. The syste ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

's worst snowstorm since 1954, delays traffic, and causes massive power outages in central and southern parts of the country. According to Chinese news agency

Xinhua Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...

report, 133 killed by 2008 China blizzard with snowstorm during January and February. *

2008 Republic of China legislative election The 2008 Taiwanese legislative election was held on 12 January 2008 for members of the Legislative Yuan. It was the first Legislative Yuan election after the constitutional amendments of 2005, which extended term length from three to four years ...

February

Edison Chen photo scandal Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...

* The price of food continues its sharp rise, jumping by as much as 23% from January.

March

* March 14 –

2008 Tibetan unrest 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

: Demonstrations by

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

an separatists turn violent as rioters target government and

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive va ...

-owned buildings. * March 17 –

2nd Asian Film Awards The 2nd Asian Film Awards were given in a ceremony on 17 March 2008 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre as part of the Hong Kong International Film Festival. The top winner was ''Secret Sunshine'' from South Korea, which won Best F ...

were given in a ceremony at the

Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) is one of the two major convention and exhibition venues in Hong Kong, along with AsiaWorld–Expo. It is located in Wan Chai North, Hong Kong Island. Built along the Victoria Harbou ...

as part of the

Hong Kong International Film Festival The Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF), is one of Asia’s oldest international film festivals. Founded in 1976, the festival features different movies, filmmakers from different countries in Hong Kong. HKIFF screens around 230 films ...

. *

2008 National People's Congress The 1st Session of the 11th National People's Congress held its annual meeting from March 5 to March 18, 2008 in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, in conjunction with the 2008 CPPCC. The 10-day plenum elected China's new governm ...

* 2008 People's Republic of China presidential election *

2008 Republic of China presidential election Presidential elections were held in Taiwan on 22 March 2008. Kuomintang (KMT) nominee Ma Ying-jeou won with 58% of the vote, ending eight years of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) rule. Along with the 2008 legislative election, Ma's landslide ...

2008 Chinese heparin adulteration 2008 Chinese heparin adulteration, refers to heparin adulteration incidents that occurred in the United States of America in 2008. Pharmaceutical company Baxter International subcontracted the creation of precursor chemicals of heparin to Scienti ...

April

* April 1 – Ren Xiaofeng and Ma Xiangjing, the perpetrators of the largest bank robbery in Chinese history, are executed."Chinese bank employees executed over largest ever bank theft"
, ''

RIA Novosti RIA Novosti (russian: РИА Новости), sometimes referred to as RIAN () or RIA (russian: РИА, label=none) is a Russian state-owned domestic news agency. On 9 December 2013 by a decree of Vladimir Putin it was liquidated and its asse ...

'', April 1, 2008 * April 14 –

27th Hong Kong Film Awards Ceremony for the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards was held on 14 April 2008 in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and hosted by Carol Cheng, Sandra Ng and Sammi Cheng. Winners in nineteen categories were unveiled, with film ''The Warlords'' being the year's ...

* April 28 – 2008 China Railways train T195 accident: 71 die in a train crash in

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

. * Protests in London, Paris and San Francisco during

2008 Olympic Torch Relay The 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay was run from March 24 until August 8, 2008, prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics, with the theme of "one world, one dream". Plans for the relay were announced on April 26, 2007, in Beijing, China. The relay, a ...

. * 2008 Demonstrations against Carrefour supermarket chain * Tanker An Yue Jiang containing arms sold to Zimbabwe refused entry into Southern Africa. * Miss Tourism Queen International

May

* May 11 – China Commercial Aircraft Corporation (

COMAC , type = State-owned limited company , industry = Aviation , founded = , founder = , location_city = Pudong, Shanghai , location_country = China , area_served = Worldwide , products = Commercial airliners , services = , key_people ...

) was founded. * May 12 – 2008 Sichuan earthquake: Over 70,000 killed in central south-west

by the Wenchuan quake, an earthquake measuring 7.9

Moment magnitude scale The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mw, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. It was defined in a 1979 pape ...

. The epicenter is west-northwest of the provincial capital

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

. * May 20 –

Ma Ying-jeou Ma Ying-jeou ( zh, 馬英九, born 13 July 1950) is a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese politician who served as president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. Previously, he served as justice minister from 1993 to 1996 and mayor of Taipei from ...

and

Vincent Siew Vincent C. Siew or Siew Wan-chang (; born 3 January 1939) is a Taiwanese politician who served as the Vice President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2008 to 2012. He was the first Taiwanese-born Premier of the Republic of China and former ...

, both of the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

Party, sworn in as

and

Vice President of the Republic of China The vice president of the Republic of China, commonly referred to as the vice president of Taiwan, is the second-highest constitutional office of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Powers Under Article 49 the Constitution of the Republic of Chin ...

. * President

visits

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, meets with

Yasuo Fukuda is a former Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2007 to 2008. He was previously the longest-serving Chief Cabinet Secretary in Japanese history, serving in that role from 2000 to 2004 under Prime Ministers Yoshirō M ...

, makes speech at

Waseda University , abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the ''Tōkyō Senmon Gakkō'' by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the school was formally renamed Waseda University in 1902. The university has numerou ...

June

* June 4–8 – 2008 Jiangsu Snooker Classic * June 10 – The 270 ton sport fishing vessel Lien Ho of Taiwan suffered a collision with a Japanese patrol vessel, Koshiki, and subsequently sank, while in the disputed territorial waters around the

Diaoyutai Islands The are a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, administered by Japan. They are located northeast of Taiwan, east of China, west of Okinawa Island, and north of the southwestern end of the Ryukyu Islands. They are known in main ...

that have been claimed by Japan and Taiwan (ROC). The Taiwanese crew who were aboard the vessel claims that the larger Japanese frigate deliberately crashed into them; their assertions are backed up by recently released video footage. * June 13 – Gas leak kills six and injures 28 at Chinese fertiliser factory (Wikinews) * June 14–22 – 2008 Shanghai International Film Festival * June 20 – Colonel Wang Hui-hsien, a former Military Intelligence Bureau (MIB) analyst, is arrested in Taiwan on charges of selling state secrets to Mainland China. * June 22 – Controversial journalist Lu Keng passes away at age 89. * June 28 – The 2008 Guizhou riot takes place following the alleged cover-up by authorities over the death of a teenage girl. * Meetings between the

PRC China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

and ROC take place, improving

Cross-strait relations Cross-Strait relations (sometimes called Mainland–Taiwan relations, or Taiwan-China relations) are the relations between China (officially the People's Republic of China) and Taiwan (officially the Republic of China). The relationship ...

. * Summer

2008 South China floods The 2008 South China floods began on 26 May 2008. Four rounds of torrential rains with landslides and flooding lasted for 20 days and affected fifteen provinces in Eastern and Southern China. The first round of floods affected twelve provinces ...

* The Chinese government buys

Mount Toromocho Mount Toromocho is a mountain in the Junín Region, Peru that sits next to the long established mining camp of Morococha and hosts a large polymetallic metal deposit. ''Toromocho'' means in Spanish "a bull with no horns". It is now owned by the A ...

Copper Mine in

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

for US$3 billion, with potentially two billion tonnes of copper ore. The deal was brokered by

Chinalco Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (, known as Chalco), is a Chinese company listed in Hong Kong and in New York. A multinational aluminium company, its headquarters are in Beijing, People's Republic of China. It is the world's second-largest ...

, a PRC-government owned company. * The

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

(Taiwan) reasserts claim to the

. * China's national soccer team is victorious over the Australian

Socceroos The Australia men's national soccer team represents Australia in international men's soccer. Officially nicknamed the Socceroos, the team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is affiliated with ...

team during the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

qualifier at

Sydney Olympic Stadium Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Sydney Olympic Park, in Sydney, Australia. The stadium, which in Australia is sometimes referred to as Sydney Olympic Stad ...

for the first time in history. The resulting 1–0 defeat for the

was their first home defeat in a World Cup qualifier in 27 years.

July

* July 1 – A jobless

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

resident Yang Jia killed six police officers in a

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

police station. * Resumption of Weekend Cross-strait charters between Taiwan and Mainland China after 59 years. * July 4 – Chinese Wikipedia unblocked by government (Wikinews) * July 10 – Migrant workers riot in

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

province in Eastern China for three days, which originated from quarrels between workers and police. * July 16 –

2008 Chinese milk scandal The 2008 Chinese milk scandal was a significant Food safety incidents in China, food safety incident in China. The scandal involved Sanlu Group, Sanlu Group's milk and infant formula along with other food materials and components being adultera ...

: Gansu Province reports to the Ministry of Health that sixteen infants in Gansu Province who had been fed on milk powder produced by

Shijiazhuang Shijiazhuang (; ; Mandarin: ), formerly known as Shimen and romanized as Shihkiachwang, is the capital and most populous city of China’s North China's Hebei Province. Administratively a prefecture-level city, it is about southwest of Beijin ...

-based

Sanlu Group Sanlu Group CO., Ltd. (SJZSGCZ) was a state-owned Chinese dairy products company based in Xinhua District, Shijiazhuang, the capital city of Hebei. It produced one of the oldest and most popular brands of infant formula in China.

were diagnosed with kidney stones. * July 17 – The Chinese

National People's Congress The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPC; ), or simply the National People's Congress, is constitutionally the supreme state authority and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. With 2, ...

holds a press conference and releases mid-year financial statistics on the nation's GDP. * July 17–21 – 2008 Stanković Continental Champions' Cup held in

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whi ...

. * July 21 – Bomb blasts in Southern China, targeting commuter buses. * July 28 –

Typhoon Fung-wong Fung-wong may refer to four tropical cyclones in the Pacific Ocean. The name, contributed by Hong Kong, refers to Lantau Peak (Phoenix Mountain), the highest point in Hong Kong's Lantau Island. The name is also the Cantonese pronunciation and romani ...

strikes

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...

, China. *

Six party talks The six-party talks aimed to find a peaceful resolution to the security concerns as a result of the North Korean nuclear weapons program. There was a series of meetings with six participating states in Beijing: * China * Japan * North Korea ...

on North Korea's nuclear weapons program continue in Beijing. * Typhoon Kalmaegi strikes areas in China. * Chinese officials claim to have foiled a terrorist plot against the

Shanghai Stadium The Shanghai Stadium () is a multi-purpose stadium in Shanghai. Between 2009 and 2019, the stadium hosted home matches of the Chinese Super League team Shanghai SIPG. History The stadium opened on 14 March 1999 when the eighth National Games o ...

August

* August 3 – The International Olympic Committee and Chinese organizers announce that all Internet restrictions have been lifted for media covering the Beijing Games. * August 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible from China. * August 4 – 2008 Xinjiang attack * August 5 – A 6.0 M_w

aftershock In seismology, an aftershock is a smaller earthquake that follows a larger earthquake, in the same area of the main shock, caused as the displaced crust adjusts to the effects of the main shock. Large earthquakes can have hundreds to thousand ...

of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake affects

Qingchuan County Qingchuan County () is a county in the northeast of Sichuan province, China, bordering the provinces of Gansu to the north and Shaanxi to the northeast. It is the westernmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of Guangyuan. It has ...

. Four people were killed and twenty-nine were injured. * August 8 –

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

opening ceremony * August 12 –

Flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

s and

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated grade (slope), slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of ...

s associated with Tropical Storm Kammuri kill 28 people in southwest

and force 11,000 people from their homes. * August 14 –

: China's Liu Zige wins the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

' women's 200 meters butterfly gold setting a world record of two minutes and 04.18 seconds. * August 19 –

2008 Yingjiang earthquakes The 2008 Yingjiang earthquakes were a series of major earthquakes ranging from surface wave magnitude (Ms) 4.1 to 5.9 that struck Yingjiang County, Yunnan province, China between August 19 (in UTC; August 20 local time) and September 3. It caus ...

* August 21 - 2008 Beijing Wushu Tournament * August 26 – 2008 Guangxi chemical plant explosions * August 30 –

2008 Panzhihua earthquake The 2008 Panzhihua earthquake struck southern Sichuan province, China on August 30 at with a surface wave magnitude of 6.1, or 6.0 . It is also cited as the Renhe-Huili earthquake, especially in SCEA reports and early CEA reports. It was not an ...

: A 6.1 magnitude earthquake strikes the southern Sichuan province, causing over 40 deaths, the collapse of 10,000 homes and damage to other infrastructure in the area. *

Leung Chin-man appointment controversy The Leung Chin-man appointment controversy occurred in Hong Kong in August 2008, when the former Permanent Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands, Leung Chin-man, was named Deputy Managing Director and Executive Director of New World China Lan ...

September

* September 2 – Further flooding occurs in coastal China. * September 5 – Investigation and trial of former ROC President

Chen Shui-Bian Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) whic ...

over corruption charges. * September 7 –

2008 Hong Kong legislative election The 2008 Hong Kong Legislative Council election was held on 7 September 2008 for the 4th Legislative Council since the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. There were 60 seats in the 4th Legislative Council, with 30 memb ...

* September 8 – 2008 Shanxi mudslide * The

, a food safety incident involving milk and

infant formula Infant formula, baby formula, or simply formula (American English); or baby milk, infant milk or first milk (British English), is a manufactured food designed and marketed for feeding to babies and infants under 12 months of age, usually prepar ...

which had been adulterated with

melamine Melamine is an organic compound with the formula C3H6N6. This white solid is a trimer of cyanamide, with a 1,3,5-triazine skeleton. Like cyanamide, it contains 67% nitrogen by mass, and its derivatives have fire retardant properties due t ...

, broke on 9 September. * September 10 – Chinese

video sharing An online video platform (OVP), provided by a video hosting service, enables users to upload, convert, store and play back video content on the Internet, often via a structured, large-scale system that may generate revenue. Users will generally u ...

website

Tudou Tudou, Inc. () is a Chinese video-sharing website headquartered in Shanghai, China, where users can upload, view and share video clips. Tudou went live on April 15, 2005 and by September 2007 served over 55 million videos each day.SARFT The National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) is a ministry-level executive agency controlled by the Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its main task is the administration and supervision of state-owned enterp ...

license. * September 15–21 – 2008 Guangzhou International Women's Open * September 18 – An

open beta A software release life cycle is the sum of the stages of development and maturity for a piece of computer software ranging from its initial development to its eventual release, and including updated versions of the released version to help impro ...

of the high-definition channel of the Chinese

website

coal mine Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

accident (3:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. GMT Friday) in

Hegang Hegang (, also known as Heli and Xingshan), is a prefecture-level city in Heilongjiang province of the People's Republic of China, situated in the southeastern section of the Lesser Khingan Range, facing Jiamusi across the Songhua River to the s ...

city,

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...

province, where initially 5 miners were killed, and 27 trapped. On September 27, a total of 31 miners died. * September 21 – 2008 Shenzhen club fire * September 25 – The third

human spaceflight Human spaceflight (also referred to as manned spaceflight or crewed spaceflight) is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be ...

mission of the

Chinese space program The space program of the People's Republic of China is directed by the China National Space Administration (CNSA). China's space program has overseen the development and launch of ballistic missiles, thousands of artificial satellites, mann ...

, ''

Shenzhou 7 Shenzhou 7 () was the third human spaceflight mission of the Chinese space program. The mission, which included the first Chinese extra-vehicular activity (EVA) carried out by crew members Zhai Zhigang and Liu Boming, marked the commencement of ...

'', is launched. * September 26 – First public release of Anti-Japan War Online, a locally developed patriotic

MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

game, released in China. * September 27 –

Zhai Zhigang Zhai Zhigang (; born 11 October 1966) is a Chinese major general of the People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Force (PLASSF) in active service as a People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps (PLAAC) taikonaut. During the Shenzhou 7 mission ...

first Chinese person to

spacewalk Extravehicular activity (EVA) is any activity done by an astronaut in outer space outside a spacecraft. In the absence of a breathable atmosphere of Earth, Earthlike atmosphere, the astronaut is completely reliant on a space suit for environmen ...

* September 28 – 13th Computer Olympiad held in

. (to 5 October) * September 29 – Shanghai Masters 2008 (to 5 October) * September 30 – Rendition of Zhou Yongjun by Hong Kong to the PRC

October

* October 6 –

2008 Damxung earthquake The 2008 Damxung earthquake hit Damxung County, Xizang (Tibet), west of Lhasa, in the People's Republic of China around 16:30 China Standard Time on October 6. The Chinese state media reported that the earthquake caused 10 deaths as of October 7. ...

* October 20 – Windows Genuine Advantage introduced onto Chinese language computers, causing issues for the large majority of users in China running an unauthorized copy of

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

* October 20 – Japanese and Chinese students clash at the

Shanghai International Studies University Shanghai International Studies University (SISU; ) is China's leading university in linguistics, cultural studies, and global and area studies. Established in December 1949, SISU is known for being one of the earliest institutions where China's hi ...

, sparking mass violence within the campus and controversy regarding

Anti-Japanese sentiment Anti-Japanese sentiment (also called Japanophobia, Nipponophobia and anti-Japanism) involves the hatred or fear of anything which is Japanese, be it its culture or its people. Its opposite is Japanophilia. Overview Anti-Japanese sentim ...

among Chinese youths. Ten police vehicles were dispatched to quell the violence. * October 21 – Zhang Mingqing (張銘清), Beijing official for the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, was attacked by

Taiwan Independence Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

activists. * October 23 –

Chinese dissident This list consists of activists who are known as Chinese dissidents. The label is primarily applied to intellectuals who "push the boundaries" of society or criticize the policies of the government. Examples of the former include Wei Hui and Jia ...

Hu Jia wins European Union human rights prize * October 30 �
Evermore Office suite 2009
downloaded 5.3 million times since Microsoft began its anti-copying measures with Windows Genuine Advantage.

November

* November 3 –

Second Chen-Chiang summit The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...

* November 4 – 2008 Taiwan-China Cross Straits Economic Pact * November 7 – 2008 Shenzhen anti-police riot * November 9 – 2008 Chinese economic stimulus plan * November 14 – The Chinese fishing vessel FV Tianyu No. 8 was seized by

Somali pirates Somali may refer to: Horn of Africa * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Proto-Somali, the ancestors of modern Somalis ** Somali culture ** Somali cuisine ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Somal ...

while fishing off the coast of

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. * November 17 – 2008 Longnan riot * November 18–23 – 2008 China Open Super Series * November 24–30 – 2008 Hong Kong Super Series * November 25 –

Dongguan Dongguan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. An important industrial city in the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the north, Huizhou to the northeast, Shenzhen to the s ...

toy factory riot * November 28 – Wo Weihan executed on spying for Taiwan charges *

Miss International 2008 Miss International 2008, the 48th Miss International pageant, was held on November 8, 2008 at The Venetian Macao in Macau, the presenters are Eric Tsang, Dodo Cheng, Astrid Chan. 63 contestants from all over the world competed for the crown, mar ...

Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield 2008–09 Hong may refer to: Places *Høng, a town in Denmark *Hong Kong, a city and a special administrative region in China *Hong, Nigeria *Hong River in China and Vietnam *Lake Hong in China Surnames *Hong (Chinese name) *Hong (Korean name) Organiz ...

Lien Chen Lien Chan (; born 27 August 1936) is a Taiwanese politician. He was the Chairman of the Taiwan Provincial Government from 1990 to 1993, Premier of the Republic of China from 1993 to 1997, Vice President of the Republic of China from 1996 to 200 ...

meets

APEC Peru 2008 APEC Peru 2008 was a series of political meetings held around Peru between the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation during 2008. Although business leaders of the region also met before the summit officially began. Leaders fr ...

, highest level cross-strait exchange since 1949

December

* December 3 – Internet cafes in

Nanchang Nanchang (, ; ) is the capital of Jiangxi Province, People's Republic of China. Located in the north-central part of the province and in the hinterland of Poyang Lake Plain, it is bounded on the west by the Jiuling Mountains, and on the east ...

, are required to install the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

Linux distribution A Linux distribution (often abbreviated as distro) is an operating system made from a software collection that includes the Linux kernel and, often, a package management system. Linux users usually obtain their operating system by downloading one ...

Red Flag Linux as a replacement for unlicensed versions of the popular

operating system, or switch to legitimate copies of Microsoft Windows. * December 10 –

Charter 08 Charter 08 is a manifesto initially signed by 303 Chinese dissident intellectuals and human rights activists. It was published on 10 December 2008, the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopting its name and style from ...

* December 13 – The leaders of

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

meet in

Fukuoka, Japan is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders S ...

for a trilateral meeting promoting political ties. * December 17 – The MV Zhenhua 4, a Chinese fishing boat owned by

China Communications Construction China Communications Construction Company, Ltd. (CCCC) is a majority state-owned, publicly traded, multinational engineering and construction company primarily engaged in the design, construction and operation of infrastructure assets, including ...

, was hijacked by

on the way back to

, but deterred as crews radioed for help. The 30 crew members fought for four hours after nine pirates armed with rocket launchers and heavy machine guns boarded the ship. A

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

n warship, Sri Indera Sakti and Malaysian military helicopter arrived and fired on the pirates, who fled the scene. No crew members were injured. The crew used water cannons,

molotov cocktail A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see other names'') is a hand thrown incendiary weapon constructed from a frangible container filled with flammable substances equipped with a fuse (typically a glass bottle filled with flamma ...

s and beer bottles to defend against the pirates, whom were fully armed. * December 18 – Chinese warships depart for the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden ( ar, خليج عدن, so, Gacanka Cadmeed 𐒅𐒖𐒐𐒕𐒌 𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒗𐒒) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channe ...

in response to the growing threat of

. This is the first time China has sent ships on a mission that could involve fighting so far beyond its territorial waters.

Sports

* January 6: 2nd leg of the 2008 Guangdong–Hong Kong Cup * January 8 and 11:

2008 Lunar New Year Cup The 2008 Lunar New Year Cup, officially known as Wing Lung Bank 2008 Lunar New Year Cup, is a football tournament held in Hong Kong on the first and fourth day of the Chinese New Year of the Year of Rat (8 February and 11 February 2008). Format ...

* January 19:

2007–08 Hong Kong League Cup The Hong Kong League Cup 2007–08 is the 8th staging of the Hong Kong League Cup. The competition started on 19 January 2008 with 10 Hong Kong First Division clubs and concluded on 22 March 2008 with South China beat Kitchee by 4-2 in the fin ...

(to 22 March) * January 24: 2008 Hong Kong–Shanghai Inter Club Championship * January 25 – 27:

International Youth Football Invitation Tournament 2008 International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. * February 18 – 24: Women's East Asian Cup 2008 * March 5 – June 24:

East Asian Cup 2008 The 2008 EAFF East Asian Football Championship was held between 17 February and 23 February 2008. The preliminary competitions were held from 25 March to 24 June 2007. Participating teams Preliminary Stage One * * Stage Two * * - Winner of P ...

* March 15 – 16:

MLB China Series The Major League Baseball China Series, or MLB China Series, were two spring training games between the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers played in the People's Republic of China. It marked the first time Major League Baseball teams play ...

* March 24 and 30: China Open 2008 (snooker) * March 28 – 30:

2008 Hong Kong Sevens The Hong Kong Sevens is contested annually as part of the IRB Sevens World Series for international rugby sevens (seven-a-side version of rugby union). The 2008 competition, which took place between March 28 and March 30 in Hong Kong, was the fift ...

* April 18 – 20:

2008 World Fencing Championships The 2008 World Fencing Championships were held at the Olympic Green Convention Center in Beijing, China. The event took place from April 18 to April 20, 2008. It had men's team foil and women's team épée, both of which were not held at the 20 ...

held at the

Olympic Green Convention Center The China National Convention Center, previously known as the Olympic Green Convention Center () is a convention center located in the Olympic Green in Beijing. History It was designed by RMJM and was originally used for the 2008 Summer Olymp ...

. * April 23: 2007–08 Hong Kong FA Cup * May 2 – 4:

2008 Chinese motorcycle Grand Prix The 2008 Chinese motorcycle Grand Prix was the fourth round of the 2008 MotoGP Championship. It took place on the weekend of 2–4 May 2008 at the Shanghai International Circuit. MotoGP classification 250 cc classification 125 cc classificat ...

* May 29 – June 1:

2008 UCI BMX World Championships The 2008 UCI BMX World Championships took place in Taiyuan in China and crowned world champions in the cycle sport, cycling discipline of BMX racing. Great Britain's Shanaze Reade won her second consecutive world championships in the elite women's ...

took place in

Taiyuan Taiyuan (; ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; also known as (), ()) is the capital and largest city of Shanxi Province, People's Republic of China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. ...

, China. * August – 2008–09 HKFA 7-A-Side Competition * August 8 – 24:

* September 6 – 17:

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

* October 17 – 19:

2008 Chinese Grand Prix The 2008 Chinese Grand Prix (officially the 2008 Formula 1 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 19 October 2008 at the Shanghai International Circuit. It was the 17th and penultimate race of the 2008 Formula One World ...

* October 3 – 18:

World Mind Sports Games The World Mind Sports Games (WMSG) was a multi-sport event created by the International Mind Sports Association (IMSA) as a "stepping stone on the path of introducing a third kind of Olympic Games" after the Summer and the Winter Olympics". The i ...

held in

, China. * November 9 – 16:

2008 Tennis Masters Cup The 2008 Tennis Masters Cup was a men's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 39th edition of the year-end singles championships, the 34th edition of the year-end doubles championships, and part of the 2008 ATP Tour. It too ...

* November 9:

2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China The 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China was an A1 Grand Prix race, held at Chengdu Goldenport Circuit, Chengdu, People's Republic of China. All proceeds from this race were donated to the Sichuan Earthquake Relief Fund, following 2008 Sichua ...

* November 22 – 29:

2008 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship The 2008 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships was an international women's boxing competition hosted by China from November 22 to 29, 2008 in Ningbo City. It was the 5th championship, which debuted 2001 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States ...

held in

Ningbo City Ningbo (; Ningbo dialect, Ningbonese: Romanization of Wu Chinese, ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Putonghua, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zheji ...

Births

* August 18 –

Gordey Kolesov Gordey Kolesov (born August 18, 2008) is the winner of the 2015 Talent Show in China (at the age of six years and five months) on Chinese central television, CCTV-1, a winner of chess competitions, a laureate of creative contests, * January 16 – Chen Xilu, 80,

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Hengshui Hengshui () is a prefecture-level city in southern Hebei province, People's Republic of China, bordering Shandong to the southeast. At the 2010 census its population was 4,340,373 inhabitants whom 522,147 lived in the built-up (''or metro'') are ...

organ failure Organ dysfunction is a condition where an organ does not perform its expected function. Organ failure is organ dysfunction to such a degree that normal homeostasis cannot be maintained without external clinical intervention. It is not a diagnosi ...

. * January 26 –

Zhang Hanzhi Zhang Hanzhi (; 14 July 1935 – 26 January 2008) was a Chinese diplomat who was Mao Zedong's English teacher and U.S. President Richard Nixon's interpreter during his historic 1972 trip to China. Early life and education Zhang was born in S ...

, 72,

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

and

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

, English tutor for Mao,

Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

interpreter for 1972 visit, lung-related illness. * February 21 –

Tian Bao Sanggyai Yexe (; ) or Tian Bao (; February 9, 1917 – February 21, 2008) was a Chinese government official of Gyalrong descent. Tian was one of the first ethnic Tibetans to embrace the concept of Communism and join Mao Zedong's army. Mao's army ...

, 92, government official, one of the first ethnic

Tibetans The Tibetan people (; ) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 6.7 million. In addition to the majority living in Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans live ...

to join

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

's army and embrace

Communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

. * February 25 – Charles Chan, 93, father of actor

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

. * April 4 –

Wu Xueqian Wu Xueqian (December 19, 1921 – April 4, 2008) was a Chinese politician and diplomat who served as the Foreign Minister and Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China. Biography Wu was born in Shanghai in 1921. He joined the Communist Pa ...

, 87, politician,

foreign minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

(1982–1988). * April 5 – Wang Donglei, 23,

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

, car accident. (Chinese) * June 24 –

Shao Hua Shao Hua (30 October 1938 – 24 June 2008), formerly known as Zhang Shaohua (), was a Chinese photographer and a major general in the People's Liberation Army. She was the wife of Mao Anqing, the second son of Mao Zedong. Biography She was b ...

, 69,

photographer A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographe ...

PLA PLA may refer to: Organizations Politics and military * People's Liberation Army, the armed forces of China and of the ruling Chinese Communist Party * People's Liberation Army (disambiguation) ** Irish National Liberation Army, formerly called ...

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

daughter-in-law In law and in cultural anthropology, affinity is the kinship relationship created or that exists between two people as a result of someone's marriage. It is the relationship which each party to a marriage has to the relations of the other part ...

. * August 20 –

Hua Guofeng Hua Guofeng (; born Su Zhu; 16 February 1921 – 20 August 2008), alternatively spelled as Hua Kuo-feng, was a Chinese politician who served as Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and Premier of the People's Republic of China. The design ...

, 87,

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

(1976–1980),

chairman of the Chinese Communist Party The Chairman of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party () was the leader of the Chinese Communist Party. The position was established at the 8th National Congress in 1945 and abolished at the 12th National Congress in 1982, bei ...

(1976–1981). * August 24 – Wei Wei, 88, poet and writer,

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

. * September 14 – Mu Tiezhu, 59,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player,

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

. * October 5 –

Kim Chan Kim Chan (December 28, 1917 – October 5, 2008) was a Chinese–American actor and producer. He was most notable for his roles as Lo Si, a.k.a. The Ancient, in '' Kung Fu: The Legend Continues'' and Mr. Kim in ''The Fifth Element''. Early ...

, 93/94?,

-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. * October 18 –

Xie Jin Xie Jin (; 21 November 1923 – 18 October 2008) was a Chinese film director. He rose to prominence in 1957, directing the film '' Woman Basketball Player No. 5'', and is considered one of the Third Generation directors of China. Most recently h ...

, 84,

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

. * October 24 –

Xiao Ke Xiao Ke (; July 14, 1907 – October 24, 2008) was a general of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, former vice chairman of the CPPCC, as well as principal of the University of Military and Politics. Biography Early life Xiao was born in Jia ...

, 101, general in the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

, illness. * October 28 –

Kung Te-cheng Kung Te-cheng () (23 February 1920 – 28 October 2008) was a 77th generation descendant of Confucius in the main line of descent. He was the final person to be appointed Duke Yansheng and the first Sacrificial Official to Confucius. He helped ...

, 88, Chinese-born

Taiwanese Taiwanese may refer to: * Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien * Something from or related to Taiwan ( Formosa) * Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan * Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan * Taiwanese people, ...

77th generation descendant of

Confucius Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...

heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

and

respiratory failure Respiratory failure results from inadequate gas exchange by the respiratory system, meaning that the arterial oxygen, carbon dioxide, or both cannot be kept at normal levels. A drop in the oxygen carried in the blood is known as hypoxemia; a rise ...

. * November 1 –

Tan Jiazhen Tan Jiazhen (15 September 1909 – 1 November 2008), also known as C. C. Tan, was a Chinese geneticist. He was an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a foreign member of United States National Academy of Sciences. Tan was a main ...

, 99,

geneticist A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic processe ...

multiple organ dysfunction syndrome Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) is altered organ (anatomy), organ function in an acutely ill patient requiring medicine, medical intervention to achieve homeostasis. Although Irwin and Rippe cautioned in 2005 that the use of "multiple ...

. * November 10 –

Li Ximing Li Ximing (; February 1926 – November 10, 2008) was the Chinese Communist Party boss in Beijing during the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protests in the capital and across the country. Li was elected to the 13th Politburo of the Chinese Comm ...

, 82,

Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary A Party Committee Secretary () is the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organization in a province, city, village, or other administrative unit. In most cases, it is the ''de facto'' highest political office of its area of jurisdictio ...

. * November 26 – Yang Jia, 28,

mass murder Mass murder is the act of murdering a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. The United States Congress defines mass killings as the killings of three or more pe ...

er,

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

. * November 28 – Wo Weihan, 59,

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

.U.S. Condemns China’s Reported Execution of Scientist Wo Weihan - Bloomberg

References

{{Asia topic, 2008 in Years of the 21st century in China