The following lists events that happened during 2020 in China.

Incumbents

Paramount leader

General Secretary of the Communist Party General Secretary or First Secretary is the official title of leaders of most communist parties. When a communist party is the ruling party in a Communist-led one-party state, the General Secretary is typically the country's ''de facto'' leader—th ...

–

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 ...

Head of state

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 ...

–

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 ...

–

Wang Qishan Wang Qishan (; ; born 19 July 1948) is a Chinese politician, and the current Vice President of the People's Republic of China. Wang is one of the leading figures behind China's foreign affairs, along with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Ke ...

Head of government

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 ...

–

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 ...

** Vice Premiers –

Han Zheng Han Zheng (; born 22 April 1954) is a Chinese politician serving as the Senior Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China, Vice Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, State Council. He has also been leader of the Ce ...

, Sun Chunlan,

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 ...

, Liu He

National legislature

* Congress chairman –

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 ...

Political advisory

* Conference chairman –

Wang Yang Wang Yang may refer to: People *Wang Yang (politician) (born 1955), Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference *Wang Yang (Liaoning politician) (born 1957), former provincial official from Liaoni ...

Supervision commission

Director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

Yang Xiaodu Yang Xiaodu (; born 26 October 1953) is a Chinese politician and the Director of the National Supervisory Commission. He served as a member of the 19th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party from 2017 to 2022. From 2014 to 2022, he served as ...

Governors

* Governor of Anhui Province –

Li Guoying Li Guoying (; born December 1963) is a Chinese hydraulic engineer-turned-politician, currently serving as governor of Anhui province. Li worked in his early career as a technician and administrator in the national ministry of water works, the Yel ...

* Governor of Fujian Province –

Tang Dengjie Tang Dengjie (; born June 1964) is a Chinese politician and business executive, serving since February 2022 as Minister of Civil Affairs of the People's Republic of China. Previously he served as deputy minister in charge of the National Develop ...

(until 2 July), Wang Ning (starting 2 July) * Governor of Gansu Province –

Tang Renjian Tang Renjian (; born August 1962) is a Chinese politician formerly serving as Governor of Gansu province. He formerly served as deputy director of the Office of the Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs, the Vice Chairman of the Guangx ...

* Governor of Guangdong Province –

Ma Xingrui Ma Xingrui (; born October 1959) is a Chinese politician and aerospace engineer who is the Communist Party Secretary of Xinjiang. Prior to that, he had served as the Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology, Head of the Political an ...

* Governor of Guizhou Province –

Shen Yiqin Shen Yiqin (; born 15 December 1959) is a Chinese politician of Bai ethnic heritage. She served as the Communist Party Secretary of Guizhou, a province in southwestern China, between November 2020 and December 2022. Shen is the third female pr ...

(until 24 November),

(starting November) * Governor of Hainan Province –

Shen Xiaoming Shen Xiaoming (; born May 1963) is a Chinese politician, serving from 2017 to 2020 as the Governor of Hainan. A pediatrician by training, Shen rose through the ranks in the health and education bureaucracy of Shanghai. He successively served as p ...

(until 2 December), Feng Fei (starting December 2) * Governor of Hebei Province –

Xu Qin Xu Qin (; born October 1961) is a Chinese politician, and the current Communist Party Secretary of Heilongjiang. Previously he had served as governor of Hebei, and before that, mayor, then party chief of Shenzhen, China's most prominent specia ...

* Governor of Heilongjiang Province: –

Wang Wentao Wang Wentao (; born May 1964) is a Chinese politician who has been Minister of Commerce since December 2020. He formerly served as Communist Party Secretary of Jinan and Deputy Party Secretary of Shandong province. Career Wang was born in 19 ...

(until December), vacant thereafter (starting December) * Governor of Henan Province –

Yin Hong Yin Hong (; born June 1963) is a Chinese politician who is the current Communist Party Secretary of Jiangxi. He served as the Governor of Henan from December 2019 to March 2021. Previously he had spent his entire political career in Shanghai. ...

* Governor of Hubei Province – Wang Xiaodong * Governor of Hunan Province –

Xu Dazhe Xu Dazhe (; born September 1956) is a Chinese politician and aerospace engineer. He was CPC Secretary of Hunan province. Previously, he was the Governor of Hunan. Biography Born in Nanchang, Jiangxi province in 1956, he is a native of Liuyang, H ...

(until November), Mao Weiming (starting November) * Governor of Jiangsu Province – Wu Zhenglong * Governor of Jiangxi Province –

Yi Lianhong Yi Lianhong (; born September 1959) is a Chinese politician, and the current Communist Party Secretary of Zhejiang. Originally from Hunan province, Yi rose through the ranks as an academic at the provincial party school; he later served as party ...

* Governor of Jilin Province –

Jing Junhai Jing Junhai (; born December 1960) is a Chinese politician, serving since 2018 as the Governor of Jilin. Jing spent much of his career in Shaanxi province. Biography Jing was born in Baishui County, Shaanxi province. He joined the Chinese Commu ...

(until 25 November), Han Jun (starting November) * Governor of Liaoning Province –

Tang Yijun Tang Yijun (; born March 1961) is a Chinese politician who currently serves as chairman of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference's Jiangxi provincial committee since January 2023. Previously, he served as Minister of Justice of ...

(until April),

Liu Ning Liu Ning (; born January 1962) is a Chinese politician, serving since October 2021 as Communist Party Secretary of Guangxi. Previously he served as Governor of Liaoning. He spent much of his career in water resources. Career Liu was born in Li ...

(starting April) * Governor of Qinghai Province –

* Governor of Shaanxi Province –

Liu Guozhong Liu Guozhong (; born July 1962) is a Chinese politician and a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party. He began his career in Heilongjiang province before serving stints at the All-China Federation of Trade Unions and as deputy pa ...

(until August),

Zhao Yide Zhao Yide (; born February 19, 1965) is a Chinese politician and the current Party Secretary of Shaanxi, and was previously the Governor of Shaanxi. Earlier in his career, he served as the Party Secretary of Hangzhou, and the Secretary-General o ...

(from August) * Governor of Shandong Province –

Gong Zheng Gong Zheng (; born 4 March 1960) is a Chinese politician who serves as Mayor and Deputy Communist Party Secretary of Shanghai Municipality. He was formerly Governor of Shandong Province, the Party Secretary of Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang p ...

(until April 17), vacant thereafter (starting April 17) * Governor of Shanxi Province –

Lin Wu Lin Wu (; born February 1962) is a Chinese politician and the current CCP Secretary of Shanxi province. Previously, he served as Shanxi Governor, deputy governor and the chief of the CCP Organization Department of Jilin province. Career Lin Wu ...

* Governor of Sichuan Province – Yin Li (until 2 December), Huang Qiang (politician) (starting 2 December) * Governor of Zhejiang Province –

Yuan Jiajun Yuan Jiajun (; born 27 September 1962) is a Chinese aerospace engineer and politician who is serving as Communist Party Secretary of Chongqing and a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party. Before his political career, Yuan was bes ...

(until 4 September), Zheng Shanjie (starting September)

Events

January

*January 20 – Chinese Premier

has urged efforts to prevent and control

Coronavirus disease 2019 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

. *January 26 – Leading group on the prevention and control of

was established, led by Li Keqiang. The leading group has decided to extend Spring Festival holiday to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. *January 27 – Li Keqiang visited

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei, Hubei Province in the China, People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the List of cities in China ...

, center of what became the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, to direct the epidemic prevention work. *January 28 – The opening of

Dabie Mountain Regional Medical Centre The Dabie Mountain Regional Medical Centre () is a hospital campus in Huangzhou District, Huanggang, Hubei, China. Originally constructed as a new campus for the eventual relocation of Huanggang Central Hospital, it was rapidly converted into a ...

Huangzhou District Huangzhou District is an urban district of Huanggang, Hubei province, China. History In 845 BC Marquis Wen 文侯 Huang Meng 黃孟 (aka Huang Zhang 黃璋) moved the capital of the State of Huang from Yicheng to Huangchuan (present-day Huang ...

Huanggang Huanggang is a prefecture-level city in easternmost Hubei Province, China. It is situated to the north of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and is bounded in the north by the Dabie Mountains and is named after Mount Huanggang. It border ...

, Hubei. *January 30 – At the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

's second meeting of the Emergency Committee declared the Wuhan outbreak of novel coronavirus a

Public Health Emergency of International Concern A public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) is a formal declaration by the World Health Organization (WHO) of "an extraordinary event which is determined to constitute a public health risk to other States through the internatio ...

(PHEIC).

February

*February 3 –

Huoshenshan Hospital Huoshenshan Hospital () was an emergency specialty field hospital, built between 23 January and 2 February 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in China. The facility is located near Zhiyin Lake () in the Caidian District, Wuhan, Hubei, C ...

accepted patients after a speedy construction build period. *February 6 –

Leishenshan Hospital Leishenshan Hospital () was an emergency specialty field hospital built in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The facility is located at No.3 Parking Lot of the Athletes Village in Jiangxia District, Wuhan, Hubei. Stage one of construction was ...

passed evaluations and will begin accepting patients soon. *February 10 – An advance

team of medical experts has arrived in China, led by Dr. Bruce Aylward, who coordinated the WHO's

Ebola Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after becom ...

Response in 2016. *February 28 – Three time Chinese

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

swimming champion, Sun Yang, has been given an 8-year ban for missing a doping test in September 2018 by the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its co ...

March

*March 7 – Collapse of Xinjia Express Hotel *March 10 –

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

general secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

visits

, the origin of the

, after an unprecedented

lockdown A lockdown is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks (such as COVID-19) that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely. The term is used for a prison ...

of the central city of 11 million people. *March 24 –

Chinese Premier The premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, commonly called the premier of China and sometimes also referred to as the prime minister, is the head of government of China and leader of the State Council. The premier is ...

reported that spread of the domestically transmitted epidemic has been basically blocked and the

has been controlled in China. *March 28 – A tailings dam fails at the Yichun Luming mine

April

* April 4 – Coinciding with the

Qingming Festival The Qingming festival or Ching Ming Festival, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day in English (sometimes also called Chinese Memorial Day or Ancestors' Day), is a traditional Chinese festival observed by the Han Chinese of mainland China, Hong Ko ...

, a national day of mourning was declared followed by a three-minute silence to honor 3,300+ people who died of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

May

* May 9 – Several Indian and Chinese soldiers were injured in a cross-border clash at the

Nathu La Nathu La (, ) is a mountain pass in the Dongkya Range of the Himalayas between China's Yadong County in Tibet, and the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal in Bengal, South Asia. The pass, at , connects the towns of Kalimpong and Gangtok to ...

crossing. Around one hundred and fifty troops clashed in a "standoff" that included fistfights and stone-throwing.

June

* June 26 – Nearly 50 independent United Nations Human Rights experts highlighted their concern on the situation in China. They voiced concern for many actions including but not limited to allegations of forced labor; arbitrary interferences with the right to privacy; restrictive cybersecurity, anti-terrorism, and sedition laws; the retaliation against journalists, medical workers and others speaking out about COVID-19; the repression of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang and Tibet; and the repression of protests and democracy advocacy in the

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 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 List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

(SAR). They urged China to "withdraw the draft national security law for Hong Kong".

July

* July 7 – Anshun bus crash

September

* September 22 – During the 2020

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

, President Xi Jinping announces that China will aim to hit peak emissions before 2030 and for

carbon neutrality Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the "p ...

by 2060.

Popular culture

Film

* List of Chinese films of 2020

Deaths

* February 7 –

Li Wenliang Li Wenliang (; 12 October 1986 – 7 February 2020) was a Chinese ophthalmologist who warned his colleagues about early COVID-19 infections in Wuhan. On 30 December 2019, Wuhan CDC issued emergency warnings to local hospitals about a number ...

* September 7 – Gao Wenbin

References

Links

* {{Year in Asia, 2020 2020s in China Years of the 21st century in China

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 ...