Events in the year 2008 in China.

Incumbents

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party The general secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party ( zh, s=中国共产党中央委员会总书记, p=Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Zhōngyāng Wěiyuánhuì Zǒngshūjì) is the leader of the Chinese Communist Part ...

Hu Jintao Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese retired politician who served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the president of China from 2003 to 2013, and chairman of the Central Military Comm ...

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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

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 govern ...

Wen Jiabao Wen Jiabao ( zh, s=温家宝, p=Wēn Jiābǎo; born 15 September 1942) is a Chinese retired politician who served as the 6th premier of China from 2003 to 2013. In his capacity as head of government, Wen was regarded as the leading figure behin ...

Vice President A vice president or 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 vi ...

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 a member of the Secretariat of the Central Commit ...

to March 16,

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...

* Vice Premier: Wu Yi to March 16,

Li Keqiang Li Keqiang ( zh, s=李克强, p=Lǐ Kèqiáng; 3 July 1955 – 27 October 2023) was a Chinese economist and politician who served as the seventh premier of China from 2013 to 2023. He was also the second-ranked member of the Politburo Standing ...

* Congress Chairman:

Wu Bangguo Wu Bangguo (22 July 1941 – 8 October 2024) was a Chinese politician who served as the second-ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party from 2002 to 2012, and as Chairman of the Standing Committee of the ...

* Conference Chairman: Jia Qinglin

Governors

* Governor of Anhui Province – Wang Sanyun * Governor of Fujian Province – Huang Xiaojing * Governor of Gansu Province – Xu Shousheng * 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, ...

* Governor of Guizhou Province – Lin Shusen * Governor of Hainan Province – Luo Baoming * Governor of Hebei Province – Guo Gengmao (until April),

Hu Chunhua Hu Chunhua (; born April 1963) is a Chinese politician. He currently serves as a vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference since 2023. From 2018 to 2023, he served as vice premier of China. Born in Yichang, Hubei, H ...

(starting April) * Governor of Heilongjiang Province –

Li Zhanshu Li Zhanshu (born 30 August 1951) is a Chinese retired politician, who was the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 2018 to 2023. He was the third-ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Ch ...

* Governor of Henan Province – Li Chengyu (until unknown), Guo Gengmao (starting April) * Governor of Hubei Province – Luo Qingquan * Governor of Hunan Province – Zhou Qiang * Governor of Jiangsu Province – Liang Baohua (until January), Luo Zhijun (starting January) * Governor of Jiangxi Province – Wu Xinxiong * Governor of Jilin Province – Han Changfu * Governor of Liaoning Province – Chen Zhenggao * Governor of Qinghai Province – Song Xiuyan * Governor of Shaanxi Province – Yuan Chunqing * Governor of Shandong Province – Jiang Daming * Governor of Shanxi Province – Meng Xuenong (until September), Wang Jun (starting December) * Governor of Sichuan Province – Jiang Jufeng * Governor of Yunnan Province – Qin Guangrong * Governor of Zhejiang Province – Lü Zushan

Events

January

* January 25 – 2008 Chinese winter storms:

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

'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 media, state news agency of the China, People's Republic ...

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

February

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

March

* March 14 –

2008 Tibetan unrest The 2008 Tibetan unrest, also referred to as the 2008 Tibetan uprising in Tibetan media, was a series of protests and demonstrations over the Government of China, Chinese government's treatment and persecution of Tibetan people, Tibetans. Protes ...

: Demonstrations by

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

an separatists turn violent as rioters target government and

Han Chinese The Han Chinese, alternatively the Han people, are an East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Greater China. With a global population of over 1.4 billion, the Han Chinese are the list of contemporary ethnic groups, world's la ...

-owned buildings. * March 17 – 2nd Asian Film Awards 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 Har ...

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 and filmmakers from different countries, and takes place in Hong Kong. HKIFF screens ...

. *

2008 National People's Congress The first 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 Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. T ...

* 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

April

* April 1 – Ren Xiaofeng and Ma Xiangjing, the perpetrators of the largest bank robbery in Chinese history, are executed. * April 14 – 27th Hong Kong Film Awards * April 28 – 2008 China Railways train T195 accident: 71 die in a train crash in

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

. * Protests in London, Paris and San Francisco during 2008 Olympic Torch Relay. * 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) was founded. * May 12 –

2008 Sichuan earthquake An earthquake occurred in the province of Sichuan, China at 14:28:01 China Standard Time on May 12, 2008. Measuring at 8.0 (7.9–8.3 ), the earthquake's epicenter was located boxing the compass, west-northwest of Chengdu, the provincial ...

: 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 Mwg, 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. was defined in a 1979 paper ...

. The epicenter is west-northwest of the provincial capital

Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

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

. * May 20 –

Ma Ying-jeou Ma Ying-jeou ( zh, t=馬英九; pinyin: ''Mǎ Yīngjiǔ''; ; born 13 July 1950) is a Taiwanese politician, lawyer, and legal scholar who served as the sixth president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. A member of the Kuomintang (KMT ...

and

Vincent Siew Siew Wan-chang (; born 3 January 1939), known also by his English name Vincent Siew, is a Taiwanese politician who served as the ninth vice president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2008 to 2012. He was the first Taiwanese-born Prem ...

, both of the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

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 government in Taiwan, after the president, and ranks first in the presidential line of success ...

. * President

visits

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, meets with

Yasuo Fukuda is a 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 Mori an ...

, makes speech at

Waseda University Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth Prime Minister of Japan, prime ministe ...

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 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. With a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the second-most populous country after India, representing 17.4% of the world population. China spans the e ...

and ROC take place, improving Cross-strait relations. * Summer 2008 South China floods * The Chinese government buys Mount Toromocho Copper Mine in

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

for US$3 billion, with potentially two billion tonnes of copper ore. The deal was brokered by Chinalco, a PRC-government owned company. * The

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

(Taiwan) reasserts claim to the Diaoyutai Islands. * China's national soccer team is victorious over the Australian Socceroos team during the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

qualifier at Sydney Olympic Stadium for the first time in history. The resulting 1–0 defeat for the Socceroos was their first home defeat in a World Cup qualifier in 27 years.

July

* July 1 – A jobless

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

resident Yang Jia killed six police officers in a

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

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 ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

province in Eastern China for three days, which originated from quarrels between workers and police. * July 16 – 2008 Chinese milk scandal: 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 Hebei Province. A prefecture-level city southwest of Beijing, it administers eight districts, three county-le ...

-based Sanlu Group were diagnosed with kidney stones. * July 17 – The Chinese

National People's Congress The National People's Congress (NPC) is the highest organ of state power of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The NPC is the only branch of government in China, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs from the Sta ...

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, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...

. * July 21 – Bomb blasts in Southern China, targeting commuter buses. * July 28 – Typhoon Fung-wong strikes

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern 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 capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

, 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 football-specific stadium in Shanghai, China. Between 2009 and 2019, the stadium hosted home matches of the Chinese Super League team Shanghai SIPG, and has been the current home of Shanghai Shenhua since 2023. ...

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 Epicenter, the same area of the Mainshock, main shock, caused as the displaced Crust (geology), crust adjusts to the effects of the main shock. Large earthq ...

of the

affects Qingchuan County. 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 officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

opening ceremony * August 12 –

Flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, 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 of significant con ...

s and

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...

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 officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

' women's 200 meters butterfly gold setting a world record of two minutes and 04.18 seconds. * August 19 – 2008 Yingjiang earthquakes * August 21 - 2008 Beijing Wushu Tournament * August 26 –

2008 Guangxi chemical plant explosions A series of explosions caused by an industrial accident occurred on August 26, 2008 in Yizhou city in Guangxi province in southwest China. The disaster occurred at a factory owned by Guangxi Guangwei Chemical Co. in the development zone of Yi ...

* August 30 – 2008 Panzhihua earthquake: 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

September

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

Chen Shui-Bian Chen Shui-bian ( zh, t=陳水扁; born 12 October 1950) is a Taiwanese former politician and lawyer who served as the fifth president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progres ...

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 of Hong Kong, Legislative Council since the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. There were 60 seats in the 4th ...

* September 8 – 2008 Shanxi mudslide * The 2008 Chinese milk scandal, a food safety incident involving milk and

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

which had been adulterated with

melamine Melamine is an organic compound with the formula C3H6N6. This white solid is a trimer (chemistry), trimer of cyanamide, with a 1,3,5-Triazine, 1,3,5-triazine skeleton. Like cyanamide, it contains 66% nitrogen by mass, and its derivatives ha ...

, broke on 9 September. * September 10 – Chinese

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

website Tudou receives its

SARFT The National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) is a ministry-level executive agency controlled by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its main task is the administration and supervision of state-own ...

license. * September 15–21 – 2008 Guangzhou International Women's Open * September 18 – An open beta of the high-definition channel of the Chinese

website Tudou, also known as Heidou, is released for public use. * September 20 – Fuhua Mining Co. Ltd.,

coal mine Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

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

Hegang Hegang ( zh, s=鹤岗, p=Hègǎng, 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 t ...

city,

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang is a province in northeast China. It is the northernmost and easternmost province of the country and contains China's northernmost point (in Mohe City along the Amur) and easternmost point (at the confluence of the Amur and Us ...

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 about the activities in outer space conducted and directed by the China, People's Republic of China. The roots of the Chinese space program trace back to the 1950s, when, with the help ...

, ''

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 o ...

'', 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 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 environme ...

* 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 * 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 Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

* October 20 – Japanese and Chinese students clash at the Shanghai International Studies University, sparking mass violence within the campus and controversy regarding

Anti-Japanese sentiment Anti-Japanese sentiment (also called Japanophobia, Nipponophobia and anti-Japanism) is the fear or dislike of Japan or Japanese culture. Anti-Japanese sentiment can take many forms, from antipathy toward Japan as a country to racist hatr ...

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. The main island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of Chi ...

activists. * October 23 – Chinese dissident 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 * 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 while fishing off the coast of

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. * 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,; pinyin: alternately romanized via Cantonese as Tungkun, 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 t ...

toy factory riot * November 28 – Wo Weihan executed on spying for Taiwan charges * Miss International 2008 * Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield 2008–09 * Lien Chen meets

at APEC Peru 2008, highest level cross-strait exchange since 1949

December

* December 3 – Internet cafes in

Nanchang Nanchang is the capital of Jiangxi, 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 by Poyang Lake. Because of its strate ...

, are required to install the Chinese

Linux distribution A Linux distribution, often abbreviated as distro, is an operating system that includes the Linux kernel for its kernel functionality. Although the name does not imply product distribution per se, a distro—if distributed on its own—is oft ...

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 * December 13 – The leaders of

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

meet in Fukuoka, Japan for a trilateral meeting promoting political ties. * December 17 – The MV Zhenhua 4, a Chinese fishing boat owned by China Communications Construction, was hijacked by Somali pirates 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. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

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 '') is a hand-thrown incendiary weapon consisting of a frangible container filled with flammable substances and equipped with a Fuse (explosives), fuse (typically a glass bottle filled wit ...

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 (; ) 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 Channel, the Socotra Archipelago, Puntland in Somalia and Somaliland to the south. ...

in response to the growing threat of Somali pirates. 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 * January 19: 2007–08 Hong Kong League Cup (to 22 March) * January 24: 2008 Hong Kong–Shanghai Inter Club Championship * January 25 – 27: International Youth Football Invitation Tournament 2008 in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. * February 18 – 24: Women's East Asian Cup 2008 * March 5 – June 24: East Asian Cup 2008 * March 15 – 16: MLB China Series * March 24 and 30: China Open 2008 (snooker) * March 28 – 30: 2008 Hong Kong Sevens * 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 2 ...

held at the Olympic Green Convention Center in

. * 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 classifica ...

* May 29 – June 1: 2008 UCI BMX World Championships took place in

Taiyuan Taiyuan; Mandarin pronunciation: (Jin Chinese, Taiyuan Jin: /tʰai˦˥ ye˩˩/) is the capital of Shanxi, China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. It is an industrial base foc ...

, 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 C ...

* October 3 – 18: World Mind Sports Games held in

, China. * November 9 – 16: 2008 Tennis Masters Cup * November 9: 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China * November 22 – 29: 2008 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship held in Ningbo City.

Births

* August 18 – Gordey Kolesov, Russian-Chinese prodigy

Deaths

* January 16 – Chen Xilu, 80,

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Hengshui } Hengshui ( zh, s=衡水) is a prefecture-level city in southern Hebei province, People's Republic of China, bordering Shandong to the southeast. It borders Shijiazhuang City to the west, Xingtai City to the south, and Baoding City and Cangzhou ...

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 or life support. It i ...

. * January 26 – Zhang Hanzhi, 72,

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

and

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

, English tutor for Mao,

Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 36th vice president under P ...

interpreter for 1972 visit, lung-related illness. * February 21 – Tian Bao, 92, government official, one of the first ethnic

Tibetans Tibetans () are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 7.7 million. In addition to the majority living in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans live in t ...

to join

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

's army and embrace

Communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

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

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born Chan Kong-sang; 7 April 1954), known professionally as Jackie Chan,; is a Hong Kong actor and filmmaker, known for his slapstick, acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, and innovative stunts, which he typically perf ...

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

. * April 4 – Wu Xueqian, 87, politician,

foreign minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

(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 lea ...

, car accident. (Chinese) * June 24 – Shao Hua, 69,

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

, PLA major general,

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 each party in the marriage has to the family of the other party in th ...

. * August 20 –

Hua Guofeng Hua Guofeng (born Su Zhu (); 16 February 1921 – 20 August 2008) was a Chinese politician who served as chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and the 2nd premier of China. The designated successor of Mao Zedong, Hua held the top offices of t ...

, 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 govern ...

(1976–1980),

chairman of the Chinese Communist Party The chairman of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party ( zh, s=中国共产党中央委员会主席, p=Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Zhōngyāng Wěiyuánhuì Zhǔxí) was the party leader, leader of the Chinese Communist Party. The ...

(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 in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...

. * 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 (appro ...

player,

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

. * October 5 – Kim Chan, 93/94?, Chinese-born American

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. * 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 or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

. * 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 ...

, 101, general in the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

, illness. * October 28 – Kung Te-cheng, 88, Chinese-born Taiwanese 77th generation descendant of

Confucius Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...

heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

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 r ...

. * November 1 – Tan Jiazhen, 100,

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 process ...

* 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 violent crime of murder, killing a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. A mass murder typically occurs in a single location where one or more ...

er,

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

. * 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