China’s Landmark News Events of 2013

The Global Times highlights one to two events a month that made the most impact in this 2013 retrospect.

JAN

Fire kills 7 at Henan orphanage - 2013/01/04

Local government officials in Lankao, Henan Province, acknowledged responsibility on January 5 for failing to supervise the adoption of orphans in the wake of a fatal fire that killed seven children at a foster home by a local woman.

The fire, which broke out on January 4, immediately put 47-year-old Yuan Lihai, who has adopted more than 100 children over the past 26 years, in the public spotlight.

Heated opinions over the local government's lax management of adoptions and the current Adoption Law became the focus of discussions in Chinese society.
FEB

Festival rush accidents claim 67 lives in three days - 2013/02/01 to 2013/02/03

A number of road accidents, including the highway blast that led to a bridge collapse in Central China's Henan Province, have claimed dozens of lives in three days, prompting the public to demand that authorities reinforce safety checks to make sure people can travel home safely during the annual Spring Festival travel rush.

At least six major road accidents took place across the country since February 1, killing at least 67 people.

These accidents occurred as China's transportation sector gears up for the Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year, the most important occasion for family reunions that falls on February 10 this year.

In the most serious accident, a part of the expressway viaduct in Mianchi county, Sanmenxia city, Henan Province collapsed on February 1 when a truck carrying fireworks exploded, killing 10 people and injuring 11.
MAR

President Xi takes reins - 2013/03/14

China's top legislature elected Xi Jinping as president of the country during the 12th National People's Congress on March 14, capping off his appointments as chief of the Party, state and military following a once-in-a-decade leadership transition.

Nearly 3,000 deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC) voted for Xi, 59, who was also elected chairman of the country's Central Military Commission.

Li Keqiang was endorsed as China’s premier on March15, finalizing a once-in-a-decade leader¬ship transition.

President Xi wraps up first overseas tour - 2013/03/22

Chinese President Xi Jinping left Beijing on March 22 for his first state visits to Russia, Tanzania, South Africa and the Republic of Congo after he took office earlier this month.

Xi, who started the visit accompanied by wife Peng Liyuan, also attended the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit on March 26 and 27 in South Africa.

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APR

7.0-m earthquake hits Lushan county - 2013/04/20

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Lushan county of Ya'an city in Southwest China's Sichuan Province at 8:02 am on April 20, causing 196 deaths, 11,470 injuries, with 21 missing, according to the statistics from the provincial emergency response command center.
MAY

New military plates highlight anti-corruption - 2013/05/01

The Ministry of National Defense stopped to issue special military plates for luxury vehicles when it rolls out its new plates on May 1.

All of the military plates in the country expire with the rollout of the new plates, and the ministry uses high technology to make sure no one can get their hands on the new plates that does not deserve them.

President Xi visits Latin America, meets Obama in US - 2013/05/31

Chinese President Xi Jinping paid state visits to Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica and Mexico from May 31 to June 6, signing 24 agreements in various fields with the three nations.

After wrapping up the Latin America tour, Xi and US President Barack Obama met at a casual-style summit at the Sunnylands estate in California, mapping out a new type of ties between the world's two largest economies.

The two-day summit is the first face-to-face meeting between the presidents of China and the United States since Xi assumed the presidency in March and Obama won a second presidential term in the last November elections.

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JUN

China launches Shenzhou-10 manned spacecraft - 2013/06/11

China successfully launched its fifth manned spacecraft on June 11 afternoon. Shenzhou-10, atop an upgraded Long March-2F carrier rocket, blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China at 5: 38 pm and entered its designated orbit minutes later.

The three astronauts who completed China's longest manned space mission returned to Earth safely on June 26, marking another step towards the country's goal of building a permanent manned space station by 2020.
JUL

China sees top officials on trial - 2013/07/08 and 2013/07/25

This month proved a watershed in the Chinese government’s crackdown on bribery with the conviction of two major Chinese officials, former Chongqing Party chief Bo Xilai and Liu Zhijun, ex-minister of railways in July.

Bo Xilai, former Communist Party of China (CPC) chief of Chongqing Municipality, has been charged with taking bribes, embezzlement and abuse of power on July 25, according to Jinan City People's Procuratorate in East China's Shandong Province.

Former minister of railways, Liu Zhijun, was given a death penalty with "a two-year reprieve" for bribe-taking and abuse of power on July 8.
AUG

'Trading error' leads to stock market spike - 2013/08/16

A trading error by a brokerage on August 16 triggered a surprising spike in the Shanghai Stock Exchange in the morning session, with more than 50 weighted stocks surging to the daily limit of 10 percent before paring gains.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index surged by as much as 5.6 percent shortly after 11 am on August 16. Major stocks on the Shanghai bourse such as Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, and PetroChina saw their share prices surge to the daily limit at the same time.

Media reports said that 7.2 billion yuan ($1.17 billion) were traded due to the error.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission said on August 18 that "design flaws" in Everbright Securities Co's trading programs were the reason for the major spike.
SEP

Chinese tenor's son receives 10-year jail term - 2013/09/26

Li Tianyi, the teenage son of Li Shuangjiang, a renowned Chinese tenor, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for rape on September 26, according to Beijing Haidian District People's Court.

Five men were detained on February 21 after a woman surnamed Yang reported to police that she had been taken to a hotel and gang raped after drinking with the men in a bar on February 17.

The case soon came to the spotlight as the son of Li Shuangjiang, dean of the music department of the People's Liberation Army Academy of Arts, was among the five suspects.

Shanghai Pilot FTZ begins operation - 2013/09/29

The Shanghai pilot free trade zone (FTZ) started operating on September 29, launching a test bed for the Chinese leadership's drive of deepening market-oriented reforms and boosting economic vitality.

Located on the outskirts of the city where the Yangtze River empties into the East China Sea, the zone is set to explore new ways of reducing government interventions and opening the Chinese economy wider to global investors.

It is noted that the FTZ is unveiled just more than one month before the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Although Chinese authorities have never linked the FTZ with the convening of the session, its establishment signals a new round of forceful reforms in China and the session will focus on the comprehensive implementation of reform in this rising power.

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OCT

Tiananmen car crash deemed terrorist attack - 2013/10/28

A jeep crashed into a crowd of people and caught fire in front of the Tiananmen rostrum in downtown Beijing at noon on October 28, killing five people and injuring another 38.

The dead include three people in the jeep, a Philippine female tourist and a male tourist from South China's Guangdong Province.

Beijing police said on October 30 that the car crash was an act of terrorism by suspects from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, as it arrested five people, all of whom were allegedly involved.
NOV

3rd Plenum of CPC Central Committee held in Beijing - 2013/11/12

China’s top decision makers have unveiled reform guidelines for the next decade in the Third Plenum of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, which kicked off on November 9 and concluded on November 12.

It sets the tone for how the world’s second largest economy will deepen reforms in the new stage, after the transformation began more than three decades ago.

China sets up 'air defense zone' over East China Sea - 2013/11/23

China has established and immediately patrolled its first East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on November 23 in a bid to guard its territory against potential air threats, a move Japan sees as "unacceptable" and targeting the disputed Diaoyu Islands.

The zone is not targeting any specific countries but aimed at protecting State sovereignty and both territorial and airspace security, as well as maintaining flying orders, said the defense ministry spokesman.

The defense ministry announced the establishment of the zone by issuing the aircraft identification rules and a map of the zone, which covers a wide area of the East China Sea including the Diaoyu Islands.

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DEC

China launches probe and rover to moon - 2013/12/02

China's successful launch of the Chang'e-3 lunar probe to the moon on December 2 from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province marks the first time that China has sent a spacecraft to soft land on the surface of an extraterrestrial body.

Carrying China’s first moon rover named Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, Chang'e-3 landed on the moon on December 14 and will conduct a three-month survey of the moon's geological structure.