1949 in China

Incumbents

• President: Chiang Kai-shek, Li Zongren
• Premiers: Sun Fo, He Yingqin, Yan Xishan

• Chairman of the Communist Party of China: Mao Zedong
• Chairman of the Government: Mao Zedong
• Premier: Zhou Enlai

  Events

January

• 21 January — Chiang Kai-shek resigns from the presidency in a "temporary absence". Vice President Li Zongren was named as the successor

  April

• 23 April — Communists capture the KMT's capital, Nanjing

  June

• the Communist Party organised a "Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference" to prepare for the establishment of a "New Democracy" regime to replace the Kuomintang-dominated Republic of China government

  July

• Tropical storm Irma kills 1,600 people and destroys more than 63,000 houses in Shanghai, the worst typhoon on record in the city.

  September

• 21 September — The first meeting of the CPPCC, which was attended by the Communist Party along with eight aligned parties
• 27 September — The Flag of the People's Republic of China is a red field charged in the canton with five golden stars.

  October

• 1 October – The People's Republic of China is officially proclaimed in Beijing
• 17 October – Chinese communist troops take Guangzhou.
• 25–27 October — Battle of Guningtou in Kinmen, Fujian
• 27 October — Chinese communist troops fail to take Kinmen in the Battle of Kuningtou; their advance towards Taiwan is halted.

  December

• 8 December — The government of the Republic of China finishes its evacuation to Taiwan, and declares Taipei its temporary capital city.
• 17 December — Burma recognizes the People's Republic of China.
• 30 December — India recognizes the People's Republic of China.

  Deaths

• September 6 – Yang Hucheng, a Chinese warlord during the Warlord Era of Republican China and Kuomintang general during the Chinese Civil War