1989 in China

Incumbents

• Party General Secretary - Zhao Ziyang until June 24, Jiang Zemin
• President – Yang Shangkun
• Premier – Li Peng
• Vice President – Wang Zhen
• Vice Premier – Yao Yilin
• Congress Chairman - Wan Li
• Conference Chairman - Li Xiannian

  Events

May

• May 14 – Mikhail Gorbachev visits China, the first Soviet leader to do so since the 1960s.
• May 19 – Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: Zhao Ziyang meets the demonstrators in Tiananmen Square.
• May 20 – Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: The Chinese government declares martial law in Beijing.
• May 30 – Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: The 10 m high Goddess of Democracy statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators.

  June

• June 4 – Tiananmen Square massacre takes place in Beijing on the army's approach to the square, and the final stand-off in the square is covered live on television.
• June 24 - Jiang Zemin becomes General Secretary of the Communist Party of China.

  Unknown date

• Peak Sport Products founded in Quanzhou, Fujian Province.
• Zhuhai Hailing Air-conditioner Manufacturing, as predecessor of Gree was founded in Guangdong Province.
• Sany Heavy Industries was founded in Hunan Province, as predecessor name was Hunan Sanyi Heavy Industries.

  Births

• January 18 - Li Huzhao, Paralympic athlete
• February 20 - Zhang Yangyang, rower
• March 18 - Lü Zhiwu, swimmer
• July 12 - Wang Xinnan, rower
• December 21 - Fang Yuting, archer

  Deaths

• April 15 – Hu Yaobang, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China
• April 23 - Hu Die, Chinese actress
• December 5 - Li Keran, a renowned contemporary Chinese painter