2002 in China

Incumbents

• Party General Secretary - Jiang Zemin until November 15, Hu Jintao
• President – Jiang Zemin
• Premier – Zhu Rongji
• Vice President – Hu Jintao
• Vice Premier – Li Lanqing
• Congress Chairman - Li Peng
• Conference Chairman - Li Ruihuan

  Events

March

• March 25 – Shenzhou 3, an unmanned Chinese spacecraft, was launched.

  April

• April 15 – An Air China Boeing 767-200 crashes into a hillside during heavy rain and fog near Pusan, South Korea, killing 128.

  June

• June - Discovery of the Hidden character stone

  July

• July 19 – Hail kills 25 and injures hundreds in the Chinese province of Henan.

  August

• August 22 – In China, the Dongting Lake floods Yueyang, forcing the evacuation of 600,000 people; the crest of the flooding from the Yangtze River is expected Sunday. Floods and landslides have killed nearly 1000 people in China, 200 in the Hunan province.

  November

• November 8 – President of the People's Republic of China Jiang Zemin announced several key policies at the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing. Although Marxism-Leninism would remain the official ideology of China, entrepreneurs and people in unconventional occupations, who are building "socialism with Chinese characteristics", would have a voice in establishing Communist Party ideology.
• November 15 – Hu Jintao becomes General Secretary of the Communist Party of China.

  December

• December 29 – China successfully launches Shenzhou 4, the fourth unmanned launch of the Chinese Shenzhou spacecraft.

  Births

• November 6 - Giulio Taccon, musician and actor