In the early morning of March 18, 2012, Ling Gu, the only son of Ling Jihua, died in a Ferrari crash near the Baofusi Bridge on Beijing's North Fourth Ring Road. Two young women in the car were severely injured, triggering high-level political maneuvering and intensive news censorship.
On March 15, 2012, Bo Xilai was dismissed from his post as secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the CCP, and three days later Ling Gu died in a car accident in Beijing. These two incidents became critical turning points in the restructuring of the top leadership power structure of the Chinese Communist Party on the eve of the 18th National Congress.
On March 14, 2012, Wen Jiabao delivered a speech at the Two Sessions Chinese and foreign press conference, emphasizing that without political structural reform, economic structural reform cannot succeed, and warning that the tragedy of the Cultural Revolution could happen again.
In the spring of 2012, the son of Ling Jihua was involved in a Ferrari crash. The cover-up and aftermath surrounding the accident quickly escalated into a political scandal, causing Ling Jihua to lose his chance to enter the Politburo before the 18th National Congress and leading to his removal from the General Office of the CCP Central Committee.
In March 2012, Wen Jiabao spoke about reform of the system of Party and state leadership at his final press conference as premier, warning that if political reform stalled, the gains of economic reform could be lost again and even a historical tragedy such as the Cultural Revolution could happen once more; the next day, Bo Xilai was removed from his post as Chongqing Party Secretary.
In March 2012, Gao Xiaosong's online video show Xiaoshuo went online; the first episode exceeded 1 million views within 24 hours, and the first season accumulated over 100 million views, transforming him from a musician into an online knowledge narrator.