Chongqing official Lei Zhengfu was dismissed within 63 hours after an explicit video was exposed, triggering a subsequent series of cases involving officials being blackmailed via bedside hidden cameras.
On the second day after the conclusion of the First Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee, Hu Jintao stated at an enlarged meeting of the Military Commission that Xi Jinping was a qualified General Secretary and Chairman of the Military Commission. Xi Jinping, in turn, highly praised Hu Jintao for voluntarily stepping down as Chairman of the Military Commission, marking the official completion of the power transition.
The First Plenary Session of the 18th CCP Central Committee has concluded. Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan, and Zhang Gaoli have become the new members of the Politburo Standing Committee. Among them, Li Keqiang is the only representative of the Hu Jintao faction, while the Jiang Zemin faction holds the majority.
After the First Plenary Session of the 18th CCP Central Committee on November 15, 2012, Hu Jintao stepped down as General Secretary and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, with Xi Jinping succeeding him, becoming the first non-serving-for-life top leader to hand over all of his power in one go.
On November 15, 2012, the First Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party elected Xi Jinping as General Secretary of the Central Committee and Chairman of the Central Military Commission.
The New York Times published a world-shaking investigative report revealing that relatives of Wen Jiabao's family secretly controlled assets worth approximately USD 2.7 billion.
On the eve of the 18th National Congress, retired party elders expressed strong opposition to Wang Yang and Li Yuanchao, ultimately blocking both from the Standing Committee, which allowed the Jiang Zemin faction to hold a majority of seats at the Standing Committee level.
Apple Daily reported that Li Zhanshu's daughter, Li Qianxin, was already serving as Vice President of CITIC Capital in her twenties, and cited Li Zhanshu's poetry as evidence.
Following Ling Plan's departure, Li Zhanshu officially assumed office as the Director of the CCP Central Committee Office on September 1, 2012, stepping into the core power circle of the General Office in advance.
After Li Zhanshu took over as director of the General Office of the CCP Central Committee in 2012, he defined the office as a "political organ," transferring and demoting in batches the cronies installed by Ling Jihua on the basis of political loyalty, and remade the General Office into an institution answerable only to Xi Jinping.
In the early hours of August 26, 2012, on the Baomao Expressway in Ansai County, Yan'an, Shaanxi, a double-decker sleeper bus rear-ended a methanol tanker and caught fire, killing 36 people and injuring 3.
On August 7, 2012, in the men's 110 metres hurdles heats at the London Olympics, Liu Xiang fell at the first hurdle. He was diagnosed after the race with a ruptured Achilles tendon and never competed in an official event again.
Toutiao, founded by ByteDance, released its first version in August 2012, using a data-mining recommendation engine to recommend news to individuals based on their behavior.
Then-Guizhou Provincial Party Secretary Li Zhanshu left Guizhou, subsequently took up a post in Beijing, and that same September took over the CCP Central Committee General Office.
Bai Yansong invited scholars on the program News 1+1 to discuss the delayed retirement policy then under study by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, sparking public debate over pension fairness and youth employment.
Bloomberg publishes an investigative report revealing that relatives of Xi Jinping control $376 million in assets, kicking off the high-level political power struggle on the eve of the 18th National Congress.
Jing Junhai took office as the head of the Publicity Department of the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee, and subsequently, with the support of Zhao Leji, led the whole process and initiated the large-scale expansion of Xi Zhongxun's mausoleum.
Chen Yiqin left the propaganda system and took office as executive vice governor of the Guizhou Provincial Government, overseeing development and reform, energy, taxation, statistics, price control, as well as major engineering projects and key initiatives.
On April 4, 2012, Qingming, more than ten petitioners went to Yang Jia's grave in Beijing to pay their respects. The area around the grave was swarming with police, and surveillance cameras had been installed. Five petitioners, including Mao Hengfeng, were taken away by police as soon as they arrived at the grave.
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.
Wang Lijun, disguised, fled and broke into the US Consulate in Chengdu, marking the collapse of Bo Xilai's political empire.
After the incident in February 2012 in which Wang Lijun entered the U.S. Consulate General in Chengdu, Huang Qifang claimed that it was he who persuaded Wang Lijun to walk out of the consulate, that the process of Wang being taken away by personnel from the state security system was "very peaceful," and he denied having any dispute with state security.
The sum of GDP figures reported by provinces and municipalities in 2012 was 57.66 trillion yuan, about 10% higher than the 51.93 trillion yuan calculated by the National Bureau of Statistics; the bureau said the difference was mainly due to double counting in the tiered accounting system and differences in raw data.
Xi Jinping became General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in November 2012; online rumors claim that Xi Yuanping was thereby regarded as a “prince” and that capital accelerated its penetration into the entertainment industry, a claim for which no public reports provide confirmation.
Hong Kong police carried out operations at twenty‑one locations in Yuen Long, arresting over a hundred people. The investigations covered illegal gambling, prostitution venues, illegal fuel and money laundering, involving funds amounting to hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars. Among those taken away were prominent figures such as Guo Yonghong of Shenghe, as well as Deng Lidong, chairman of the Xiacun Township Committee, and Zeng Shuhe, chairman of the Pingshan Township Committee.
Lo Wai-kuen died of illness in 2012. The video claims that Stephen Chow nearly broke down upon hearing the news and at one point disappeared from public view.
Huawei established the Flower Fan Club, setting up levels, points and petals, and offering arrangements such as beta testing, same-city events, campus events and prizes for new products.
In 2012, Xiaoxiang Morning Herald reported that a vegetable vendor in Shandong sprayed formaldehyde on Chinese cabbage to keep it fresh. This method had been used for three or four years, and long-term inhalation can cause leukemia.
Justin Sun delivered the speech “The China of the Two President Fangs” at a Fang Lizhi memorial held by Chinese in New York, USA, comparing the different Chinas represented by Fang Lizhi and Fang Binxing.
With Wang Lijun's entry into the U.S. Consulate General in Chengdu and the downfall of Bo Xilai, Sima Nan, who had gone to Chongqing to sing red songs and crack down on black, continued to host subsequent activities commemorating Mao Zedong, and distanced himself by separating the person from the line.
Bloomberg disclosed changes in the asset of the property above Shenzhen Dongmen Old Street subway station based on business registration information.
After disappearing from the music scene for ten years following the Yuanhua case, Yang Yuying made a high-profile comeback in 2012.
Sun Wen started as the Director of Asian Affairs for New York State in 2012, later promoted to Deputy Chief of Staff of New York State, and was bought off by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during that period.
Sun Yuchen delivered a speech at the Fang Lizhi memorial service, and the related content was considered to be in obvious contrast with his later image.
A Federal Reserve study says the total net worth of U.S. households exceeded its pre-2007 financial crisis peak at the end of 2012 and has continued to grow since then.
During Li Zhanshu's tenure as director of the CCP Central Committee General Office, the General Office successively issued rules targeting retired cadres, requiring that they not hold private gatherings, not make reckless comments about the Central Committee, not interfere in personnel arrangements, and that retired cadres obtain approval from the General Office before leaving Beijing.
According to records of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) judiciary, Deputy Director Ma XXX of Biyang Industry and Information Bureau colluded with the local casting company head, fabricated a roster of absent workers, defrauded over 1.94 million yuan of closure small enterprise subsidy funds, and divided the loot according to the June Fourth ratio.
The film When Night Falls, directed by Shanghai-based director Ying Liang, tells from the perspective of Yang Jia's mother, Wang Jingmei, her experience of being illegally confined in a psychiatric hospital after her son's arrest and her subsequent efforts on his behalf. The film was screened at the Jeonju International Film Festival and the Locarno Film Festival in 2012, where Ying Liang won the Best Director award at Locarno, after which he left Shanghai following threats of arrest.
According to the program's account, before and after Xi Jinping came to power, the Pan family purchased several large properties in the United States.
In 2012, the Xicun Village Committee of Dongcun Town, Lan County, Luliang City, Shanxi Province, signed "Land Acquisition Agreements" with villagers under the pretext of road construction. After the land remained idle for two years, the villagers resumed farming on it in 2015.