# 1956 in China

Events in the year 1956 in China. The country had an estimated population of 620 million people.

## Incumbents

* Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party: Mao Zedong
* President of the People's Republic of China: Mao Zedong
* Premier of the People's Republic of China: Zhou Enlai
* Chairman of the National People's Congress: Liu Shaoqi
* Vice President of the People's Republic of China: Zhu De
* Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China: Chen Yun

### Governors

* Governor of Anhui Province: Huang Yan
* Governor of Fujian Province: Ye Fei
* Governor of Gansu Province: Deng Baoshan
* Governor of Guangdong Province: Tao Zhu
* Governor of Guizhou Province: Zhou Lin
* Governor of Hebei Province: Lin Tie
* Governor of Heilongjiang Province: Han Guang then Ouyang Qin
* Governor of Henan Province: Wu Zhipu
* Governor of Hubei Province: Liu Zihou then Zhang Tixue
* Governor of Hunan Province: Cheng Qian
* Governor of Jiangsu Province: Hui Yuyu
* Governor of Jiangxi Province: Shao Shiping
* Governor of Jilin Province: Li Youwen
* Governor of Liaoning Province: Du Zheheng
* Governor of Qinghai Province: Sun Zuobin
* Governor of Shaanxi Province: Zhao Shoushan
* Governor of Shandong Province: Zhao Jianmin
* Governor of Shanxi Province: Pei Lisheng then Wang Shiying
* Governor of Sichuan Province: Li Dazhang
* Governor of Yunnan Province: Guo Yingqiu
* Governor of Zhejiang Province: Sha Wenhan

## Events

* September 28 — First Plenary Session of the 8th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
* September 28 — Election of the 8th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party
* Hundred Flowers Campaign
* Continuing Kuomintang Islamic insurgency in China

### Other events

* Establishment of the Chinese Skating Association
* Establishment of the Shanghai Natural History Museum
* Hnhhot Huimin Cattle and Breeding Association, as predecessor of Yili Diary Group was founded in Inner Mongolia.
* Shaoxinggaoji High School is founded.

## Education

* Establishments:
** Beijing University of Chinese Medicine
** Capital University of Economics and Business
** Central Institute for Correctional Police
** Chongqing Medical University
** Chongqing Three Gorges University
** First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University
** Hangzhou Xuejun High School
** High School Affiliated to Beijing International Studies University

## Sports

* Establishment of Jilin Northeast Tigers
* Chinese Sports Committee oversees creation of new, simplified (and shorter) 24 Form Tai Chi. Due to this official promotion, the 24-form is most likely the Taiji form with the most practitioners in China and the world over.

## Births
### January

* January 5 — Tong Xiaolin, physician
* January 11 — Geoffrey Ma, 3rd Chief Judge of the High Court of Hong Kong

### February

* February 25 — Wei Zi, film and television actor

### March

* March 9 — Chen Baoguo, actor

### June

* June 21 — Larry Hsien Ping Lang, Hong Kong-based economist, commentator, author and TV host
* June 22 — Sima Nan, television pundit, social commentator and journalist

### August

* August 13 — Li Hongzhong, member of the 20th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party
* August 15 — Lu Shuming, actor (d. 2022)
* August 30 — King Pu-tsung, Taiwanese politician
* August 31 — Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwanese politician

### September

* September 1 — Zhang Fengyi, actor
* September 2 — Cheung Ming-man, Hong Kong singer and occasional actor
* September 12 — Leslie Cheung, Hong Kong singer and actor (d. 2003)
* September 30 — Teresa Carpio, Hong Kong English and Cantonese language pop singer, actress and singing teacher
* Shi Taifeng, member of the 20th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party

### October

* October 1 — Hou Dejian, Taiwanese songwriter, composer and singer
* October 2 — Deng Zongquan, scientist
* October 3 — Chang Chen-kuang, Taiwanese actor
* October 7 — Sun Haiying, actor
* October 12 — Regina Hing Yue Tsang, actress, singer and beauty pageant
* October 16 — Li Xi, 13th Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection

### November

* November 15 — Huang Kunming, member of the 20th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party

### December

* December 27 — Wu Yingjie, 14th Secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
* December 30 — Yuen Kwok-yung, Hong Kong microbiologist, physician and surgeon

## Deaths

* March 7 — Yang Zhensheng, educator and author (b. 1890)
* April 2 — Tan Pingshan, early member of the Chinese Communist Party (b. 1886)
* April 25 — He Jian, nationalist general (b. 1887)
* August 23 — Li Du, leading general of the Jilin Self-Defence Army (b. 1880)
* December 11 — Mao Renfeng, nationalist general and spymaster (b. 1898)