1942 in China

• President: Lin Sen
• Premier: Chiang Kai-shek
• Vice Premier: Kung Hsiang-hsi

• Beginning of the Chinese famine of 1942-43
• April 26 - a gas and coal dust explosion in the Benxihu Colliery killed 1,549 miners.{{cite web|last=Yang (杨)|first=Wenjie (雯洁)|title=Hidden behind the world's largest coal mine accident lies (Figure) - 世界最大煤矿事故背后藏谎言(图)|url=http://news.sina.com.cn/s/2005-05-09/07135834465s.shtml|publisher=Sina News|accessdate=7 August 2010|language=Chinese}}{{cite web|last=De (尚) |first=Shangbao (宝德) |title=About 1942, the Lake mine gas explosion oral information (关于1942年本溪湖煤矿瓦斯大爆炸口述资料) |url=http://www.warslave.net/lgks1.htm |accessdate=7 August 2010 |language=Chinese |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100416183755/http://www.warslave.net/lgks1.htm |archivedate=16 April 2010 }}{{cite web|title=Chinazhaoge Blog|url=http://chinazhaoge.blog.sohu.com/21038332.html|publisher=sohu.com|accessdate=7 August 2010|language=Chinese}}
• mid May-early September - Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign
• A cholera epidemic in Yunnan province kills around 200 peopleSARS in China: Prelude to Pandemic?, By Arthur Kleinman, James L. Watson, p. 10

• January 16 — Zhao Zhongxiang, news anchor (d. 2020)

• Huang Zhiquan, former Governor of Jiangxi Province

• March 10 — Li Zhilun, 6th Minister of Supervision of China (d. 2007)
• Ablet Abdureshit, 8th Chairman of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region

• April 30 — James Soong, Taiwanese politician

• July 6 — Wang Zhizhen, biophysicist
• July 13 — Yueh Hua, Hong Kong actor (d. 2018)
• Guo Boxiong, former general of the People's Liberation Army
• Huang Baosheng, scholar of Sanskrit and Pali (d. 2023)

• September 3 — Michael Hui, Hong Kong actor and comedian
• September 15 — Wen Jiabao, 6th Premier of China
• September 22 — Wu Ma, Hong Kong actor, director, producer and writer (d. 2014)

• October 5
• He Xiangjian, co-founder of Midea
• Wang Gang, politician

• November 3 — Liu Qi, 11th Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
• November 21 — Chen Zhili, politician
• Chen Guidi, writer

• December 3 — Zhou Yongkang, member of the 17th Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
• December 21 — Hu Jintao, 5th Paramount Leader of China
• December 28 — Uyunqimg, 8th Chairwoman of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (d. 2024)

• Chen Jialin, film director (d. 2022)

• January 22 — Xiao Hong, writer (b. 1911)
• February 12 — Zhao Shangzhi, military commander (b. 1908)
• May 25 — Zuo Quan, senior staff officer in the Eighth Route Army (b. 1905)
• May 26 — Dai Anlan, commander of the 200th Division of the National Revolutionary Army (b. 1904)
• May 27 — Chen Duxiu, 1st General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (b. 1879)
• August 14 — Tan Yuling, concubine of China's last emperor Puyi (b. 1920)
• October 13 — Hong Yi, monk, artist and musician (b. 1880)
• December 9 — Dwarkanath Kotnis, Indian physician regarded as an example for Sino-Indian friendship and collaboration (b. 1910)

• List of Chinese films of the 1940s

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{{Years in China}}

Category:Years of the 20th century in China

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