Events in the year 1961 in China. The country had an estimated population of 695 million people.

• Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party – Mao Zedong
• President of the People's Republic of China – Liu Shaoqi
• Premier of the People's Republic of China – Zhou Enlai
• Chairman of the National People's Congress – Zhu De
• Vice President of the People's Republic of China – Soong Ching-ling and Dong Biwu
• Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China – Chen Yun

• Governor of Anhui Province – Huang Yan
• Governor of Fujian Province – Wu Hongxiang
• Governor of Gansu Province – Deng Baoshan
• Governor of Guangdong Province – Chen Yu
• Governor of Guizhou Province – Zhou Lin
• Governor of Hebei Province – Liu Zihou
• Governor of Heilongjiang Province – Li Fanwu
• Governor of Henan Province – Wu Zhipu
• Governor of Hubei Province – 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 – Huang Oudong
• Governor of Qinghai Province – Yuan Renyuan
• Governor of Shaanxi Province – Zhao Boping
• Governor of Shandong Province – Tan Qilong
• Governor of Shanxi Province – Wei Heng
• Governor of Sichuan Province – Li Dazhang
• Governor of Yunnan Province – Ding Yichuan
• Governor of Zhejiang Province – Zhou Jianren

• until February 9 - Campaign at the China–Burma border
• July 11 - Signing of the Sino-North Korean Mutual Aid and Cooperation Friendship Treaty
• Continuing Great Chinese Famine

• Establishment of the Logistical Engineering University of PLA, in Chongqing
• April 27 – A container shipping and logistics brand on worldwide, COSCO was founded.^{[citation needed]}
• 　Establishment of Oil Worker's Children Middle School, in Ranghulu District, Daqing, Heilongjiang

• March 16 – Chen Geng, military officer (b. 1903)
• August 8 – Mei Lanfang, opera artist (b. 1894)
• August 12 – Tan Kah Kee, businessman, investor, and philanthropist active in Singapore and the Chinese cities of Hong Kong, Shanghai, Xiamen, and Guangzhou (b. 1874)

• April 5 to April 14 - 1961 World Table Tennis Championships

• 1961 in Chinese film