Founding of the Chinese Communist Party
The CCP, officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is
the founding and sole ruling party of the People’s Republic
of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP
emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil War against the KMT,
and in 1949 Mao proclaimed the establishment of the PRC.
Since then, the CCP has governed China with eight smaller
parties within its United Front, and has sole control over
the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Each successive leader of
the CCP has added their own theories to the party’s
constitution, which outlines the ideological beliefs of the
party, collectively referred to as socialism with Chinese
characteristics.
For the first six years of its history, the CCP aligned
itself with the KMT as the organized left-wing of the larger
nationalist movement. However, when the right-wing of the
KMT, led by Chiang Kai-shek, turned on the CCP and massacred
tens of thousands of the party’s members, the two parties
split and began a prolonged civil war. During the next ten
years of guerrilla warfare, Mao Zedong rose to become the
most influential figure in the CCP and the party established
a strong base among the rural peasantry with its land reform
policies. Support for the CCP continued to grow throughout
the Second Sino-Japanese War, and after the Japanese
surrender in 1945, the CCP emerged triumphant in the
communist revolution against the KMT government. After the
retreat of KMT to Taiwan the CCP established the PRC on 1
October 1949.
Mao Zedong continued to be the most influential member of
the CCP until his death in 1976, although he periodically
withdrew from public leadership as his health declined. Under
Mao, the party completed its land reform program, launched a
series of five-year plans, and eventually split with the
Soviet Union. Although Mao attempted to purge the party of
capitalist and reactionary elements during the Cultural
Revolution, after his death these policies were only briefly
continued by the Gang of Four
before a less radical faction seized control. During the
1980s, Deng Xiaoping directed the CCP away from Maoist
orthodoxy and towards a policy of economic liberalization.
The official explanation for these reforms was that China is
still in the primary stage of socialism, a developmental
stage similar to the capitalist mode of production. Since the
collapse of the Eastern Bloc and the dissolution of the
Soviet Union in 1991, the CCP has emphasized its relations
with the ruling parties of the remaining socialist states,
and continues to participate in the International Meeting of
Communist and Workers’ Parties each year. The CCP has also
established relations with several non-communist parties,
including dominant nationalist parties of many developing
countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and social
democratic parties of Europe.
The CCP is organized on the basis of democratic
centralism, a principle that entails open discussion of
policy on the condition of unity among party members in
upholding the agreed-upon decision. The highest body of the
CCP is the National Congress, convened every fifth year. When
the National Congress is not in session, the Central
Committee is the highest body, but since that body usually
only meets once a year, most duties and responsibilities are
vested in the Politburo and its Standing Committee. Members
of the latter are seen as the top leadership of the party and
the state. Today the party’s leader holds the offices of
general secretary (responsible for civilian party duties),
Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC)
(responsible for military affairs), and State President (a
largely ceremonial position). Because of these posts, the
party leader is seen as the country’s paramount leader. The
current leader is Xi Jinping, who was elected at the 18th
National Congress held on 8-15 November 2012, and retained
his position at the 19th National Congress held on 18-24
October 2017 and the 20th National Congress held on 16-22
October 2022.
