Chinese Communist Party

The Communist Party of China (CPC), unofficially known as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and <a href="/facts/One-party_state/bTmHoaGu">sole ruling party</a> of the <a href="/facts/People%2527s_Republic_of_China/lTjIXY5p">People's Republic of China</a> (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the <a href="/facts/Chinese_Civil_War/FML5ckX5">Chinese Civil War</a> against the <a href="/facts/Kuomintang/jxHMXkAo">Kuomintang</a> and <a href="/facts/Proclamation_of_the_People%2527s_Republic_of_China/5PRH09rn">proclaimed the establishment of the PRC</a> under the leadership of <a href="/facts/Mao_Zedong/tU9LMYH3">Mao Zedong</a> in October 1949. Since then, the CCP has governed China and has had sole control over the <a href="/facts/People%2527s_Liberation_Army/nr4YlS9J">People's Liberation Army</a> (PLA). As of 2024, the CCP has more than 99 million members, making it the <a href="/facts/List_of_largest_political_parties/1CVSnL0D">second largest political party by membership in the world</a>.
In 1921, <a href="/facts/Chen_Duxiu/5caLJjhv">Chen Duxiu</a> and <a href="/facts/Li_Dazhao/PWLvVGrE">Li Dazhao</a> led the founding of the CCP with the help of the Far Eastern Bureau of the <a href="/facts/Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union/1PFHfjJE">Russian Communist Party</a> (<a href="/facts/Bolsheviks/UAHzalnN">Bolsheviks</a>) and <a href="/facts/Far_Eastern_Bureau_of_the_Communist_International/AF2oDC7g">Far Eastern Bureau of the Communist International</a>. Although the CCP aligned with the Kuomintang (KMT) during its initial years, the rise of the right-wing in the KMT under the leadership of <a href="/facts/Chiang_Kai-Shek/dXkvQU17">Chiang Kai-Shek</a> and massacre of tens of thousands of CCP members, resulted in the split and a prolonged civil war between the two. During the next ten years of <a href="/facts/Guerrilla_warfare/IMWNg4bI">guerrilla warfare</a>, Mao Zedong rose to become the most influential figure in the CCP, and the party established a strong base among the rural <a href="/facts/Peasant/LpXfJ1HH">peasantry</a> with its <a href="/facts/Land_Reform_Movement_(China)/uyd9fbGp">land reform policies</a>. Support for the CCP continued to grow throughout the <a href="/facts/Second_Sino-Japanese_War/QgPmgfHa">Second Sino-Japanese War</a>, and after the Japanese surrender in 1945, the CCP emerged triumphant in <a href="/facts/Chinese_Communist_Revolution/beGJXD3H">the communist revolution</a> against the <a href="/facts/Nationalist_government/AwXDHfFo">Nationalist government</a>. After the <a href="/facts/Kuomintang%2527s_retreat_to_Taiwan/HhCqrhoo">KMT's retreat to Taiwan</a>, the CCP established the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949.
Mao Zedong continued to be the most influential member of the CCP until <a href="/facts/Death_and_state_funeral_of_Mao_Zedong/H11ox5co">his death in 1976</a>. Under Mao, the party completed its land reform program, launched a series of <a href="/facts/Five-year_plans_of_China/9hw6jsQH">five-year plans</a>, and eventually <a href="/facts/Sino-Soviet_split/r958VRaK">split with the Soviet Union</a>. Although Mao attempted to purge the party of capitalist and <a href="/facts/Reactionary/YXNs6GQC">reactionary</a> elements during the <a href="/facts/Cultural_Revolution/1EAQGgYk">Cultural Revolution</a>, after his death, these policies were only briefly continued by the <a href="/facts/Gang_of_Four/UNsjS5fb">Gang of Four</a> before a less radical faction seized control. During the 1980s, <a href="/facts/Deng_Xiaoping/qloJ6G8m">Deng Xiaoping</a> directed the CCP away from Maoist orthodoxy and towards a policy of <a href="/facts/Chinese_economic_reform/fhdC9JDe">economic liberalization</a>. Since the <a href="/facts/Revolutions_of_1989/gLWM6JLk">collapse of the Eastern Bloc</a> and the <a href="/facts/Dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union/Fyn5jw3n">dissolution of the Soviet Union</a> in 1991, the CCP has focused on maintaining its relations with the ruling parties of the remaining <a href="/facts/List_of_communist_states/oYaCr1Av">socialist states</a>. 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, as well as <a href="/facts/Social_democracy/Ttb0ryDT">social democratic</a> parties in Europe.
As a <a href="/facts/Marxist%25E2%2580%2593Leninist/bXD3yf3m">Marxist–Leninist</a> party, the Chinese Communist Party is organized based on <a href="/facts/Democratic_centralism/HGgjq6xl">democratic centralism</a>, a principle that entails open policy discussion on the condition of unity among party members in upholding the agreed-upon decision. The highest body of the CCP is the <a href="/facts/National_Congress_of_the_Chinese_Communist_Party/7W47W6AF">National Congress</a>, convened every fifth year. When the National Congress is not in session, the <a href="/facts/Central_Committee_of_the_Chinese_Communist_Party/874hRX2N">Central Committee</a> is the highest body, but since that body usually only meets once a year, most duties and responsibilities are vested in the <a href="/facts/Politburo_of_the_Chinese_Communist_Party/vPwwzTbv">Politburo</a> and its <a href="/facts/Politburo_Standing_Committee_of_the_Chinese_Communist_Party/XbMfwPwF">Standing Committee</a>. Members of the latter are seen as the top leadership of the party and the state. Today the <a href="/facts/Leader_of_the_Chinese_Communist_Party/9rvPXn1d">party's leader</a> holds the offices of <a href="/facts/General_Secretary_of_the_Chinese_Communist_Party/pMmwwJwu">general secretary</a> (responsible for civilian party duties), <a href="/facts/Chairman_of_the_Central_Military_Commission_(China)/BIx8sJyf">Chairman of the Central Military Commission</a> (CMC) (responsible for military affairs), and <a href="/facts/President_of_the_People%2527s_Republic_of_China/8dnGVbM4">State President</a> (a largely ceremonial position). Because of these posts, the party leader is seen as the country's <a href="/facts/Paramount_leader/f9vKhW9c">paramount leader</a>. The current leader is <a href="/facts/Xi_Jinping/DTd5Yeh6">Xi Jinping</a>, who was elected at the 1st Plenary Session of the <a href="/facts/18th_Central_Committee_of_the_Chinese_Communist_Party/bSDdS2Sr">18th Central Committee</a> held on 15 November 2012 and has been reelected twice, on 25 October 2017 by the <a href="/facts/19th_Central_Committee_of_the_Chinese_Communist_Party/sun0enwk">19th Central Committee</a> and on 10 October 2022 by the <a href="/facts/20th_Central_Committee_of_the_Chinese_Communist_Party/4rjnrfGj">20th Central Committee</a>.

Chinese Communist Party open-in-new

Chinese Communist Party