Zhongnanhai, Beijing - Headquarters of CPC and Chinese Government
Wall Banner on the left-hand side: "Long Live the Great Chinese Communist Party!"
Wall Banner on the right-hand side: "Long Live the Invincible Mao Zedong Thought!"

Brief Introduction of the Communist Party of China

The Communist Party of China (CPC) was founded on July 1, 1921 in Shanghai, China. After 28 years of struggle, the CPC finally won victory of "new-democratic revolution" and founded the People's Republic of China in 1949. The CPC is the ruling party of mainland China (P.R. China).

The Communist Party of China is founded mainly on ideology and politics. The CPC derives its ideas and policies from the people's concentrated will and then turns that will into State laws and decisions which are passed by the National People's Congress of China through the State's legal procedures. Theoretically, CPC does not take the place of the government in the State's leadership system. The Party conducts its activities within the framework of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China and the law and has no right to transcend the Constitution and the law. All Party members, like all citizens in the country, are equal before the law.

The Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, held in December 1978, decided to shift the focus of the Party's work to socialist modernization and set a policy of reform and opening up to the outside world.

Any Chinese who has reached the age of 18, accepts the Party's Program and Constitution and is willing to join and work actively in one of the Party organizations, carry out the Party's decisions and pay membership dues regularly, may apply for membership of the CPC. Its membership increased from 70 in 1921 to over 66 million in 2002.

The highest leading body of the Party is the National Congress and the Central Committee elected by it. The National Congress of the Party is held once every five years and convened by the Central Committee.
 

Basics of the Communist Party of China

• Date of Establishment: July 1, 1921

• Place of Establishment: Shanghai, China

• General Secretary of the Central Committee: Hu Jintao (Elected in 16th and Re-elected in 17th Party National Congress)

CPC Chairman Hu Jintao

• Motto: Seeking Truth From the Facts

• Ultimate Goal: Establishment of a communist social system

• Flag and Emblem:
  
  
   

• Guiding Ideology: Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought

• Total Number of Party Members: 73.36 million (Oct. 2007)

• Total Number of Branches: Over 3.3 millions (grass-roots branches)

• The Party's Constitution: The Constitution of the Communist Party of China

• The Party's Publications:  

  • Renmin Ribao (People's Daily), the organ newspaper of the CPC Central Committee with circulation of 2.3 million (Dec. 1999 data) Editor in Chief: Mr. Wang Chen; Director: Mr. Xu Zhongtian. 

  • Qiu Shi (Seeking Truth), the CPC's theoretical publication. The theoretical magazine used to be named Hong Qi (Red Flag).

Organizations of the Communist Party of China

• Political Bureau: 

Members of Standing Committee of Political Bureau: Hu Jintao, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Xijinping, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang, Zhou Yongkang.

Members of Political Bureau (alphabetically listed):  Bo Xilai, Guo Boxiong, He Guoqiang, Hu Jintao, Hui Liangyu, Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Li Keqiang, Li Yuanchao, Liu Qi, Liu Yandong (female), Liu Yunshan, Wang Gang, Wang Lequan,  Wang Qishan, Wang Yang,  Wang Zhaoguo, Wen Jiabao, Wu Bangguo, Xi Jinping, Xu Caihou, Yu Zhengsheng, Zhang Dejiang, Zhang Gaoli, Zhou Yongkang.

• Central Military Commission: Chairman: Hu Jintao; Vice Chairmen: Guo Boxiong, Xu Caihou; Members: Liang Guanglie, Chen Bingde, Li Jinai, Liao Xilong, Chang Wanquan, Jing Zhiyuan, Wu Shengli, Xu Qiliang.

• Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC: ?

• Central Committee of the CPC

• Total Members of Central Committee: 204 (Full List)  

• Total Alternate Members of Central Committee: 167 (Full List) 

• Total Members of Central Disciplinary Committee: 127 (Full List)

• Total Members of CPC in 2007: 73.36 million (Among these members 71.8% under 35 years old, 31.9% are female members; 7.1% Ethnic Minorities,  (Data collected in Oct. 2007)

• The Major Organizations Under Central Committee:

  • International Liaison Department (Chief: Wang Jiarui)

  • United Front Work Department (Chief: DU Qinglin ) (website is in Chinese)

  • Organization Department (Chief: Li Yuanchao)

  • Propaganda Department (Chief: Liu Yunshan)

  • Party Central Academy (President: Zeng Qinghong)

• Total Number of Branches: Over 3.3 millions (grass-roots branches)

List of Communist Party of China's National Congresses

Other Language Versions News Sources of the Communist Party of China's

• Japanese
• Korean
• Russian
• Mongolian
• Tibetan
• Chinese (Simplified)
• Chinese (Traditional, BIG5)
• Kazakh

• By the end of 2009, Chinese Communist Party has 77.995 million members, a 2.065 million increase over the last year. Among these members, females (16.94 million) share 21.7% of total CPC members; Ethnic minority members (5.13 millions) share 6.6%. 35.7% of CPC members (27.87 million) have college or higher education background. Total number of CPC branches (grass-roots branches are called zhi'bu in Chinese) 3.374 million.

CPC Members' age distribution

CPC Members' career distribution

(Source: People's Daily June 28, 2010, translated by CT)

• By the end of 2007, Chinese Communist Party has 74.153 million members. Among these members, female shares 20.4%, and 32.4% members have college or higher education, and 23.7% members are below 35 years old. (July 1, 2009)
   
• Total Number of Branches: Over 3.3 millions (grass-roots branches)

• The Increase of Total Numbers of CPC

• 2005 Statistics: Total members of CPC: 70.80 million. Among those members, 19.2% were female; 23% were below 35 years old. 29% had received college education.
   
• 2002 Statistics: Total members of CPC: 66.36 million. Among those members: 16.6% (10.29 million) are female; 6.1% (3.79 million) are minority people; 23.1% of them (14.28 million) are under 35 years old; 4.6% of them (2.86 million) are under 25 years old; 47.2% (29.19 million) of them are high-school graduates (among them, 17.8% have college or university degrees; 0.5% (310,000) with graduate degrees). In 1998 alone, 2.26 million people are newly enrolled into the Party.

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2.86 mln Communist Party members work in China's private sector

Source: Xinhua July 12, 2007 - About 2.86 million members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) were working for private enterprises by the end of 2006, according to the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee.

There were also 810,000 CPC members among the ranks of the self-employed, said a document released by the department here Thursday.

There were a total of 178,000 CPC organs in private firms in 2006, a rise of 79.8 percent over 2002, and 94.2 percent of them had at least three Party members.

At its 16th National Congress held in Beijing in 2002, the CPC took a significant step forward by including in its constitution provisions relating to party organs in the private sector.

Early this year the organization department said that about 330,000 Party workers have been sent to private enterprises to help organize party organs and recruit members.

The CPC now has 70 million members.

Local Party committees in 14 provinces reshuffled
Xinhua News - Jan. 16, 2007 - Fourteen of the 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities on the Chinese mainland had reshuffled local Party committees following internal elections for Party officials by last December. The number of deputy Party chiefs in the local Party committees was cut by 38 to 33, a display of the Party's determination to improve efficiency and strengthen ruling capacity, according to the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Positions in the standing committees of local Party committees were also reduced by eight to 186, with the average age of members down by half a year to 52.7-years-old. There are now 56 members aged below 50 and 21 members aged around 45 in the standing committees of local Party committees, and at least one woman cadre in most of the 14 provincial Party committees. In contrast to the general efforts to streamline Party organizations, posts in the Party's discipline inspection commissions were increased by 24.6 percent. "It will help discipline inspection sectors to perform their duties better," said an official with the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee. Local Party leadership elections, which occur every five years, have been completed at the provincial, municipal, county and township levels, in Tibet, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Henan, Anhui, Shanxi, Jiangsu, Hunan, Hebei, Yunnan, Guangxi, Fujian and Jiangxi. The election of Party officials in other regions and jurisdictions will be completed by the middle of this year.

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