Editing Chinese Communist Party (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of the Chinese Communist Party}}

===Founding and early history===
The [[October Revolution]] and [[Marxist philosophy|Marxist theory]] inspired the founding of the CCP.<ref name="auto">{{Cite book |last=Hunt |first=Michael |url=https://archive.org/details/worldtransformed0000hunt |title=The World Transformed: 1945 to the Present |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-312-24583-2 |page=}}</ref>{{Rp|page=114}} [[Chen Duxiu]] and [[Li Dazhao]] were among the first to publicly support [[Leninism]] and [[world revolution]]. Both regarded the October Revolution in Russia as groundbreaking, believing it to herald a new era for oppressed countries everywhere.{{sfn|Van de Ven|1991|pp=26–27}}

Some historical analysis views the [[May Fourth Movement]] as the beginning of the revolutionary struggle that led to the [[Proclamation of the People's Republic of China|founding of the People's Republic of China]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hammond |first=Ken |title=China's Revolution and the Quest for a Socialist Future |date=2023 |publisher=1804 Books |isbn=978-1-7368500-8-4 |location=New York, NY}}</ref>{{Rp|page=22}} Following the movement, trends towards social transformation increased.<ref name=":04" />{{Rp|page=14}} Writing in 1939, Mao Zedong stated that the Movement had shown that the [[Bourgeoisie|bourgeois]] revolution against imperialism and China had developed to a new stage, but that the [[proletariat]] would lead the revolution's completion.<ref name=":04" />{{Rp|page=20}} The May Fourth Movement led to the establishment of radical intellectuals who went on to mobilize peasants and workers into the CCP and gain the organizational strength that would solidify the success of the [[Chinese Communist Revolution]].<ref name="zhidong">{{Cite journal |last=Hao |first=Zhidong |date=March 1997 |title=May 4th and June 4th compared: A sociological study of Chinese social movements |journal=[[Journal of Contemporary China]] |language=en |volume=6 |issue=14 |pages=79–99 |doi=10.1080/10670569708724266 |issn=1067-0564}}</ref> Chen and Li were among the most influential promoters of Marxism in China during the May Fourth period.<ref name=":04">{{Cite book |last=Huang |first=Yibing |title=An Ideological History of the Communist Party of China |date=2020 |publisher=Royal Collins Publishing Group |isbn=978-1-4878-0391-9 |editor-last=Zheng |editor-first=Qian |volume=2 |location=Montreal, Quebec |pages= |translator-last=Sun |translator-first=Li |translator-last2=Bryant |translator-first2=Shelly}}</ref>{{Rp|page=7}} The CCP itself embraces the May Fourth Movement and views itself as part of the movement's legacy.<ref name=":9">{{Cite book |last=Šebok |first=Filip |title=Contemporary China: a New Superpower? |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-03-239508-1 |editor-last=Kironska |editor-first=Kristina |chapter=Historical Legacy |pages=15–28 |doi=10.4324/9781003350064-3 |editor-last2=Turscanyi |editor-first2=Richard Q.}}</ref>{{Rp|page=24}}

Study circles were, according to [[Cai Hesen]], "the rudiments [of our party]".{{sfn|Van de Ven|1991|p=38}} Several study circles were established during the [[New Culture Movement]], but by 1920 many grew sceptical about their ability to bring about reforms.{{sfn|Van de Ven|1991|p=44}} China's intellectual movements were fragmented in the early 1920s.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Karl |first=Rebecca E. |title=Mao Zedong and China in the Twentieth-Century World: a Concise History |date=2010 |publisher=[[Duke University Press]] |isbn=978-0-8223-4780-4 |series=Asia-pacific: Culture, Politics, and Society series |location=Durham, NC |doi=10.2307/j.ctv11hpp6w |jstor=j.ctv11hpp6w}}</ref>{{Rp|page=17}} The May Fourth Movement and the New Culture Movement had identified issues of broad concern to Chinese progressives, including [[anti-imperialism]], support for [[Chinese nationalism|nationalism]], support for [[Democracy in China|democracy]], promotion of feminism, and rejection of traditional values.<ref name=":12" />{{Rp|page=17}} Proposed solutions among Chinese progressives differed significantly, however.<ref name=":12" />{{Rp|page=17}}

[[File:The First National Congress of CPC.jpg|thumb|left|[[Site of the First National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party|Site of the first CCP Congress]], in the former [[Shanghai French Concession]]]]

The CCP was founded on 1 July 1921 with the help of the Far Eastern Bureau of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)]] and [[Far Eastern Bureau of the Communist International|Far Eastern Secretariat of the Communist International]], according to the party's official account of its history.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hé |first=Lìbō |title=Xiǎn wéi rénzhī de zhōnggòng yī dà cānjiāzhě: Éguórén Níkē'ěrsījī |script-title=zh:鲜为人知的中共一大参加者：俄国人尼科尔斯基 |language=zh |work=[[People's Daily]] |url=http://cpc.people.com.cn/GB/64162/64172/85037/85038/6444613.html |url-status=live |access-date=7 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071104234821/http://cpc.people.com.cn/GB/64162/64172/85037/85038/6444613.html |archive-date=4 November 2007 |trans-work=News of the Communist Party of China |script-work=zh:中国共产党新闻网}}</ref><ref name="CI">{{Cite book |last=Party History Research Office of the CPC Central Committee |date=1997 |publisher=Beijing Library Press |pages=39–51 |script-title=zh:共產國際、聯共（布）與中國革命檔案資料叢書}}</ref> However, party documents suggest that the party's actual founding date was 23 July 1921, the first day of the [[1st National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party|1st National Congress of the CCP]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tatlow |first=Didi Kirsten |date=20 July 2011 |title=On Party Anniversary, China Rewrites History |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/21/world/asia/21iht-letter21.html |url-access=limited |access-date=2 June 2021 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/21/world/asia/21iht-letter21.html |archive-date=1 January 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The founding National Congress of the CCP was held 23–31 July 1921.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1st. National Congress of The Communist Party of China (CPC). |url=http://www.chinatoday.com/org/cpc/cpc_1st_congress_standing_polibureau.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222031024/http://www.chinatoday.com/org/cpc/cpc_1st_congress_standing_polibureau.htm |archive-date=22 December 2017 |access-date=8 October 2015}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=May 2024}} With only 50 members in the beginning of 1921, among them Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao and Mao Zedong,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Three Chinese Leaders: Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Deng Xiaoping |url=http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/china_1950_leaders.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211053051/http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/china_1950_leaders.htm |archive-date=11 December 2013 |access-date=21 March 2022 |website=Asia for Educators |publisher=[[Columbia University]]}}</ref> the CCP organization and authorities grew tremendously.<ref name="auto" />{{Rp|page=115}} While it was originally held in [[Site of the First National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party|a house]] in the [[Shanghai French Concession]], French police interrupted the meeting on 30 July{{sfn|Gao|2009|p=119}} and the congress was moved to a tourist boat on [[South Lake (Jiaxing)|South Lake]] in [[Jiaxing]], Zhejiang province.{{sfn|Gao|2009|p=119}} A dozen delegates attended the congress, with neither Li nor Chen being able to attend,{{sfn|Gao|2009|p=119}} the latter sending a personal representative in his stead.{{sfn|Gao|2009|p=119}} The resolutions of the congress called for the establishment of a [[communist party]] as a branch of the [[Communist International]] (Comintern) and elected Chen as its leader. Chen then served as the first general secretary of the CCP{{sfn|Gao|2009|p=119}} and was referred to as "China's Lenin".{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

The Soviets hoped to foster pro-Soviet forces in East Asia to fight against [[anti-communist]] countries, particularly [[Empire of Japan|Japan]]. They attempted to contact the warlord [[Wu Peifu]] but failed.<ref>{{Cite news |date=9 October 1920 |title=News of the Soviets of People's Deputies}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=16 November 1921 |title=News of the Soviets of People's Deputies}}</ref> The Soviets then contacted the [[Kuomintang]] (KMT), which was leading the [[Government of the Republic of China in Guangzhou|Guangzhou government]] parallel to the [[Beiyang government]]. On 6 October 1923, the Comintern sent [[Mikhail Borodin]] to Guangzhou, and the Soviets established friendly relations with the KMT. The [[Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party|Central Committee of the CCP]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=中央檔案館 |title=中共中央文件選集1 |date=1989 |publisher=中共中央黨校出版社 |pages=187, 271–297}}</ref> Soviet leader [[Joseph Stalin]],<ref>{{Cite book |title=中共中央、共青團中央和共產國際代表聯席會議記錄 |date=December 1924}}</ref> and the Comintern<ref>{{Cite book |last= |first= |title=共產國際有關中國資料選輯 Collection of the Communist International's Materials on China |date=1981 |publisher=Institute of Modern History, [[Chinese Academy of Social Sciences]] |page=83}}</ref> all hoped that the CCP would eventually control the KMT and called their opponents "rightists".{{sfn|Schram|1966|pp=84, 89}}{{NoteTag|Chiang Kai-shek strongly opposed this label and the CCP's analysis of the KMT. He believed that the KMT served all Chinese, regardless of political leanings.<ref name="ccc" />}} KMT leader [[Sun Yat-sen]] eased the conflict between the communists and their opponents. CCP membership grew tremendously after the [[4th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party|4th congress]] in 1925, from 900 to 2,428.<ref name="ksy">{{Cite book |last=奎松 |first=楊 |title=中間地帶的革命 |date=April 2010 |publisher=山西人民出版社 |location=Taiyuan}}</ref> The CCP still treats Sun Yat-sen as one of the founders of their movement and claim descent from him<ref>{{Cite news |last=Allen-Ebrahimian |first=Bethany |title=The Chinese Communist Party Is Still Afraid of Sun Yat-Sen's Shadow |work=[[Foreign Policy]] |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/08/the-chinese-communist-party-is-still-afraid-of-sun-yat-sens-shadow/ |url-status=live |access-date=1 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210314084608/https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/08/the-chinese-communist-party-is-still-afraid-of-sun-yat-sens-shadow/ |archive-date=14 March 2021}}</ref> as he is viewed as a proto-communist<ref>{{Cite news |date=10 November 2016 |title=Tug of war over China's founding father Sun Yat-sen as Communist Party celebrates his legacy |work=[[South China Morning Post]] |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2044782/tug-war-over-chinas-founding-father-sun-yat-sen |url-status=live |access-date=1 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310125141/https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2044782/tug-war-over-chinas-founding-father-sun-yat-sen |archive-date=10 March 2021}}</ref> and the economic element of [[Three Principles of the People|Sun's ideology]] was socialism.{{sfn|Dirlik|2005|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=S-aGLEtx7AYC&pg=PA20 20]}} Sun stated, "Our Principle of Livelihood is a form of communism".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Godley |first=Michael R. |year=1987 |title=Socialism with Chinese Characteristics: Sun Yatsen and the International Development of China |journal=The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs |issue=18 |pages=109–125 |doi=10.2307/2158585 |jstor=2158585 |s2cid=155947428}}</ref>

The communists dominated the [[Socialist ideology of the Kuomintang|left wing of the KMT]] and struggled for power with the party's right-wing factions.{{sfn|Schram|1966|pp=84, 89}} When Sun Yat-sen died in March 1925, he was succeeded by a rightist, [[Chiang Kai-shek]], who initiated moves to marginalize the position of the communists.{{sfn|Schram|1966|pp=84, 89}} Chiang, Sun's former assistant, was not actively anti-communist at that time,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=獨秀 |first=Du Xiu |date=3 April 1926 |title=中國革命勢力統一政策與廣州事變 |journal=嚮導}}</ref> even though he hated the theory of [[Class conflict|class struggle]] and the CCP's seizure of power.<ref name="ccc">{{Cite book |last=Chiang |first=Chung Cheng |url=https://archive.org/details/sovietrussiainch0000chai |title=Soviet Russia in China: a Summing Up at Seventy |date=1957 |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Cudahy |ol=89083W}}</ref> The communists proposed removing Chiang's power.<ref>{{Cite book |last=中央檔案館 |title=中共中央文件選集2 |date=1989 |publisher=中共中央黨校出版社 |pages=311–318}}</ref> When Chiang gradually gained the support of Western countries, the conflict between him and the communists became more and more intense. Chiang asked the Kuomintang to join the Comintern to rule out the secret expansion of communists within the KMT, while Chen Duxiu hoped that the communists would completely withdraw from the KMT.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=奎松 |first=楊 |year=2002 |title=蔣介石從三二零到四一二的心路歷程 |journal=史學月刊 |volume=6}}</ref>

In April 1927, both Chiang and the CCP were preparing for conflict.<ref>{{Cite book |last=上海市檔案館 |title=上海工人三次武裝起義 |date=1983 |publisher=[[Shanghai People's Press]]}}</ref> Fresh from the success of the [[Northern Expedition]] to overthrow the warlords, Chiang Kai-shek turned on the communists, who by now numbered in the tens of thousands across China.{{sfn|Feigon|2002|p=42}} Ignoring the orders of the Wuhan-based KMT government, he marched on Shanghai, a city controlled by communist militias. Although the communists welcomed Chiang's arrival, he turned on them, [[Shanghai massacre of 1927|massacring 5,000]]{{NoteTag|"In the next weeks five thousand Communists were butchered by the stammering machine-guns of the Kuomintang and by the knives of the criminal gangs whom Chiang recruited for slaughter."{{sfn|Carter|1976|p=62}}{{br}}Other sources give different estimates, e.g. 5,000–10,000.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ryan |first=Tom |title=China Rising: The Revolutionary Experience |date=2016 |publisher=History Teachers' Association of Victoria |isbn=978-1-875585-08-3 |editor-last=Purnell |editor-first=Ingrid |location=Collingwood |page=77 |editor-last2=Plozza |editor-first2=Shivaun}}</ref>}} with the aid of the [[Green Gang]].{{sfn|Feigon|2002|p=42}}{{sfn|Schram|1966|p=106}}{{sfn|Carter|1976|pp=61–62}} Chiang's army then marched on Wuhan but was prevented from taking the city by CCP General [[Ye Ting]] and his troops.{{sfn|Schram|1966|p=112}} Chiang's allies also attacked communists; for example, in Beijing, Li Dazhao and 19 other leading communists were executed by [[Zhang Zuolin]].{{sfn|Schram|1966|pp=106–109}}{{sfn|Carter|1976|p=62}} Angered by these events, the peasant movement supported by the CCP became more violent. [[Ye Dehui]], a famous scholar, was killed by communists in [[Changsha]], and in revenge, KMT general [[He Jian]] and his troops gunned down hundreds of peasant militiamen.{{sfn|Schram|1966|pp=112–113}} That May, tens of thousands of communists and their sympathizers were killed by KMT troops, with the CCP losing approximately {{formatnum:15000}} of its {{formatnum:25000}} members.{{sfn|Carter|1976|p=62}}

===Chinese Civil War and Second Sino-Japanese War===
{{Further|Chinese Civil War|Outline of the Chinese Civil War|Chinese Soviet Republic|Long March|Second Sino-Japanese War|Chinese Communist Revolution}}
[[File:中國工農紅軍軍旗.svg|thumb|upright=0.8|Flag of the [[Chinese Red Army|Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army]]]]

The CCP continued supporting the Wuhan KMT government,{{sfn|Carter|1976|p=62}} but on 15 July 1927 the Wuhan government expelled all communists from the KMT.{{sfn|Carter|1976|p=63}} The CCP reacted by founding the [[Chinese Red Army|Workers' and Peasants' Red Army of China]], better known as the "Red Army", to battle the KMT. A battalion led by General [[Zhu De]] was ordered to take the city of [[Nanchang]] on 1 August 1927 in what became known as the [[Nanchang uprising]].

Initially successful, Zhu and his troops were forced to retreat after five days, marching south to [[Shantou]], and from there being driven into the wilderness of [[Fujian]].{{sfn|Carter|1976|p=63}} [[Mao Zedong]] was appointed commander-in-chief of the Red Army, and led four regiments against Changsha in the [[Autumn Harvest Uprising]], hoping to spark peasant uprisings across Hunan.{{sfn|Carter|1976|p=64}} His plan was to attack the KMT-held city from three directions on 9 September, but the Fourth Regiment deserted to the KMT cause, attacking the Third Regiment. Mao's army made it to Changsha but could not take it; by 15 September, he accepted defeat, with 1,000 survivors marching east to the [[Jinggang Mountains]] of [[Jiangxi]].{{sfn|Carter|1976|p=64}}{{sfn|Schram|1966|pp=122–125}}{{sfn|Feigon|2002|pp=46–47}}

The near destruction of the CCP's urban organizational apparatus led to institutional changes within the party.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=72}} The party adopted [[democratic centralism]], a way to organize revolutionary parties, and established a politburo to function as the standing committee of the central committee.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=72}} The result was increased centralization of power within the party.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=72}} At every level of the party this was duplicated, with standing committees now in effective control.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=72}} After being expelled from the party, Chen Duxiu went on to lead China's [[Trotskyism|Trotskyist]] movement. [[Li Lisan]] was able to assume ''de facto'' control of the party organization by 1929–1930.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=72}}

The 1929 [[Gutian Congress]] was important in establishing the principle of party control over the military, which continues to be a core principle of the party's ideology.<ref name=":Duan">{{Cite book |last=Duan |first=Lei |title=China under Xi Jinping: A New Assessment |publisher=[[Leiden University Press]] |year=2024 |isbn=978-90-8728-441-1 |editor-last=Fang |editor-first=Qiang |pages= |chapter=Towards a More Joint Strategy: Assessing Chinese Military Reforms and Militia Reconstruction |editor-last2=Li |editor-first2=Xiaobing}}</ref>{{Rp|page=280}}

Li's leadership was a failure, leaving the CCP on the brink of destruction.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=72}} The Comintern became involved, and by late 1930, his powers had been taken away.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=72}} By 1935, Mao had become a member of [[Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party|Politburo Standing Committee of the CCP]] and the party's informal military leader, with [[Zhou Enlai]] and [[Zhang Wentian]], the formal head of the party, serving as his informal deputies.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=72}} The conflict with the KMT led to the reorganization of the Red Army, with power now centralized in the leadership through the creation of CCP political departments charged with supervising the army.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=72}}

The [[Xi'an Incident]] of December 1936 paused the conflict between the CCP and the KMT.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=370}} Under pressure from Marshal [[Zhang Xueliang]] and the CCP, Chiang Kai-shek finally agreed to a [[Second United Front]] focused on repelling the Japanese invaders.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=354}} While the front formally existed until 1945, all collaboration between the two parties had effectively ended by 1940.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=354}} Despite their formal alliance, the CCP used the opportunity to expand and carve out independent bases of operations to prepare for the coming war with the KMT.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=355}} In 1939, the KMT began to restrict CCP expansion within China.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=355}} This led to frequent clashes between CCP and KMT forces{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=355}} which subsided rapidly on the realization on both sides that civil war amidst a foreign invasion was not an option.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=355}} By 1943, the CCP was again actively expanding its territory at the expense of the KMT.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=355}}

[[File:Three Campaigns of Chinese Civil War.png|thumb|upright=1.2|Map showing the [[Liaoshen Campaign|Liaoshen]], [[Huaihai campaign|Huaihai]], and [[Pingjin campaign|Pingjin Campaigns]] that decisively turned the war in favour of the CCP.]]

Mao Zedong became the [[Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party|Chairman of the CCP]] in 1945. After the [[Japanese surrender]] in 1945, the war between the CCP and the KMT began again in earnest.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=95}} The 1945–1949 period had four stages; the first was from August 1945 (when the Japanese surrendered) to June 1946 (when the peace talks between the CCP and the KMT ended).{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=95}} By 1945, the KMT had three times more soldiers under its command than the CCP and initially appeared to be prevailing.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=95}} With the cooperation of the US and Japan, the KMT was able to retake major parts of the country.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=95}} However, KMT rule over the reconquered territories proved unpopular because of its endemic [[political corruption]].{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=95}}

Notwithstanding its numerical superiority, the KMT failed to reconquer the rural territories which made up the CCP's stronghold.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=95}} Around the same time, the CCP launched an invasion of [[Manchuria]], where they were assisted by the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=95}} The second stage, lasting from July 1946 to June 1947, saw the KMT extend its control over major cities such as [[Yan'an]], the CCP headquarters, for much of the war.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=95}} The KMT's successes were hollow; the CCP had tactically withdrawn from the cities, and instead undermined KMT rule there by instigating protests among students and intellectuals. The KMT responded to these demonstrations with heavy-handed repression.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=96}} In the meantime, the KMT was struggling with factional infighting and Chiang Kai-shek's autocratic control over the party, which weakened its ability to respond to attacks.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=96}}

The third stage, lasting from July 1947 to August 1948, saw a limited counteroffensive by the CCP.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=96}} The objective was clearing "Central China, strengthening North China, and recovering Northeast China."{{sfn|Leung|1996|p=96}} This operation, coupled with military desertions from the KMT, resulted in the KMT losing 2 million of its 3 million troops by the spring of 1948, and saw a significant decline in support for KMT rule.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=96}} The CCP was consequently able to cut off KMT garrisons in Manchuria and retake several territories.{{sfn|Leung|1996|p=96}}

The last stage, lasting from September 1948 to December 1949, saw the communists go on the offensive and the collapse of KMT rule in mainland China as a whole.{{sfn|Leung|1996|p=96}} Mao's [[Proclamation of the People's Republic of China|proclamation of the founding of the People's Republic of China]] on 1 October 1949 marked the end of the second phase of the Chinese Civil War (or the [[Chinese Communist Revolution]], as it is called by the CCP).{{sfn|Leung|1996|p=96}}

===Proclamation of the PRC and the 1950s===
{{Further|Proclamation of the People's Republic of China}}
[[File:Stalin birthday2.jpg|thumb|upright=0.95|left|Chinese communists celebrate Joseph Stalin's birthday, 1949.]]
Mao proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) before a massive crowd at Tiananmen Square on 1 October 1949. The CCP headed the [[Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China (1949–1954)|Central People's Government]].<ref name="auto" />{{Rp|page=118}} From this time through the 1980s, top leaders of the CCP (such as Mao Zedong, Lin Biao, Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping) were largely the same military leaders prior to the PRC's founding.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=Alice |title=The 19th Central Committee Politburo |url=https://www.hoover.org/sites/default/files/research/docs/clm55-am-final.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215022611/https://www.hoover.org/sites/default/files/research/docs/clm55-am-final.pdf |archive-date=15 February 2021 |access-date=27 April 2020 |website=China Leadership Monitor, No. 55 |publisher=[[Hoover Institution]]}}</ref> As a result, informal personal ties between political and military leaders dominated civil-military relations.<ref name=":2" />

Stalin proposed a one-party constitution when [[Liu Shaoqi]] visited the Soviet Union in 1952.<ref>{{Cite book |last=哲 |first=師 |title=在歷史巨人身邊——師哲回憶錄 |date=1991 |publisher=中央文獻出版社 |location=Beijing |page=531}}</ref> The constitution of the PRC in 1954 subsequently abolished the previous coalition government and established the CCP's one-party system.<ref>{{Cite book |last=子陵 |first=辛 |title=紅太陽的隕落：千秋功罪毛澤東 |date=2009 |publisher=書作坊 |location=Hong Kong |page=88}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=理羣 |first=錢 |title=毛澤東和後毛澤東時代 |date=2012 |publisher=聯經 |location=Taipei |page=64}}</ref> In 1957, the CCP launched the [[Anti-Rightist Campaign]] against political dissidents and prominent figures from minor parties, which resulted in the political persecution of at least 550,000 people. The campaign significantly damaged the limited pluralistic nature in the socialist republic and solidified the country's status as a ''de facto'' [[one-party state]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=King |first=Gilbert |title=The Silence that Preceded China's Great Leap into Famine |language=en |work=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]] |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-silence-that-preceded-chinas-great-leap-into-famine-51898077/ |url-status=live |access-date=28 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191014232813/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-silence-that-preceded-chinas-great-leap-into-famine-51898077/ |archive-date=14 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Du |first=Guang |year=2007 |title="反右"运动与民主革命——纪念"反右"运动五十周年 |url=https://www.modernchinastudies.org/us/issues/past-issues/97-mcs-2007-issue-3/1015-2012-01-05-15-35-22.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414035811/https://www.modernchinastudies.org/us/issues/past-issues/97-mcs-2007-issue-3/1015-2012-01-05-15-35-22.html |archive-date=14 April 2021 |access-date=18 July 2020 |website=[[Modern China Studies]] |language=zh}}</ref>

The Anti-Rightist Campaign led to the catastrophic results of the Second Five Year Plan from 1958 to 1962, known as the [[Great Leap Forward]]. In an effort to transform the country from an agrarian economy into an industrialized one, the CCP collectivized farmland, formed people's communes, and diverted labour to factories. General mismanagement and exaggerations of harvests by CCP officials led to the [[Great Chinese Famine]], which resulted in an estimated 15 to 45 million deaths,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gráda |first=Cormac Ó |year=2007 |title=Making Famine History |url=http://researchrepository.ucd.ie/bitstream/10197/492/3/ogradac_article_pub_063.pdf |url-status=live |journal=[[Journal of Economic Literature]] |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=5–38 |doi=10.1257/jel.45.1.5 |issn=0022-0515 |jstor=27646746 |s2cid=54763671 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602070651/https://researchrepository.ucd.ie/bitstream/10197/492/3/ogradac_article_pub_063.pdf |archive-date=2 June 2021 |access-date=21 April 2021 |hdl-access=free |hdl=10197/492}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Meng |first1=Xin |last2=Qian |first2=Nancy |last3=Yared |first3=Pierre |year=2015 |title=The Institutional Causes of China's Great Famine, 1959–1961 |url=https://www0.gsb.columbia.edu/faculty/pyared/papers/famines.pdf |url-status=live |journal=[[The Review of Economic Studies]] |volume=82 |issue=4 |pages=1568–1611 |citeseerx=10.1.1.321.1333 |doi=10.1093/restud/rdv016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200305165942/https://www0.gsb.columbia.edu/faculty/pyared/papers/famines.pdf |archive-date=5 March 2020 |access-date=22 April 2020}}</ref> making it the largest famine in recorded history.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Smil |first=Vaclav |date=18 December 1999 |title=China's great famine: 40 years later |journal=[[The BMJ]] |volume=319 |issue=7225 |pages=1619–1621 |doi=10.1136/bmj.319.7225.1619 |issn=0959-8138 |pmc=1127087 |pmid=10600969}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Mirsky |first=Jonathan |date=7 December 2012 |title=Unnatural Disaster |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/books/review/tombstone-the-great-chinese-famine-1958-1962-by-yang-jisheng.html |url-status=live |access-date=22 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170124011617/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/books/review/tombstone-the-great-chinese-famine-1958-1962-by-yang-jisheng.html |archive-date=24 January 2017 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Dikötter |first=Frank |author-link=Frank Dikötter |title=Mao's Great Famine: Ways of Living, Ways of Dying |url=http://www.dartmouth.edu/~crossley/HIST5.03/FILES/OHMC_DIkotter.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716231543/http://www.dartmouth.edu/~crossley/HIST5.03/FILES/OHMC_DIkotter.pdf |archive-date=16 July 2020 |publisher=[[Dartmouth College]]}}</ref>

===Sino-Soviet split and Cultural Revolution===
{{Main|Sino-Soviet split|Cultural Revolution}}
[[File:MaoZedong19660818.jpg|thumb|On August 18, 1966, Mao Zedong met with student Red Guards on Tiananmen]]
During the 1960s and 1970s, the CCP experienced a significant ideological separation from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union which was going through a period of "[[de-Stalinization]]" under [[Nikita Khrushchev]].{{sfn|Kornberg|Faust|2005|p=103}} By that time, Mao had begun saying that the "continued revolution under the [[dictatorship of the proletariat]]" stipulated that class enemies continued to exist even though the socialist revolution seemed to be complete, leading to the [[Cultural Revolution]] in which millions were persecuted and killed.{{sfn|Wong|2005|p=131}} During the Cultural Revolution, party leaders such as Liu Shaoqi, [[Deng Xiaoping]], [[Peng Dehuai]], and [[He Long]] were purged or exiled, and the [[Gang of Four]], led by Mao's wife [[Jiang Qing]], emerged to fill in the power vacuum left behind.

===Reforms under Deng Xiaoping===
{{Main|Chinese economic reform}}

Following Mao's death in 1976, a power struggle between CCP chairman [[Hua Guofeng]] and vice-chairman Deng Xiaoping erupted.{{sfn|Wong|2005|p=47}} Deng won the struggle, and became China's paramount leader in 1978.{{sfn|Wong|2005|p=47}} Deng, alongside [[Hu Yaobang]] and [[Zhao Ziyang]], spearheaded the "[[Chinese economic reform|reform and opening-up]]" policies, and introduced the ideological concept of socialism with Chinese characteristics, opening China to the world's markets.{{sfn|Sullivan|2012|p=254}} In reversing some of Mao's "leftist" policies, Deng argued that a socialist state could use the [[market economy]] without itself being capitalist.<ref name="marketvsplanning" /> While asserting the political power of the CCP, the change in policy generated significant economic growth.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}} This was justified on the basis that "[[1978 Truth Criterion Controversy|Practice is the Sole Criterion for the Truth]]", a principle reinforced through a 1978 article that aimed to combat dogmatism and criticized the "[[Two Whatevers]]" policy.<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 January 2008 |title=An article influences Chinese history |url=http://www.china.org.cn/2008-01/19/content_1240036.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080310005822/http://www.china.org.cn:80/2008-01/19/content_1240036.htm |archive-date=10 March 2008 |access-date=9 August 2021 |website=[[China Internet Information Center]]}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=July 2023}} The new ideology, however, was contested on both sides of the spectrum, by Maoists to the left of the CCP's leadership, as well as by those supporting political liberalization. In 1981, the Party adopted a [[Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party since the Founding of the People's Republic of China|historical resolution]], which assessed the historical legacy of the Mao Zedong era and the future priorities of the CCP.<ref name=":22">{{Cite book |last1=Doyon |first1=Jérôme |title=The Chinese Communist Party: a 100-Year Trajectory |last2=Froissart |first2=Chloé |date=2024 |publisher=[[ANU Press]] |isbn=978-1-76046-624-4 |editor-last=Doyon |editor-first=Jérôme |location=Canberra |chapter=Introduction |editor-last2=Froissart |editor-first2=Chloé}}</ref>{{Rp|page=6}} With other social factors, the conflicts culminated in the [[1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre]].{{sfn|Sullivan|2012|p=25}} The protests having been crushed and the reformist party general secretary Zhao Ziyang under house arrest, Deng's economic policies resumed and by the early 1990s the concept of a [[socialist market economy]] had been introduced.{{sfn|Vogel|2011|p=682}} In 1997, Deng's beliefs (officially called "[[Deng Xiaoping Theory]]") were embedded into the [[Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party|CCP's constitution]].{{sfn|Vogel|2011|p=684}}

===Further reforms under Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao===
CCP general secretary [[Jiang Zemin]] succeeded Deng as paramount leader in the 1990s and continued most of his policies.{{sfn|Sullivan|2012|p=100}} In the 1990s, the CCP transformed from a veteran revolutionary leadership that was both leading militarily and politically, to a political elite increasingly renewed according to institutionalized norms in the civil bureaucracy.<ref name=":2" /> Leadership was largely selected based on rules and norms on promotion and retirement, educational background, and managerial and technical expertise.<ref name=":2" /> There is a largely separate group of professionalized military officers, serving under top CCP leadership largely through formal relationships within institutional channels.<ref name=":2" />

The CCP ratified Jiang's [[Three Represents]] concept for the 2003 revision of the party's constitution, as a "guiding ideology" to encourage the party to represent "advanced productive forces, the progressive course of China's culture, and the fundamental interests of the people."{{sfn|Sullivan|2012|p=238}} The theory legitimized the entry of private business owners and [[bourgeois]] elements into the party.{{sfn|Sullivan|2012|p=238}} [[Hu Jintao]], Jiang Zemin's successor as general secretary, took office in 2002.{{sfn|Sullivan|2012|p=317}} Unlike Mao, Deng and Jiang Zemin, Hu laid emphasis on [[collective leadership]] and opposed one-man dominance of the political system.{{sfn|Sullivan|2012|p=317}} The insistence on focusing on economic growth led to a [[Social issues in China|wide range of serious social problems]]. To address these, Hu introduced two main ideological concepts: the "[[Scientific Outlook on Development]]" and "[[Harmonious Society]]".{{sfn|Sullivan|2012|p=329}} Hu resigned from his post as CCP general secretary and Chairman of the CMC at the [[18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party|18th National Congress]] held in 2012, and was succeeded in both posts by Xi Jinping.<ref>{{Cite news |date=16 November 2011 |title=Hu Jintao, Xi Jinping meet delegates to 18th CCP National Congress |agency=[[Xinhua News Agency]] |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/special/18cpcnc/2012-11/16/c_131977530.htm |access-date=4 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929080903/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/special/18cpcnc/2012-11/16/c_131977530.htm |archive-date=29 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=O'Keeffe |first1=Kate |last2=Ferek |first2=Katy Stech |date=14 November 2019 |title=Stop Calling China's Xi Jinping 'President,' U.S. Panel Says |language=en-US |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/stop-calling-chinas-xi-jinping-president-u-s-panel-says-11573740000 |url-access=subscription |access-date=8 July 2023 |issn=0099-9660 |archive-date=15 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115142227/https://www.wsj.com/articles/stop-calling-chinas-xi-jinping-president-u-s-panel-says-11573740000 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Leadership of Xi Jinping===
Since taking power, Xi has initiated [[Anti-corruption campaign under Xi Jinping|a wide-reaching anti-corruption campaign]], while centralizing powers in the office of CCP general secretary at the expense of the collective leadership of prior decades.<ref>{{Cite news |author-link=Staff writer |date=20 September 2014 |title=The Rise and Rise of Xi Jinping: Xi who must be obeyed |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |url=https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21618780-most-powerful-and-popular-leader-china-has-had-decades-must-use-these-assets-wisely-xi |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=26 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011020044/https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21618780-most-powerful-and-popular-leader-china-has-had-decades-must-use-these-assets-wisely-xi |archive-date=11 October 2017}}</ref> Commentators have described the campaign as a defining part of [[Xi Jinping Administration|Xi's leadership]] as well as "the principal reason why he has been able to consolidate his power so quickly and effectively."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Xi Jinping's Anti-Corruption Campaign: The Hidden Motives of a Modern-Day Mao |url=https://www.fpri.org/article/2018/08/xi-jinpings-anti-corruption-campaign-the-hidden-motives-of-a-modern-day-mao/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200717101228/https://www.fpri.org/article/2018/08/xi-jinpings-anti-corruption-campaign-the-hidden-motives-of-a-modern-day-mao/ |archive-date=17 July 2020 |access-date=17 July 2020 |website=[[Foreign Policy Research Institute]] |language=en-US}}</ref> Xi's leadership has also overseen an increase in the Party's role in China.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mitchell |first=Tom |date=25 July 2016 |title=Xi's China: The rise of party politics |language=en-GB |work=[[Financial Times]] |url=https://www.ft.com/content/57371736-4b69-11e6-88c5-db83e98a590a |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=16 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108091305/https://www.ft.com/content/57371736-4b69-11e6-88c5-db83e98a590a |archive-date=8 November 2020}}</ref> Xi has added [[Xi Jinping Thought|his ideology]], named after himself, into the CCP constitution in 2017.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Phillips |first=Tom |date=24 October 2017 |title=Xi Jinping becomes most powerful leader since Mao with China's change to constitution |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/24/xi-jinping-mao-thought-on-socialism-china-constitution |url-status=live |access-date=24 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024053607/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/24/xi-jinping-mao-thought-on-socialism-china-constitution |archive-date=24 October 2017 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Xi's term as general secretary was renewed in 2022.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite news |title=The 7 Men Who Will Run China |language=en-US |work=[[The Diplomat (magazine)|The Diplomat]] |url=https://thediplomat.com/2017/10/the-7-men-who-will-run-china/ |url-status=live |access-date=27 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200602025853/https://thediplomat.com/2017/10/the-7-men-who-will-run-china/ |archive-date=2 June 2020}}</ref>

Since 2014, the CCP has led efforts in Xinjiang that involve the detention of more than 1 million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in [[Xinjiang internment camps|internment camps]], as well as other [[Persecution of Uyghurs in China|repressive measures]]. This has been described as a genocide by some academics and some governments.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kirby |first=Jen |date=28 July 2020 |title=Concentration camps and forced labor: China's repression of the Uighurs, explained |language=en |work=[[Vox (website)|Vox]] |url=https://www.vox.com/2020/7/28/21333345/uighurs-china-internment-camps-forced-labor-xinjiang |url-status=live |access-date=22 August 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201206013427/https://www.vox.com/2020/7/28/21333345/uighurs-china-internment-camps-forced-labor-xinjiang |archive-date=6 December 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=5 July 2019 |title='Cultural genocide': China separating thousands of Muslim children from parents for 'thought education' |language=en |work=[[The Independent]] |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-muslim-children-uighur-family-separation-thought-education-a8989296.html |url-status=live |access-date=22 August 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20211028160230/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-muslim-children-uighur-family-separation-thought-education-a8989296.html |archive-date=28 October 2021}}</ref> On the other hand, a greater number of countries signed a letter penned to the Human Rights Council supporting the policies as an effort to combat terrorism in the region.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Delmi |first=Boudjemaa |date=12 July 2019 |title=Letter to the HRC |url=https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/supporting_resources/190712_joint_counterstatement_xinjiang.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719024521/https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/supporting_resources/190712_joint_counterstatement_xinjiang.pdf |archive-date=19 July 2019 |website=[[Human Rights Watch]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Qiblawi |first=Tamara |date=17 July 2019 |title=Muslim nations are defending China as it cracks down on Muslims, shattering any myths of Islamic solidarity |language=en |work=[[CNN]] |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/17/asia/uyghurs-muslim-countries-china-intl/index.html |url-status=live |access-date=29 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204153142/https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/17/asia/uyghurs-muslim-countries-china-intl/index.html |archive-date=4 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Berlinger |first=Joshua |date=15 July 2019 |title=North Korea, Syria and Myanmar among countries defending China's actions in Xinjiang |language=en |work=[[CNN]] |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/15/asia/united-nations-letter-xinjiang-intl-hnk/index.html |url-status=live |access-date=29 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220429011809/https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/15/asia/united-nations-letter-xinjiang-intl-hnk/index.html |archive-date=29 April 2022}}</ref>

[[File:Slogan for the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China 20210611.jpg|thumb|A temporary monument displayed in [[Changsha]], Hunan Province, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the CCP's founding]]

Celebrations of the [[100th Anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party|100th anniversary of the CCP's founding]], one of the [[Two Centenaries]], took place on 1 July 2021.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Inside the plans for the CCP's 100th anniversary |language=en |work=[[The Week UK]] |url=https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/world-news/china/952582/inside-the-plans-for-the-chinese-communist-partys-100th-anniversary |url-status=live |access-date=25 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525233540/https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/world-news/china/952582/inside-the-plans-for-the-chinese-communist-partys-100th-anniversary |archive-date=25 May 2021}}</ref> In the sixth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee in November 2021, CCP adopted a [[Resolution on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party over the Past Century|resolution on the Party's history]], which for the first time credited Xi as being the "main innovator" of Xi Jinping Thought while also declaring Xi's leadership as being "the key to the great rejuvenation of the [[Chinese nation]]".<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 November 2021 |title=Chinese Communist party clears way for Xi to tighten grip on power |work=[[Financial Times]] |url=https://www.ft.com/content/77f8dd89-fd16-42f9-b2a5-0f5e9ee93ace |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=11 August 2022 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221211221219/https://www.ft.com/content/77f8dd89-fd16-42f9-b2a5-0f5e9ee93ace |archive-date=11 December 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last= |date=12 November 2021 |title=China's Communist Party passes resolution amplifying President Xi's authority |language=en |work=[[Reuters]] |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-communist-party-passes-resolution-party-history-achievements-2021-11-11/ |access-date=11 August 2022 |archive-date=10 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220810125237/https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-communist-party-passes-resolution-party-history-achievements-2021-11-11/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In comparison with the other historical resolutions, Xi's one did not herald a major change in how the CCP evaluated its history.<ref>{{Cite news |author1=Wong, Chun Han |author2=Zhai, Keith |date=17 November 2021 |title=How Xi Jinping Is Rewriting China's History to Put Himself at the Center |language=en-US |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-xi-jinping-is-rewriting-chinas-history-to-put-himself-at-the-center-11637157022 |access-date=11 August 2022 |issn=0099-9660 |archive-date=10 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220810135113/https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-xi-jinping-is-rewriting-chinas-history-to-put-himself-at-the-center-11637157022 |url-status=live}}</ref>

On 6 July 2021, Xi chaired the [[CPC and World Political Parties Summit|Communist Party of China and World Political Parties Summit]], which involved representatives from 500 political parties across 160 countries.<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |last=Tian |first=Yew Lun |date=6 July 2021 |title=China's Xi takes dig at U.S. in speech to political parties around world |language=en |work=[[Reuters]] |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-xi-takes-dig-us-speech-political-parties-around-world-2021-07-06/ |url-status=live |access-date=27 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220627210613/https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-xi-takes-dig-us-speech-political-parties-around-world-2021-07-06/ |archive-date=27 June 2022}}</ref> Xi urged the participants to oppose "technology blockades," and "developmental decoupling" in order to work towards "building a community with a shared future for mankind."<ref name=":7" />