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Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party

(Redirected from Constitution of the Communist Party of China)
Not to be confused with Constitution of the People's Republic of China.

The Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party has 55 articles and its contents describe the program of the party, as well as its organizational structure and party symbolism.

Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party
Front cover of the Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party
Simplified Chinese中国共产党章程
Traditional Chinese中國共産黨章程
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Zhāngchéng

History

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The Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s 1945 constitution described Mao Zedong Thought as the party's working compass.[1]: 23  It also discusses democracy in the context of New Democracy.[1]: 22 

The constitution adopted during April 1969 at the CCP's 9th National Congress named Lin Biao as Mao Zedong's "close comrade in arms and successor".[2]: 142 

The constitution currently in force was adopted at the CCP's 12th National Congress in September 1982. In accordance with the changing situation and tasks, revisions were made in some of the articles at the 13th National Congress in November 1987 and in the General Program and some of the articles at the 14th National Congress in October 1992, and a few revisions were made in the General Program at the 16th National Congress of the CCP in November 2002.[citation needed] The constitution can be amended once every five years.[3]

The 1992 revision of the constitution noted the importance of policy experimentation, incorporating language that the CCP "must boldly experiment with new methods, ... review new experience and solve new problems, and enrich and develop Marxism in practice."[4]: 65 

The CCP's 16th National Congress in November 2002 included the incorporation of the Three Represents.[5] The CCP's 18th National Congress in November 2012, saw the inclusion of the concept of ecological civilization.[6]: 1  The CCP's 19th National Congress in October 2017 ratified amendments including the incorporation of Xi Jinping Thought.[7] Xi Jinping thus became the first leader since Deng Xiaoping to append his name into party ideology; the change also led to many international media outlets calling Xi the "most powerful leader since Mao."[7] The Belt and Road Initiative was also added to the party constitution.[8][9]: 58 

The CCP's 20th National Congress in October 2022 saw several amendments to the party constitution. Additions included opposition to Taiwan independence,[10] developing a "fighting spirit" and strengthening fighting ability, as well as additions of goals related to Xi, including gradually achieving common prosperity, promoting Chinese-style modernization and developing a "broader, fuller and more robust" whole-process people's democracy.[10] The status of Xi and the CCP were further strengthened with the amendments, with the amended constitution naming the CCP as the "supreme political leadership force".[10] The Two Upholds was added, thereby cementing the "core" status of Xi Jinping.[11]

Contents

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The constitution states that Marxism–Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought are the party's official ideology.[3] The constitution emphasizes the party's role in promoting socialist democracy, in developing and strengthening a socialist legal system, and in consolidating public resolve to carry out the modernization program.[12]

The constitution states that the interests of the people and the party are paramount over the interests of party members.[13]: 112  The constitution states that in emergencies and urgent situations, members are encouraged to contribute to special funds (as in the case of the special fund for the 2008 Sichuan earthquake).[13]: 111–112 

Since 1945, the party's constitution has defined the party's view of democratic centralism as "centralism based on democracy and democracy under centralized leadership."[1]: 23  Academic Jean-Pierre Cabestan writes that this approach defines and limits democracy within the party, indicating that central leadership prevails over the rights of party members to challenge leadership.[1]: 23 

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Cabestan, Jean-Pierre (2024). "Organisation and (Lack of) Democracy in the Chinese Communist Party: A Critical Reading of the Successive Iterations of the Party Constitution". In Doyon, Jérôme; Froissart, Chloé (eds.). The Chinese Communist Party: a 100-Year Trajectory. Canberra: ANU Press. pp. 17–45. doi:10.22459/CCP.2024.01. ISBN 9781760466244.
  2. ^ Hammond, Ken (2023). China's Revolution and the Quest for a Socialist Future. New York, NY: 1804 Books. ISBN 9781736850084.
  3. ^ a b Hou, Xiaojia (2024). "China's Shift to Personalistic Rule: Xi Jinping's Centralization of Political Power". In Fang, Qiang; Li, Xiaobing (eds.). China under Xi Jinping: A New Assessment. Leiden University Press. p. 92. ISBN 9789087284411. JSTOR jj.15136086.
  4. ^ Heilmann, Sebastian (2018). Red Swan: How Unorthodox Policy-Making Facilitated China's Rise. The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctv2n7q6b. ISBN 978-962-996-827-4. JSTOR j.ctv2n7q6b. S2CID 158420253.
  5. ^ Huang, Yibing (2020). An Ideological History of the Communist Party of China. Vol. 3. Qian Zheng, Guoyou Wu, Xuemei Ding, Li Sun, Shelly Bryant. Montreal, Quebec. pp. 474–475. ISBN 978-1-4878-0425-1. OCLC 1165409653.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ^ Rodenbiker, Jesse (2023). Ecological States: Politics of Science and Nature in Urbanizing China. Environments of East Asia. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-1-5017-6900-9. JSTOR 10.7591/j.ctv310vjnd.
  7. ^ a b Phillips, Tom (October 24, 2017). "Xi Jinping becomes most powerful leader since Mao with China's change to constitution". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on October 24, 2017. Retrieved October 24, 2017.
  8. ^ Goh, Brenda; Ruwitch, John (October 24, 2017). "Pressure on as Xi's 'Belt and Road' enshrined in Chinese party charter". Reuters. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
  9. ^ Shinn, David H.; Eisenman, Joshua (2023). China's Relations with Africa: a New Era of Strategic Engagement. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-21001-0.
  10. ^ a b c "Factbox: China's Communist Party amends its charter, strengthens Xi's power". Reuters. October 22, 2022. Archived from the original on October 23, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  11. ^ Grzywacz, Jarek (January 26, 2023). "How Xi Jinping Used the CCP Constitution to Cement His Power". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on July 12, 2024. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
  12. ^   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. China: A Country Study. Federal Research Division. July 1987.
  13. ^ a b Marquis, Christopher; Qiao, Kunyuan (2022). Mao and Markets: The Communist Roots of Chinese Enterprise. Kunyuan Qiao. New Haven: Yale University Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctv3006z6k. ISBN 978-0-300-26883-6. JSTOR j.ctv3006z6k. OCLC 1348572572. S2CID 253067190.
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