The Communist Party of China : a concise history

The Communist Party of China was founded in Shanghai in July 1921.

From humble beginnings it has marched through war, revolution and reform to arrive at the helm of the most populous nation on the planet, commanding a membership of 92 million citizens. In the 100 years since its birth, the party and its leaders - from Mao Zedong in the early years to Xi Jinping today - have overcome an array of existential challenges.

After formative years coordinating workers’ strikes and guerrilla warfare against their Nationalist opponents, the party played a pivotal role in breaking the might of the Imperial Japanese army.

The following decades saw the CPC undergo ideological revisions and lift hundreds of millions out of poverty, developing China’s economy from poverty and backwardness into the world’s second largest.

The party’s navigation of the deadly coronavirus pandemic marks the most recent chapter in this unique and striking saga of adaptation, survival and rejuvenation. This new edition is the latest in a series last translated to English in 1994.

It offers readers the CPC’s official account of its own dramatic history – a narrative key to understanding the politics and policies of China in the 21st century.