National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party

The National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (NCCCP; Chinese: 中国共产党全国代表大会; pinyin: Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Quánguó Dàibiǎo Dàhuì; literally: Chinese Communist Party National Representatives Congress) is a party congress that is held every five years. The National Congress is theoretically the highest body within the Chinese Communist Party. Since 1987 the National Congress has been held in the months of October or November. The venue for the event, beginning in 1956, is the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The Congress is the public venue for top-level leadership changes in the Communist Party and the formal event for changes to the Party's Constitution. In the past two decades the National Congress of the CCP has been pivotal at least as a symbolic part of leadership changes, and therefore has gained international media attention.

National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party 中国共产党全国代表大会
Chinese Communist Party emblem
Type
Type	Party meeting
Term limits	Five years
Leadership
Authority	Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party
Jurisdiction	Chinese Communist Party
Meeting place
Great Hall of the People Beijing, China
Website
en.people.cn/206235//

The Congress formally approves the membership of the Central Committee, a body composed of the top decision-makers in the party, state, and society. In practice, however, only slightly more candidates than open seats are nominated for the Central Committee, limiting the Congress's role in the selection process to eliminating very unpopular candidates. Each five-year cycle of the National People's Congress also has a series of plenums of the Central Committee which since the mid-1990s have been held more or less regularly once every year.

Since the mid-1980s, the Communist Party has attempted to maintain a smooth and orderly succession and avoiding a cult of personality, by having a major shift in personnel every ten years in even number party congresses, and by promoting people in preparation for this shift in odd number party congresses. In addition, as people at the top level of the party retire, there is room for younger members of the party to move up one level. Hence the party congress is a time of a general personnel reshuffle, and the climax of negotiations that involve not only the top leadership but practically all significant political positions in China. Because of the pyramid structure of the party and the existence of mandatory retirement ages, cadres who are not promoted at a party congress are likely to face the end of their political careers.

Similar to the practice of the NPC, the delegates to the Congress are formally selected from grassroots party organizations, and like the NPC, there is a system of staggered elections in which one level of the party votes for the delegates to the next higher level. For the National Congress, delegates are elected by the Communist Party's provincial level party congresses or their equivalent units in a selection process that is screened and supervised by the party's Organization Department as directed by the Politburo Standing Committee.[1]

Keys

Abbreviations
CC	Central Committee
CCDI	Central Commission for Discipline Inspection
FM	Full member (a member with voting rights).
AM	Alternate member (a member without voting rights).
VD	Voting delegate (a delegate who can vote).
AD	Alternate delegate (a delegate who cannot vote).
DU	Data unavailable.
SID	Specially invited delegate (a party member who has retired, but giving ordinary delegate rights).
Political Report	Political Report to the Central Committee, a document which briefs delegates about the period since the last congress and future work.
Constitution	Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party, the fundamental governing document of the CCP. Formerly known as the Charter.
PMR	Party members represented at the congress by delegates (the party membership at the time).

Convocations

Congress	Duration (start—end)	Delegates	Electoral units	Elected		Political Report (presented by)	Constitution (changes)	PMR
				CC	CCDI
1st National Congress 8 days None	23–31 July 1921	12	7	—	—	Chen Duxiu	— [note 1]	50
2nd National Congress 7 days CC consultations	16–23 July 1922	12	DU	5 FM – 3 AM	—	Chen Duxiu	1st Charter	195
3rd National Congress 8 days CC appointments	12–20 June 1923	~30	DU	9 FM – 5 AM	—	Chen Duxiu	Amendment	420
4th National Congress 11 days CC appointments	11–22 January 1925	20	DU	9 FM – 5 AM	—	Chen Duxiu	Amendment	994
5th National Congress 13 days 1927 election	27 April–9 May 1927	~80	11	22 FM – 14 AM	—	Chen Duxiu	Amendment [note 2]	57,967
6th National Congress 23 days 1928 election	18 June–11 July 1928	84 VD – 34 AD	17	14 FM – 13 AM	—	Qu Qiubai	2nd Charter	130,194
7th National Congress 49 days 1939–1945 election	23 April–11 June 1945	544 VD – 208 AD	8	44 FM – 33 AM	—	Mao Zedong	3rd Constitution	1,210,000
8th National Congress 30 days 1955–1956 election	15–27 September 1956 – 5–23 May 1958	1,026 VD – 86 AD	31	97 FM – 73 AM	—	Liu Shaoqi	4th Constitution	10,730,000
9th National Congress 23 days 1968–1969 election	1–24 April 1969	1,512	DU	170 FM – 109 AM	—	Lin Biao	5th Constitution	22,000,000
10th National Congress 4 days 1972–1973 election	24–28 August 1973	1,249	DU	194 FM – 124 AM	—	Zhou Enlai	6th Constitution	28,000,000
11th National Congress 6 days 1976–1977 election	12–18 August 1977	1,510	DU	201 FM – 132 AM	—	Hua Guofeng	Amendment	35,000,000
12th National Congress 6 days 1981–1982 election	1–11 September 1982	1,600 VD – 149 AD	DU	210 FM – 138 AM	132	Hu Yaobang	7th Constitution	39,000,000
13th National Congress 8 days 1986–1987 election	25 October–1 November 1987	1,936 VD – 61 SID	33	175 FM – 110 AM	69	Zhao Ziyang	Amendment	46,000,000
14th National Congress 6 days 1991–1992 election	12–18 October 1992	1,989 VD – 46 SID	34	189 FM – 130 AM	108	Jiang Zemin	Amendment	51,000,000
15th National Congress 7 days 1996–1997 election	12 September – 18 September 1997	2,074 VD – 60 SID	36	193 FM – 151 AM	115	Jiang Zemin	Amendment	58,000,000
16th National Congress 7 days 2001–2002 election	8–14 November 2002	2,114 VD – 40 SID	38	198 FM – 158 AM	121	Jiang Zemin	Amendment	66,000,000
17th National Congress 7 days 2006–2007 election	15–21 October 2007	2,217 VD – 57 SID	38	204 FM – 167 AM	127	Hu Jintao	Amendment	73,363,000
18th National Congress 7 days 2011–2012 election	8–14 November 2012	2,270 VD – 57 SID	40	205 FM – 171 AM	130	Hu Jintao	Amendment	82,600,000
19th National Congress 7 days 2016–2017 election	18–24 October 2017	2,280 VD – 57 SID	40	204 FM – 172 AM	133	Xi Jinping	Amendment	89,000,000

Notes

1. The 1st National Congress conceived of a party program, a document which focuses on ideology rather than explaining the organizational structure of the party.[2]
2. Decided by congress that the 5th Politburo would amend the constitution after the congress.[2]

References

Citations

1. Li, Cheng (2012). "Preparing For the 18th Party Congress: Procedures and Mechanisms" (PDF). China Leadership Monitor (36). Archived (PDF) from the original on November 4, 2016. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
2. Wu 2015, p. 182.

Sources

Information on congresses, number of delegates, electoral units, number of people elected to CCs, party membership, the individual who presented the Political Report and information on when the congress was convened can be found in these sources:

• "The 1st National Congress". People's Daily. Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Archived from the original on May 28, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
• "The 2nd National Congress". People's Daily. Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Archived from the original on March 30, 2019. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
• "The 3rd National Congress". People's Daily. Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Archived from the original on June 12, 2019. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
• "The 4th National Congress". People's Daily. Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Archived from the original on May 28, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
• "The 5th National Congress". People's Daily. Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Archived from the original on April 1, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
• "The 6th National Congress". People's Daily. Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Archived from the original on April 1, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
• "The 7th National Congress". People's Daily. Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Archived from the original on January 8, 2019. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
• "The 8th National Congress". People's Daily. Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Archived from the original on January 15, 2019. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
• "The 9th National Congress". People's Daily. Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Archived from the original on January 14, 2019. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
• "The 10th National Congress". People's Daily. Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Archived from the original on January 13, 2019. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
• "The 11th National Congress". People's Daily. Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Archived from the original on January 19, 2019. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
• "The 12th National Congress". People's Daily. Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Archived from the original on January 8, 2019. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
• "The 13th National Congress". People's Daily. Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Archived from the original on January 13, 2019. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
• "The 14th National Congress". People's Daily. Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Archived from the original on May 18, 2017. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
• "The 15th National Congress". People's Daily. Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Archived from the original on May 18, 2017. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
• "The 16th National Congress". People's Daily. Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Archived from the original on August 17, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
• "The 16th National Congress". People's Daily. Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Archived from the original on August 17, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
• "The 17th National Congress". China Today. Archived from the original on July 11, 2017. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
• "Election of the delegates to the 18th National Congress of CPC". china.org.cn. August 14, 2012. Archived from the original on October 26, 2017. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
• Wu, Guoguang (2015). China's Party Congress: Power, Legitimacy, and Institutional Manipulation. Cambridge University Press. p. 70. ISBN 978-1-107-08202-1.

Bibliography

• Wu, Guoguang (2015). China's Party Congress: Power, Legitimacy, and Institutional Manipulation. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-08202-1.