Communist Party of China

The governing party of the People's Republic of China since 1949, with around ninety eight million members.

Overview

Founded in 1921 in Shanghai, the CCP survived near destruction, built the Red Army, and under Mao Zedong won the civil war in 1949, ruling the world most populous state. Collectivization, the Great Leap Forward famine, and the Cultural Revolution marked the Mao decades; Deng Xiaoping market reforms opened four decades of growth under one party rule. Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and Xi Jinping led the party as it absorbed entrepreneurs, built surveillance capacity, and asserted global influence. The party apparatus of around ninety eight million members parallel manages state, army, and economy. It is the largest political organization in history.