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List of political parties in China

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This article is about political parties in the People's Republic of China and its predecessors. For political parties in the Republic of China after 1949, see List of political parties in Taiwan.

The People's Republic of China (PRC) is a one-party state ruled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In addition, eight minor and non-oppositional political parties subservient to the CCP exist. The PRC is officially organized under what the CCP terms a system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CCP, in which the minor parties must accept the leadership of the CCP as a condition of their existence. The state constitution codifies the leadership of the CCP.

Under the "one country, two systems" principle, the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau, which were previously colonies of European powers, operate under a different political system from the rest of mainland China. Both Hong Kong and Macau possess multi-party systems that were introduced just before the handover of the territories to China.[1]

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Ruling party

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The Chinese Communist Party is the sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China. Article 1 of the Chinese constitution states that "The defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the leadership of the Communist Party of China",[2] while the CCP constitution declares the party to be the "highest force for political leadership".[3]

Party Year founded Ideology Members (2024) Leader NPC seats NPCSC seats NCCPPCC seats[a]
Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
中国共产党 (中共)
Zhōngguó Gòngchán Dǎng (Zhōnggòng) 		1921 Socialism with Chinese characteristics 100,271,000[4] Xi Jinping
习近平
2,091 / 2,980
118 / 175
99 / 544

Minor parties

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While only the CCP holds effective power at the national level, there are officially eight minor and non-oppositional parties that exist alongside the CCP that are officially titled democratic parties.[5] Founded before the proclamation of the People's Republic of China, these parties must accept the "leading role" of the CCP as a condition of their continued existence.[6] The official party system of the PRC is termed a system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CCP.[7] According to Human Rights Watch, these parties "play an advisory rather than an oppositional role".[8]

List

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This section is an excerpt from Democratic parties (China) § List.[edit]

There is officially a ranking system of the parties; according to the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, the ranking is based on their "contribution to the new democratic revolution".[9]

Ranking Party Year founded Members (2022) Leader NPC seats NPCSC seats NCCPPCC seats[a]
1. Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (RCCK)
中国国民党革命委员会 (民革)
Zhōngguó Guómíndǎng Gémìng Wěiyuánhuì (Míngé) 		1948 158,000[10] Zheng Jianbang
郑建邦
44 / 2,980
6 / 175
65 / 544
2. China Democratic League (CDL)
中国民主同盟 (民盟)
Zhōngguó Mínzhǔ Tóngméng (Mínméng) 		1941 356,900[11] Ding Zhongli
丁仲礼
57 / 2,980
9 / 175
65 / 544
3. China National Democratic Construction Association (CNDCA)
中国民主建国会 (民建)
Zhōngguó Mínzhǔ Jiànguó Huì (Mínjiàn) 		1945 237,526[12] Hao Mingjin
郝明金
57 / 2,980
3 / 175
65 / 544
4. China Association for Promoting Democracy (CAPD)
中国民主促进会 (民进)
Zhōngguó Mínzhǔ Cùjìn Huì (Mínjìn) 		1945 200,000[13] Cai Dafeng
蔡达峰
58 / 2,980
7 / 175
45 / 544
5. Chinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party (CPWDP)
中国农工民主党 (农工党)
Zhōngguó Nónggōng Mínzhǔdǎng (Nónggōngdǎng) 		1930 192,000[14] He Wei
何维
54 / 2,980
7 / 175
45 / 544
6. China Zhi Gong Party (CZGP)
中国致公党 (致公党)
Zhōngguó Zhì Gōng Dǎng (Zhìgōngdǎng) 		1925 69,000[15] Jiang Zuojun
蒋作君
38 / 2,980
3 / 175
30 / 544
7. Jiusan Society (JS)
九三学社
Jiǔsānxuéshè 		1945 222,000[16] Wu Weihua
武维华
63 / 2,980
4 / 175
45 / 544
8. Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League (TDSL)
台湾民主自治同盟 (台盟)
Táiwān Mínzhǔ Zìzhì Tóngméng (Táiméng) 		1947 3,400[17] Su Hui
苏辉
13 / 2,980
3 / 175
20 / 544

Other parties

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Banned parties

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The following parties formed in China are (or have previously been) banned by the government:

Party Year founded Ideology Members (2010) Leader NPC seats NPCSC seats CPPCC seats[a]
Union of Chinese Nationalists (UOCN)
中国泛蓝联盟 		2004 Tridemism
Conservatism[18][better source needed] 		5,000 Wen Yan
文炎
0 / 2,980
0 / 175
0 / 544
Democracy Party of China (DPC)
中国民主党 		1998[19][20] Liberalism Liu Dongxing
刘东星
0 / 2,980
0 / 175
0 / 544
  • The Communist Party of China (Marxist–Leninist) (Chinese: 中国共产党 (马列)) is an anti-revisionist communist party founded in 1976 by several Maoist rebel factions of the Red Guards in Wuhan, Hubei. They believed it was illegal to arrest the Gang of Four and that the new leadership of the CCP is revisionist and unlawful. They were suppressed after attempts at an armed revolt failed in Shanghai, Zhejiang, Canton and Yunnan.[21][better source needed]
  • The Communist Party of China (Workers' and Peasants' Liberation Army) (Chinese: 中国共产党 (工农解放军)) is an anti-revisionist communist party founded in 1976 by a Maoist rebel faction of the Red Guards in Fujian. They used the old fortifications built during the Chinese Civil War and organized a partisan army named the "Workers' and Peasants' Liberation Army".[22] They announced that the new leadership of the CCP is revisionist and called for uprising and reestablished the Party Central Committee.[23]
  • The New Democracy Party of China (Chinese: 中国新民党) was founded by Guo Quan in Nanjing at the end of 2007.[19][20]
  • The Maoist Communist Party of China (Chinese: 中国毛泽东主义共产党) is an anti-revisionist communist party founded in 2008. The party seeks to initiate a "second socialist revolution" to re-establish the dictatorship of the proletariat. It has been subject to crackdowns by the Chinese government.[24]
  • The Zhi Xian Party (Chinese: 至宪党), also known as the Chinese Constitutionalist Party in English. Founded by the supporters of Bo Xilai[25][26] in 2013 and banned in December of that year.[27][28]

Overseas parties

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Historical parties

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Defunct parties

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Party Ideology From To Ref.
Chinese Empire Reform Association
保救大清皇帝會 		Constitutionalism
Constitutional monarchism 		1899 1911 [32]
Chinese United League (Tongmenghui)
中國同盟會 		Republicanism
Anti-Qing sentiment 		1905 1912 [33]
Society for Monarchical Constitutionalism (Royalist Party)
君主立憲維持會 (宗社黨) 		Monarchism
Manchurian nationalism 		1911 [citation needed]
Democratic Party
民主黨 		Conservative liberalism
Constitutional monarchism 		1912 1913 [citation needed]
Republican Party
共和黨 		Conservatism
Republicanism 		1912 1913 [34]
Unity Party
統一黨 		Conservatism
Statism 		1912 1913 [citation needed]
Communications Clique
交通系 		Special interests
Yellow unionism 		1912 1928
Progressive Party
進步黨 		Chinese nationalism
Monarchism 		1913 1916 [citation needed]
Anfu Club
安福俱樂部 		State socialism
Republicanism 		1918 1920 [35]
Social Democratic Party of China Social democracy 1926
Productive People's Party
生产人民党 		Anti-imperialism
Left-wing nationalism 		1933 1934 [citation needed]
Chinese People's National Salvation Association
中国人民救国会 		Anti-imperialism (Kàngrì)
Left-wing nationalism 		1935 1949 [36]
Kuomintang (Wang Jingwei)
汪偽國民黨 		Collaborationism
Pan-Asianism 		1939 1945 [37]
Three Principles of the People Comrades Association
三民主義同志聯合會 		Three Principles of the People 1945 1949
Kuomintang Democratic Promotion Association
中國國民黨民主促進會 		Three Principles of the People 1946 1949

Defunct regionalist parties

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Party Ideology From To Province
Inner Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party
Дотоод Монголын Ардын Хувьсгалын Нам 		Communism
Marxism–Leninism 		1925 1946 Inner Mongolia
Committee for National Revolution
民族革命委員會 		Jadid Movement
Pan-Turkism 		1932 1934 Xinjiang
Concordia Association
滿洲國協和會 		Fascism
Manchurian nationalism 		1932 1945 Manchuria (Manchukuo)
Young Kashgar Party
青年喀什噶爾黨 		Uyghur nationalism
Jadid Movement 		1933 1934 Xinjiang
Xinjiang People's Anti-Imperialist Association
新疆民眾反帝聯合會 		Anti-imperialism
Marxism–Leninism 		1935 1942 Xinjiang
Kuomintang in Burma
泰緬孤軍 		Anti-communism 1949 1954 (officially)
1961 		Yunnan, Burma (exiled)
East Turkestan Liberation Organization Uyghur nationalism
Separatism 		1997 2003 Xinjiang

Defunct political alliances

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Extant parties banned in the People's Republic of China

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Party Ideology (in China) From To (in China) Ref.
Kuomintang
中國國民黨 		Three Principles of the People
Republicanism
Chinese nationalism 		1919 1949 [citation needed]
Young China Party
中國青年黨 		Conservatism
Chinese nationalism
Anti-communism 		1923 1949 [citation needed]
China Democratic Socialist Party
中國民主社會黨 		Democratic socialism
Chinese nationalism 		1946 1949 [citation needed]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c Seats for political parties

References

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  1. ^ Buckley, Roger (1997-05-28). Hong Kong: The Road to 1997 (1 ed.). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/cbo9780511612220. ISBN 978-0-521-47008-7. S2CID 162068953.
  2. ^ Wei, Changhao; Hu, Taige (11 March 2018). "Annotated Translation: 2018 Amendment to the PRC Constitution (Version 2.0)". NPC Observer. Archived from the original on 22 December 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  3. ^ Xu, Wei (28 October 2022). "Amendment to the Party Constitution elaborated". China Daily. Archived from the original on 25 February 2024. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  4. ^ "中国共产党党内统计公报" [Chinese Communist Party Statistics Announcement] (in Chinese). State Council of the People's Republic of China. 30 June 2025. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
  5. ^ Liao, Xingmiu; Tsai, Wen-Hsuan (2019). "Clientelistic State Corporatism: The United Front Model of "Pairing-Up" in the Xi Jinping Era". China Review. 19 (1): 31–56. ISSN 1680-2012. JSTOR 26603249.
  6. ^ Tselichtchev, Ivan, ed. (2012-01-02). China Versus the West: The Global Power Shift of the 21st Century. Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. doi:10.1002/9781119199311. ISBN 978-1-119-19931-1. OCLC 883259659.
  7. ^ Chen, Minglu (2015-11-27), Goodman, David S.G. (ed.), "Local governance: the roles of the People's Congresses and the People's Political Consultative Conferences", Handbook of the Politics of China, Edward Elgar Publishing, doi:10.4337/9781782544371.00014, ISBN 978-1-78254-437-1{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)
  8. ^ "China: Nipped In The Bud - Background". Human Rights Watch. Archived from the original on 2021-04-16. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  9. ^ "我国八个民主党派排序考" [An Examination of the Ranking of my country's Eight Democratic Parties]. Lishui Municipal Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (in Chinese). 2 December 2009. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Zheng Jianbang elected chairman of Chinese KMT Revolutionary Committee". Xinhua News Agency. 11 December 2022. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
  11. ^ 中国民主同盟简介 [Introduction to the China Democratic League]. China Democratic League (in Chinese). 25 April 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  12. ^ "新闻背景：中国民主建国会" [News background: China National Democratic Construction Association]. Xinhua News Agency. 16 December 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  13. ^ "新闻背景：中国民主促进会" [News background: China Association for Promoting Democracy]. Xinhua News Agency. 18 December 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  14. ^ "新闻背景：中国农工民主党" [News background: Chinese Peasants and Workers Party]. Xinhua News Agency. 7 December 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  15. ^ "新闻背景：中国致公党" [News background: China Zhi Gong Party]. Xinhua News Agency. 13 December 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  16. ^ "九三学社简介" [Introduction to Jiusan Society]. Jiusan Society. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  17. ^ "新闻背景：台湾民主自治同盟" [News background: Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League]. Xinhua News Agency. 7 December 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  18. ^ "国台办称中国泛蓝联盟是非法组织" [The Taiwan Affairs Office said the Union of Chinese Nationalists is an illegal organization.]. Phoenix TV (in Chinese (China)). 25 April 2007. Archived from the original on 31 July 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  19. ^ a b Gittings, John (2005). The Changing Face of China: From Mao to Market. Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN 0-19-280612-2.
  20. ^ a b Goldsmith, Jack; Wu, Tim (2006-06-29). Who Controls the Internet?: Illusions of a Borderless World. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oso/9780195152661.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-515266-1.
  21. ^ Su, Yuan (2017). 1978-1979: Diary. China Cultural Communication Press.
  22. ^ "'四人帮'在福建打游击". 展望. 01. 1977-01-01.
  23. ^ "福建四人帮战讯". 展望. 1977-12-01.
  24. ^ Demick, Barbara (20 March 2012). "China puts a stop to Maoist revival". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 4 June 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  25. ^ Moore, Malcolm. "Former teacher names Bo Xilai chairman of 'new political party'". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  26. ^ Benjamin Kang Lim and Ben Blanchard (9 November 2013). "Bo Xilai supporters launch new political party in China". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  27. ^ Shao, Heng. "Bizarre China Report: The Grand Wedding, Power Play & Smog-Inspired Creativity". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2018-01-27. Retrieved 2017-09-03.
  28. ^ "北京民政局发出取缔"至宪党"决定" [The Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau issued a decision to ban the "Constitutional Party"] (in Chinese). Deutsche Welle. 14 December 2013. Archived from the original on 16 May 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  29. ^ a b Areddy, James (26 April 2022). "Shanghai Lockdown Bolsters a Fringe Independence Movement". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 26 April 2022.
  30. ^ "旅美异见人士纽约中领馆外绝食抗议上海封城" [American dissidents stage hunger strike outside Chinese Consulate in New York to protest Shanghai lockdown]. Radio Free Asia (in Chinese). April 5, 2022. Archived from the original on February 14, 2023.
  31. ^ Hsiao-hwa, Hsia; Long, Qiao; Ao, Jia (March 3, 2022). "Exiled Chinese dissident travels to Ukraine in bid to document war". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved December 5, 2025.
  32. ^ Worden, Robert L.; Larson, Jane Leung; Chen, Zhongping; Hu-DeHart, Evelyn; Chen, Xuezhang; Zheng, Yang (2025). A Chinese Reformer in Exile: Kang Youwei and the Chinese Empire Reform Association in North America, 1899-1911 (PDF). Chinese Overseas. Vol. 23. Leiden: Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004713383. ISBN 978-90-04-71338-3.
  33. ^ "The Manchu Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), Internal Threats". Countries Quest. Archived from the original on 16 September 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  34. ^ Boorman, Howard L.; Howard, Richard C., eds. (1970). Biographical Dictionary of Republican China, Volume 3. Columbia University Press. p. 95.
  35. ^ Yan, Quan; Leung, Ernest Ming-tak (1 March 2022). "The Anfu Parliament in Republican China. The life and death of a failed single-party state, 1918–20". Parliaments, Estates and Representation. 42 (1).
  36. ^ "新中国第一任最高人民法院院长——沈钧儒-北京法院网". bjgy.chinacourt.org. Archived from the original on 2017-02-25. Retrieved 2026-04-07.
  37. ^ 高雲昉 (1994). "汪偽國民黨"六大"" ["Sixth Party Congress" of Wang's Puppet Kuomintang]. Archived from the original on 2019-05-13. Retrieved 2018-03-14. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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