General Programme

The Communist Party of China is the political party of the proletariat, the highest form of its class organization. It is a vigorous vanguard organization composed of the advanced elements of the proletariat, which leads the proletariat and the revolutionary masses in their fight against the class enemy.

The basic programme of the Communist Party of China for the entire historical period of socialism is to persist in continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat, eliminate the bourgeoisie and all other exploiting classes step by step and bring about the triumph of socialism over capitalism. The ultimate aim of the Party is the realization of communism.

Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought is the guiding ideology and theoretical basis of the Communist Party of China. The Party persists in combating revisionism, and dogmatism and empiricism. The Party upholds dialectical materialism and historical materialism as its world outlook and opposes the idealist and metaphysical world outlook.

Our great leader and teacher Chairman Mao Tsetung was the founder of the Communist Party of China and the greatest Marxist-Leninist of our time. Integrating the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism with the concrete practice of the revolution, Chairman Mao inherited, defended and developed Marxism-Leninism in the struggles against imperialism and the domestic reactionary classes, against Right and "Left" opportunist lines in the Party and against international modern revisionism. He led our Party, our army and our people in winning complete victory in the new-democratic revolution and in founding the People's Republic of China, a state of the dictatorship of the proletariat, through protracted revolutionary struggles and revolutionary wars, and then in achieving tremendous victories in the socialist revolution and socialist construction through fierce and complex struggles between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, and through the unparalleled Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. The banner of Chairman Mao is the great banner guiding our Party to victory through united struggle.

Socialist society covers a historical period of considerable length. In this period classes, class contradictions and class struggle, the struggle between the socialist road and the capitalist road and the danger of capitalist restoration invariably continue to exist, and there is the threat of subversion and aggression by imperialism and social-imperialism. The resolution of these contradictions depends solely on the theory and practice of continued revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat.

China's Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution was a political revolution carried out under socialism by the proletariat against the bourgeoisie and all other exploiting classes to consolidate the dictatorship of the proletariat and prevent the restoration of capitalism. Political revolutions of this nature will be carried out many times in the future.

The Communist Party of China adheres to its basic line for the entire historical period of socialism. It must correctly distinguish and handle the contradictions among the people and those between ourselves and the enemy, and consolidate and strengthen the dictatorship of the proletariat. The Party must rely on the working class wholeheartedly and rely on the poor and lower-middle peasants, unite with the vast numbers of intellectuals and other working people, mobilize all positive factors and expand the revolutionary united front led by the working class and based on the worker-peasant alliance. It must uphold the proletarian nationality policy and strengthen the great unity of the people of all nationalities in China. It must carry on the three great revolutionary movements of class struggle, the struggle for production and scientific experiment, it must adhere to the principle of building our country independently, with the initiative in our own hands, and through self-reliance, diligence and thrift, and to the principle of being prepared against war and natural disasters and doing everything for the people, so as to build socialism by going all out, aiming high and achieving greater, faster, better and more economical results. The Party must lead the people of all nationalities in making China a powerful socialist country with a modern agriculture, industry, national defence and science and technology by the end of the century.

The Communist Party of China upholds proletarian internationalism and opposes great-nation chauvinism; it unites firmly with the genuine Marxist-Leninist Parties and organizations the world over, unites with the proletariat, the oppressed people and nations of the whole world and fights shoulder to shoulder with them to oppose the hegemonism of the two superpowers, the Soviet Union and the United States, to overthrow imperialism, modern revisionism and all reaction, and to wipe the system of exploitation of man by man off the face of the earth, so that all mankind will be emancipated.

The correctness or incorrectness of the ideological and political line decides everything. All Party comrades must implement Chairman Mao's proletarian revolutionary line comprehensively and correctly and adhere to the three basic principles: Practise Marxism, and not revisionism; unite, and don't split; be open and aboveboard, and don't intrigue and conspire. They must have the revolutionary boldness in daring to go against any tide that runs counter to these three basic principles.

The whole Party must adhere to the organizational principle of democratic centralism and practise centralism on the basis of democracy and democracy under centralized guidance. It must give full scope to inner-Party democracy and encourage the initiative and creativeness of all Party members and Party organizations at all levels, and combat bureaucracy, commandism and warlordism. The whole Party must strictly observe Party discipline, safeguard the Party's centralization, strengthen its unity, oppose all splittist and factional activities, oppose the assertion of independence from the Party and oppose anarchism. In relations among comrades in the Party, all members should apply the principle of "Say all you know and say it without reserve" and "Blame not the speaker but be warned by his words," adopt the dialectical method, start from the desire for unity, distinguish between right and wrong through criticism or struggle and arrive at a new unity. The Party must strive to create a political situation in which there are both centralism and democracy, both discipline and freedom, both unity of will and personal ease of mind and liveliness.

The Party must conscientiously follow the proletarian line on cadres, the line of "appointing people on the merit," and oppose the bourgeois line on cadres, the line of "appointing people by favouritism." It must train and bring up in mass struggles millions of successors in the revolutionary cause of the proletariat in accordance with the five requirements put forward by Chairman Mao. Special vigilance must be exercised against careerists, conspirators and double-dealers so as to prevent such bad types from usurping the leadership of the Party and the state at any level and ensure purity of the leadership at all levels.

The whole Party must keep to and carry forward its fine tradition of following the mass line and seeking truth from facts, keep to and carry forward the style of work characterized by integration of theory with practice, close ties with the masses and criticism and self-criticism, the style of modesty, prudence and freedom from arrogance and impetuosity, and the style of plain living and hard struggle; and the whole Party must prevent Party members, especially leading Party cadres, from exploiting their position to seek privileges, and wage a resolute struggle against bourgeois ideology and the bourgeois style of work.

A member of the Communist Party of China should at all times and in all circumstances subordinate his personal interests to the interests of the Party and the people; he should fear no difficulties and sacrifices, work actively for the fulfilment of the programme of the Party and devote his whole life to the struggle for communism.

The Communist Party of China is a great, glorious and correct Party, and it is the core of leadership of the whole Chinese people. The whole Party must always hold high and resolutely defend the great banner of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought and ensure that our Party's cause will continue to advance triumphantly along the Marxist line.