1st National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party
The 1st National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was held in Shanghai and Jiaxing between July 23 and August 2, 1921. The congress established the Chinese Communist Party.
Formative meeting
The congress began in a shikumen building of the Shanghai French Concession. In early June 1921, two Communist International representatives, Vladimir Neumann and Dutch national Henk Sneevliet, also known as Maring, arrived in Shanghai, and urged Li Da to call various communist cells in the country to come together for a national-level meeting to form a communist party. Li Da subsequently called a meeting to form a national party. There were 13 Chinese delegates when the meeting opened on July 23. At the time, there were 57 members of the CCP. Notably, the two founders of the party did not attend the congress: Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao.The meeting was put to an end due to a search of the meeting site by the French Concession police on the night of July 30. The delegates then agreed to move the meeting to a rented tourist boat on South Lake in Jiaxing. The Congress elected Chen Duxiu as Secretary, Zhang Guotao as Director of Organization, and Li Da as Director of Propaganda.
The General Assembly adopted The First Program of the Communist Party of China, stating that "the Party is to be named the Communist Party of China" and specifying its objectives: "to overthrow the power of the capitalist class" to "eradicate capitalism and private ownership of property" and to "join the Comintern." The program was not a formal party constitution, but described the basics of the party's program, organization, and discipline. The founding meeting and first months of the CCP were financed by the Comintern.
Of the 13 delegates who attended the congress in 1921, only two would be present at the proclamation ceremony of the People's Republic of China 28 years later: Mao Zedong and Dong Biwu. Seven of the original delegates left the CCP, one died of illness, and three died for the cause.