《中国共产党简史》忠实记录了一百年来中国共产党团结带领人民进行革命、建设、改革的光辉历程，充分反映了中国共产党为实现**富强、民族振兴、人民幸福和人类文明进步事业作出的历史功绩，系统总结了党和**事业不断从胜利走向胜利的宝贵经验，集中彰显了中国共产党在各个历史时期淬炼锻造的伟大精神。《中国共产党简史》英文版由**党史和文献研究院组织翻译，在内容上与《中国共产党简史》中文版保持一致，旨在为外国读者了解中国共产党的百年历史提供权威阅读资源。

Chapter I The Founding of the Communist Party of China and Its Involvement in the Great Revolution One night in July of 1921, the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) opened in secret in a small two-story residence in Shanghai’s French Concession. This moment gave birth to a completely new party of the proletariat whose actions were to be guided by Marxism and Leninism. This was a truly groundbreaking event— a momentous occasion which, like a torch held aloft in the darkness, brought light and hope to the deeply distressed Chinese people. From that moment on, the Chinese people have had in the Party an anchor for their struggles to achieve national independence and liberation, to make their country prosperous and strong, and to realize happiness and contentment, and their mindset changed from passivity to taking the initiative. Various Forces Explore Ways to Rejuvenate China in Modern Times Over the course of several millennia, the Chinese people created an enduring and splendid civilization, making a marvelous contribution to humankind and becoming one of the great peoples of the world. Following the advent of modern times, however, owing to the aggression of Western powers and the corruption of China’s feudal rulers, China was gradually reduced to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. As the land of China was laid to waste and the people descended into misery, the Chinese nation experienced suffering of unprecedented proportions. From 1840 onwards, Western powers launched numerous wars of aggression against China (most famous are the Opium War of 1840–1842 involving Great Britain, the Second Opium War of 1856–1860 with Great Britain and France, the Sino-French War of 1884–1885, the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895, and the war of 1900 against the aggression of the Eight-Power Allied Forces). Through these wars and other methods, Western powers forced China to cede territory and pay out indemnities, and they greedily extracted privileges of all kinds from China. Britain carved away Hong Kong, Japan occupied Taiwan, and czarist Russia seized the northeastern and northwestern parts of the country. Over one billion taels of silver were extracted from China in war indemnities, even though the Qing government generated just over 80 million taels of annual revenue at the time. Through unequal treaties of increasingly harsher terms, Western powers obtained many important privileges in China, such as the right to set up ports and concessions, open mines and factories, build railways, establish banks and businesses, build churches, station troops, demarcate spheres of influence, and enjoy consular jurisdiction and unilateral mostfavored- nation treatment. Hundreds of unequal treaties and conventions, like an all-encompassing net, entrapped China politically, economically, militarily, and culturally. As a result, it was utterly helpless in the face of endless demands, and while it encountered reproach at every turn, Western powers had their way in the country on the strength of their treaties. They ran China’s trading ports, customs, foreign trade, and transport lines and dumped large quantities of their goods in China, treating it as a market for their products and a base for extracting raw materials.

CONTENTS Chapter I The Founding of the Communist Party of China and Its Involvement in the Great Revolution .............................................. 1 Various Forces Explore Ways to Rejuvenate China in Modern Times ..................................................................................... 1 The May 4th Movement and the Spread of Marxism in China ................................................................................................ 5 The Founding of the CPC and the Creation of the Platform of Democratic Revolution ................................................................ 13 The Rise of the First KMT-CPC Cooperation and the Climax of the Great Revolution .................................................................... 23 The Northern Expedition and the Worker and Peasant Movements ........................................................................................ 30 The End of KMT-CPC Cooperation and the Failure of the Great Revolution ........................................................................ 35 Chapter II The Agrarian Revolution .......................................................... 44 Combating the Reactionary Rule of the KMT with Armed Struggle ................................................................................. 44 Mao Zedong and a New Path for the Chinese Revolution ............. 50 The Red Army’s Victory against KMT Encirclement and Suppression Campaigns and the Establishment of Rural Revolutionary Bases ......................................................................... 57 The September 18th Incident and the Central Red Army Starting the Long March .................................................................. 66 The Zunyi Meeting and the Triumph of the Red Army’s Long March .......................................................................... 75 Fighting for a Chinese United Front against Japanese Aggression ......................................................................... 87 Chapter III The Mainstay of the Chinese People’s Resistance against Japanese Aggression ................................................................. 94 The Formulation of the Party’s Line of Resisting Japan on All Fronts and Strategy of Protracted War .................................... 94 Carrying out Guerrilla Warfare behind Enemy Lines and Maintaining the CPC’s Independence and Initiative in the United Front ......................................................................... 101 Upholding the Principles of Resistance, Unity, and Progress .................................................................................... 108 Consolidating Resistance Base Areas and Carrying Forward the Democratic Resistance Movement ......................................... 118 Strengthening Party Building, Advancing the Adaption of Marxism to the Chinese Context, and Launching a Rectification Movement ................................................................. 127 The Seventh National Congress of the CPC, the Establishment of Mao Zedong Thought as the Guiding Ideology of the Party, and Final Victory in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression ....................................................................... 134 Chapter IV The Struggle for Nationwide Victory in the New-Democratic Revolution ........................................................ 144 Peace Negotiations in Chongqing and the Struggle for Peace and Democracy .............................................................. 144 Victory against the KMT’s Offensive and the Formation of a Second Front ................................................................................. 151 The People’s Liberation Army Shifts to the Strategic Offensive..... 156 Formulating and Implementing the Program for Nationwide Victory and Consolidating and Expanding the People’s Democratic United Front ............................................................... 161 The Decisive Battles and the Downfall of the Reactionary KMT Regime .................................................................................... 168 The Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the CPC and Preparation for the Establishment of the New China ............................................................................ 178 Chapter V The Founding of the People’s Republic of China and the Establishment of the Socialist System ................................ 188 The Founding of the People’s Republic of China and the Consolidation of the Nascent Reign of the People ..................... 188 The War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Land System Reform, and Other Democratic Reforms ....................... 199 Restoration of the National Economy and the Expansion of Pursuits in Development ............................................................... 210 The Party’s General Line for the Transitional Period and the Beginning of Large-Scale Planned Economic Development ...... 222 The Completion of Socialist Transformation and the Establishment of the Socialist System ................................... 228 Chapter VI Explorations and Setbacks in Socialist Development ..... 238 The Eighth National Congress of the CPC and a Strong Start to Chinese Socialist Development ....................................... 238 Arduous Explorations on the Socialist Road .................................. 246 Socialist Development amid Twists and Turns .............................. 264 Chapter VII A Turning Point in History and the Beginning of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics ............................................ 280 The Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee: A Turning Point in History ........................................................... 281 Completing the Task of Setting Things Right................................. 291 Rural Reform, the Creation of Special Economic Zones, and the Beginning of Reform and Opening Up ......................... 297 The 12th National Party Congress and Full-Scale Socialist Modernization ................................................................................. 310 The 13th National Party Congress and the Establishment of the Party’s Basic Line in the Primary Stage of Socialism ........... 328 Adjustments to the National Defense Strategy .............................. 335 Conception of One Country, Two Systems ..................................... 337 Adjustments to Foreign Policy ......................................................... 341 Weathering Political Disturbances and Completing Economic Rectification ..................................................................................... 344 Deng Xiaoping’s Southern Talks .................................................... 357 Chapter VIII The Launch of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics into the 21st Century ............................................................................. 363 The 14th National Congress of the CPC and the Establishment of the Socialist Market Economy .................................................. 364 Stronger Macro Regulation and a Soft Landing for Economic Growth.............................................................................................. 370 The 15th National Congress of the CPC, Confirmation of Deng Xiaoping Theory as the Party’s Guiding Ideology, and Deeper Progress in Reform and Opening Up ............................. 373 The Formulation and Implementation of Cross-Century Development Strategies ................................................................. 386 The Development of Political Culture and Advanced Culture and the Achievement of Moderately Prosperous Living Standards Overall ............................................................... 395 Actively Advancing Military Transformation with Chinese Characteristics ................................................................................. 405 The Return of Hong Kong and Macao and the Expansion of Cross-Strait Exchanges ................................................................... 409 Creating a New Pattern of Comprehensive and Multilayered Foreign Relations ............................................................................ 415 Advancing the Great New Project of Party Building .................... 418 Chapter IX Upholding and Developing Socialism with Chinese Characteristics under New Circumstances ....................................... 428 The 16th National Congress of the CPC, the Establishment of the Theory of Three Represents as a Guiding Ideology of the Party and the Introduction of a Program of Building a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects ..................... 429 Promoting Sustainable Economic and Social Development ........ 434 The Party’s 17th National Congress and a New Blueprint for Building a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects ...... 447 Responding to Major Challenges and Deepening Reform and Opening up ...................................................................................... 452 Historical Missions of the Armed Forces at the New Stage in the New Century ........................................................................ 471 Moving forward with One Country, Two Systems and the Cause of China’s Peaceful Reunification ............................... 475 Standing by Peaceful Development and Cooperation .................. 481 Making Party Building More Effective and Establishing the Scientific Outlook on Development as a Guiding Ideology of the Party ....................................................................................... 484 Chapter X Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in a New Era ....... 494 The 18th National Party Congress and the Chinese Dream of National Rejuvenation ................................................................... 494 Promoting the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan ................................... 510 Pursuing Coordinated Implementation of the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy ................................................................ 539 Comprehensively Promoting National Defense and Military Modernization ................................................................................. 564 Adhering to the Principle of One Country, Two Systems and Promoting National Reunification ............................................... 577 Advancing Major Country Diplomacy with Chinese Characteristics and Building a Human Community with a Shared Future ...................................................................... 590 The Party’s 19th National Congress, Establishing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as the Party’s Guiding Ideology, and Securing a Decisive Victory in Building a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects ....................................................................... 608 Upholding Overall Party Leadership and Strengthening the Party More Effectively ............................................................. 622 New Strides in the Development of the State System and Governance System ........................................................................ 643 Advancing Various Undertakings while Responding to Risks and Challenges...................................................................... 658 Completing the Goal of Building a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects and Launching a New Journey toward Becoming a Modern Socialist Country in All Respects ............. 682 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 702 Index ................................................................................................................ 709