# Chinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party

The Chinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party (CPWDP) is one of the eight minor democratic parties in the People's Republic of China under the direction of the Chinese Communist Party.
The party was officially founded in the Shanghai French Concession on 9 August 1930 by left-wing members of the Kuomintang. It is mainly made up of members who mostly work in the fields of public health, medicine, and associated fields in science and technology. It is the fifth-ranking minor party in China. It currently has 60 seats in the National People's Congress, 5 seats in the NPC Standing Committee and 45 seats in the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. The current chairman of CPWDP is He Wei.

## History

The party had its origins in the collapse of the First United Front when they first met in November 1927. Its original members were left-wing Kuomintang members and expelled Communists which called themselves the "Provisional Action Committee of the Kuomintang" or "Third Party" (despite the name, the Young China Party was third largest in the late 1920s–40s).
The party was officially founded in the Shanghai French Concession on 9 August 1930, leading it to become a cohesive entity under Deng Yanda, who organized it under democratic centralism like both the Nationalists and Communists. Deng was secretly executed by Chiang Kai-shek in 1931 and the party went underground.
In 1933, the party, now led by Huang Qixiang, joined with the short-lived "Productive People's Party" in starting the failed People's Revolutionary Government of the Republic of China. In 1935, they renamed themselves in to the "Chinese Action Committee for National Liberation". It was one of the founding parties of the China Democratic League. Its leaders renamed the party in February 1947 to its current name.

## Organization

According to its constitution, the CPWDP is officially committed to socialism with Chinese characteristics and upholding the leadership of the CCP. It is the fifth-ranking minor democratic party in China.
The highest body of the CPWDP officially is the National Congress, which is held every five years. The 17th National Congress, held in December 2022, was the most recently held Party Congress. The National Congress elects the Central Committee of the CPWDP. In June 2022, the party had organizations in 30 province-level administrative divisions throughout China. The CPWDP publishes the newspapers Qianjin Luntan ("Forum For Advancement") and Medicine & Health Care Daily.

### Composition

The CPWDP is made up of members who mostly work in the fields of public health, medicine, and associated fields in science and technology. As of June 2022, it has a membership of 192,000.

### Chairpersons

The leader of the Party is officially called the Chairperson of the Central Committee of the Chinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party. Between 9 August 1930 and 10 November 1935, the office was known as the Secretary-General of the Central Executive Committee of the Provisional Action Committee of the Kuomintang, which changed to the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese National Liberation Action Committee on 10 November 1935, which changed to the General Contact Person of the Central Provisional Executive Committee of the Chinese National Liberation Action Committee in March 1938, which again changed and assumed its current name on 3 February 1947.
| No. | Chairperson | Took office | Left office |
| 1 | Deng Yanda 邓演达 | August 9, 1930 | August 17, 1931 |
| 2 | Huang Qixiang 黃琪翔 | August 17, 1931 | March 1938 |
| 3 | Zhang Bojun 章伯钧 | March 1938 | December 10, 1958 |
| 4 | Ji Fang 季方 | December 10, 1958 | January 1987 |
| 5 | Zhou Gucheng 周谷城 | January 1987 | November 13, 1988 |
| 6 | Lu Jiaxi 卢嘉锡 | November 13, 1988 | November 1997 |
| 7 | Jiang Zhenghua 蒋正华 | November 1997 | December 11, 2007 |
| 8 | Sang Guowei 桑国卫 | December 15, 2007 | December 2012 |
| 9 | Chen Zhu 陈竺 | December 2012 | December 9, 2022 |
| 10 | He Wei 何维 | December 9, 2022 | Incumbent |

## Notable members

* Jin Jingzhe (born 1963), Chinese physician and delegate to the National People's Congress