The Twelfth National Congress of the CPC

Twelfth National Congress was held in Beijing from September 1 to 11, 1982. The main agenda of the Congress was: (1) To review the report of the Eleventh Central Committee and determine the Party's program to struggle to create a new situation of socialist modernization in an comprehensive manner; (2) To examine and adopt the new Constitution of the CPC; (3) To elect a new Central Committee, Central Advisory Committee and Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. The theme of the Congress was: creating a new situation of socialist modernization in a comprehensive manner. There were 1,545 official delegates and 145 alternate delegates attending the Congress, representing more than 39 million Party members nationwide.

Deng Xiaoping presided over the opening ceremony of the Congress and delivered an opening speech. Deng summarized the historical experience since the founding of New China and put forward the major idea of "building socialism with Chinese characteristics", stating, "integrating the universal truth of Marxism with the concrete practice of China, blazing a path of our own and building socialism with Chinese characteristics, this is the basic conclusion we have drawn from our long historical experience." The formulation of this major idea answered the question of what path China would take in the new period of reform and became the great banner leading socialist modernization. Hu Yaobang, on behalf of the Eleventh Central Committee, made a report to the National Congress on "Pioneering a New Situation of Socialist Modernization in All Respects". Chen Yun and Ye Jianying made important speeches at the Congress respectively.

The Congress proposed the general task of the Party in the new period: To lead the people of all our nationalities in a united, self-reliant, intensive and pioneering effort to turn China into a prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and modern socialist country with a high degree of civilization and democracy. The National Congress proposed that from 1981 to the end of the 20th century, the general goal of China's economic construction: under the premise of continuously improving economic efficiency, to quadruple the gross annual value of industrial and agricultural production — from 710 billion yuan in 1980 to 2,800 billion yuan or so in 2000, so that the material and cultural life of the people will reach a well-off level. The Congress put forward the strategic policy of striving to build a high level of socialist spiritual civilization and a high level of socialist democracy, the objective of building the Party into a strong leading core of socialist modernization and the current tasks of Party construction, and the formulation of a new Party constitution.

The Congress adopted the “Resolution on the Report of the Eleventh Central Committee”, the “Resolution on the Report on the Work of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection” and the “Revised Constitution of the Communist Party of China”. The new Party Constitution eliminated the "left" errors in the Constitution adopted by the Eleventh Party Congress, such as the theory of "continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat" and inherits and develops the merits of the Constitutions of the Seventh and Eighth Party Congresses. The new Party Constitution made new provisions for strenghthening the system of the Party's central and local organizations, improving the Party's discipline and disciplinary inspection organs, and promoted the strenghtening of the construction of grassroots organizations.

The Congress elected the Twelfth Central Committee, consisting of 210 Central Committee members and 138 alternate Central Committee members, the 172-member Central Advisory Committee and the 132-member Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. Li Xiannian delivered a closing speech, calling on the whole Party to unite closely rally around the Party Central Committee, to lift up Party spirits, work hard and reach our great goal step by step.

The following First Plenary Session of the Twelfth Party Central Committee elected the Central Political Bureau and its Standing Committee; elected Hu Yaobang, Ye Jianying, Deng Xiaoping, Zhao Ziyang, Li Xiannian and Chen Yun as Standing Committee members of the Central Political Bureau and Hu Yaobang as General Secretary of the Central Committee; made the decision that Deng Xiaoping would be Chairman of the Central Military Commission. The Congress approved Deng Xiaoping as the director of the Central Advisory Committee and Chen Yun as the first secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.