The 1st National Congress

Date: July 23-31, 1921

Venue: first in Shanghai and later moved on board a boat on Lake Nanhu in Jiaxing County, Zhejiang Province

Number of delegates: 12

Party membership: over 50

Major contents: The central task of the congress was to discuss the question of officially establishing the Chinese Communist Party. The congress adopted the first Party program and decided on the name of the Party as the Communist Party of China. It decided on the objectives of the Party as follows: to overthrow the bourgeoisie by means of the revolutionary army of the proletariat, to rebuild the country by the laboring classes and to work for the ultimate elimination of class distinction; to establish the dictatorship of the proletariat in order to attain the objective of class struggle, that is, the elimination of classes; and to abolish ownership by capitalists and establish ownership by the entire society through confiscating all the means of production. The congress also adopted the Resolution on the Present Tasks, according to which the central task of the Party after its founding was to get the working class organized and to provide guidance to the workers' movement.

The congress elected Chen Duxiu, Zhang Guotao and Li Da to form the Central Bureau with Chen serving as its secretary.