The history of the Communist Party of China is long-well-known and recognized over time as the Party has proved itself at every point and is still standing strong today even after 100 years of its foundation. In 1921 it was founded in a small room in Shanghai with only 13 members and today has more than 95 million members and is the world’s second-largest economy and is on course to become the world’s largest once it takes over the U.S. economy. The party was founded on the principle of Communism, an ideology given by Karl Marx and inspired by Russian Revolutionist, Vladimir Lenin. A collective effort of 4 leaders namely Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Chen Duxiu, and Li Dazhao made the Chinese Communist Party what it is today. The Long March in 1934 had a pivotal role, but it also established Mao Zedong as the leader of the party and helped allow it to begin an evolution under his leadership, which is why today we have Xi Jinping as the leader of the party and President of China.
Let us look at the history of China over these 100 years and the shift of Ideologies from Communism to Democratic Centralism. The People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949 by Mao Zedong and he announced the creation of A New China. The major reforms were introduced in 1979 by opening the policies. From one of the most impoverished nations to World’s Second Largest Economic, China rose from the bed of rocks to roses in the previous years. Following Mao’s Death, the second-in-command chief, Hua Guofeng took control and started decentralizing the powers while maintaining the one political party system. Economic Liberalization started making the country richer steadily, but the lives of the people were still controlled by the party, and they were devoid of free speech and international travel.
China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001 and the country’s economy began to boom and witnessed rapid growth in its GDP. Over the years, China has proved itself as an enormous rising power and in 2008, it stepped on the stage as a global power in the Beijing Olympics,2008. The Beijing Olympics was stated to be one of the most expensive games ever as western economies that too at the time of the Global Financial Crisis demonstrated Beijing’s mounting economic influence and its capability to pave its path.
After Xi became the leader, some of his opponents thought that he would be a liberal reformer, however, Xi became the world’s most powerful leader after leading the party into a personality-driven era. “Xi Jinping Thought” is also written in the constitution. Every aspect of China’s power increased under Xi Jinping.
China is dominating in the sector of Foreign Direct Investments globally, Belt and Road Initiatives is one of the greatest examples of FDIs so far, through this massive infrastructure project initiative that would stretch from East Asia to Europe, China wants to increase its influence abroad as well. The initiative includes all of those countries that are trapped in a heavy debt trap. Chinese interest in the Indo-Pacific can be seen from their acquisition of the Colombo Port in Sri Lanka. The principle of win-win cooperation that Xi has stated for the countries to build a world of prosperity plays an important role as well since China’s foreign policies have been flexible enough to accommodate them. China has established itself as a Naval Power and has advanced its game in the maritime military and it is also the world’s largest ship producing nation with the largest merchant navy in the world and China is using these powers to dominate the Indo – Pacific as this region alongside China is becoming the fiscal point.
Under the influence of Xi, China has indeed become a very strong geopolitical and economic clout but In China, people must pay the price for the dominance as Xi has cracked down on liberal thoughts, and the people who disagree with the Chinese Communist Party get reprimanded. The CCP has complete control over the people’s personal lives on top of the CCP apps on their phones. The privacy of the citizens is in jeopardy. The “New Era” that the Chinese Communist Party wants to mark is becoming stronger. Public and Private Enterprises are redefining the regulations on commitments in the party.
As Xi has made very clear, his ambitions do not stop with the Asia-Pacific region. He wants to reshape the global order – the rules of the road – in a way that benefits China. Political authority in China is the CCP, and Xi’s goal is to make sure the CCP is strong and continues to rule for another century. By how long he drives the mission remains to be seen.
