Besides the CPC, there are another eight political parties; the China Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang, the China Democratic League, the China Democratic National Construction Association, the China Association for the Promotion of Democracy, the Chinese Peasants and Workers' Democratic Party, the China Zhi Gong Dang, the Jiusan Society, and the Taiwan Democratic Self-government League. They support the CPC leadership politically, which was the historic choice they made during the long years when they cooperated and fought side by side with the CPC. These democratic parties enjoy political freedom, organizational independence and lawful equality within the fixed scope of the Constitution. The basic principle of the cooperation between the CPC and the other parties is long-term coexistence, mutual supervision, sincere treatment with each other and the sharing of weal and woe.
The democratic parties are neither parties out of office nor opposition parties. They are parties fully participating in the political life of the nation. At present, all the standing committees of the people's congresses, the committees of the CPPCC, government organs at all levels, as well as economic, cultural, educational, scientific and technology and other departments have members of the democratic parties as leaders. For instance, the current chairpersons of the eight democratic parties' central committees hold vice-chairperson posts of the NPC Standing Committee and the CPPCC National Committee. The ranks of the democratic parties have also swelled, and today the total number of members of the democratic parties has reached over 600,000. All the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, and large and medium cities now have local and grass-roots organizations of the democratic parties.
The Eight Democratic Parties:
Name
Date of Foundation
Main Constituents
Chairperson of Central Committee
China Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang
January 1948
Former Kuomintang members and people having historical connections with the Kuomintang
He Luli
China Democratic League
October 1941
Higher and mid-level intellectuals
Ding Shisun
China Democratic National Construction Association
December 1945
Specialists,scholars and other people in the economic field
Cheng Siwei
China Association for the Promotion of Democracy
December 1945
Intellectuals working in educational,cultural, scientific, publishing and other fields
Xu Jialu
Chinese Peasants and Workers' Democratic Party
August 1930
Higher and mid-level intellectuals in medical, cultural, educational, and science and technology fields
Jiang Zhenghua
China Zhi Gong Dang
October 1925
Returned overseas Chinese, relatives of overseas Chinese, and representative individuals and specialists and scholars with overseas connections
Luo Haocai
Jiusan Society
December 1944
Higher and mid-level intellectuals working in science and technology, culture, education, and public health
Han Qide
Taiwan Democratic Self-government League
November 1947
People born or with family roots in Taiwan Province currently residing on the mainland
