PRESS COMMUNIQUE OF THE TENTH NATIONAL CONGRESS OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA

(August 29, 1973)


The Tenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held solemnly in Peking from August 24 to 28. It was a congress of unity, a congress of victory and a congress full of vigour.

The great leader of our Party Comrade Mao Tsetung presided over the congress.

The agenda of the congress were: 1. Comrade Chou En-lai delivered the political report on behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China; 2. Comrade Wang Hung-wen delivered the report on the revision of the Party Constitution on behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and submitted to the congress the "Draft of the Constitution of the Communist Party of China"; 3. The Tenth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was elected.

The congress formally opened on August 24.

When Chairman Mao appeared on the rostrum, cheers resounded through the hall. The delegates excitedly greeted him with prolonged and hearty applause and cheered, "Long live our great leader Chairman Mao! A long, long life to Chairman Mao!" Chairman Mao warmly waved to the delegates.

The congress elected a presidium composed of 148 delegates.

The congress unanimously elected Chairman Mao Tsetung chairman of the presidium, Comrades Chou En-lai, Wang Hung-wen, Kang Sheng, Yeh Chien-ying and Li Teh-sheng vice-chairmen of the presidium and Comrade Chang Chun-chiao secretary-general of the presidium.

Also seated in the front row on the rostrum were: Comrades Liu Po-cheng, Chiang Ching, Chu Teh, Hsu Shih-yu, Chen Hsi-lien, Li Hsien-nien, Yao Wen-yuan, Tung Pi-wu, Chi Teng-kuei, Wang Tung-hsing, Hua Kuo-feng and Wu Teh.

The Tenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China convened at a time when the Lin Piao anti-Party clique has been smashed, the line of the Party's Ninth National Congress has won great victories and the situation both at home and abroad is excellent. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and comrades throughout the Party made full preparations for this historic congress. A total of 1,249 delegates were elected to the congress at the end of an extensive democratic process, which included repeated deliberations and consultations about the candidates and seeking the opinions of the masses both inside and outside the Party in the areas or organisations to which the candidates belonged. Prior to the formal opening of the congress, all the delegates had seriously discussed the drafts of all the congress documents. Inspired and joyful, the people of the whole country greeted the Tenth Congress with concrete deeds.

On the day the congress formally opened, the delegates from the four corners of our great socialist motherland entered the stately assembly hall by way of a spacious lobby with huge portraits of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin on the wall. Among the delegates were those from the Party membership of the industrial workers and the poor and lower-middle peasants, those from the Party membership in the People's Liberation Army, who came from frontier outposts where they vigilantly guarded our motherland, and those from the Party membership of revolutionary cadres, revolutionary intellectuals and other working people. Delegates from among the worker, peasant and soldier Party members accounted for 67 per cent of the total number. Over 20 per cent of the delegates were women Party members. Delegates of fraternal nationalities other than the Hans also constituted a certain proportion of the total. Delegates elected from Party members in various places of our country, who were natives of Taiwan Province, our motherland's sacred territory yet to be liberated, attended a national congress of the Party for the first time. Bearing the mandate of the 28 million Party members throughout the country and bringing with them the aspirations of hundreds of millions of people of all the nationalities, the delegates worked together with our great leader Chairman Mao in an atmosphere of unity, alertness, earnestness and liveliness.

On August 28, after serious and lively discussions, the congress unanimously adopted the political report given by Comrade Chou En-lai, the report on the revision of the Party Constitution given by Comrade Wang Hung-wen and also the Constitution of the Communist Party of China. The delegates said with joy that these documents, guided by Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought, analyse the excellent situation both at home and abroad, fully affirm the great victories won on all fronts under the guidance of the line of the Ninth Congress, sum up the basic experience of the two-line struggle, especially that of the struggle to smash the Lin Piao anti-Party clique and further define the orientation and tasks of continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat, and that they constitute the fighting programme for the whole Party, Army and people.

After repeated deliberations and discussions, the congress elected the Tenth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China by secret ballot. When the results of the election were announced, thunderous and enthusiastic applause and cheers reverberated again through the hall.

The 195 Members and 124 Alternate Members elected to the Central Committee embody the combination of the old, the middle-aged and the young. Some are proletarian revolutionaries of the older generations, who went through the First and Second Revolutionary Civil Wars in the early years of the Party, some are leading cadres from various fronts, who stood the test of gunfire in the War of Resistance Against Japan, the War of Liberation and the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, others are outstanding fighters in the three great revolutionary movements (i.e., class struggle, the struggle for production and scientific experiment) and in the struggle against imperialism, revisionism and reaction during the period of socialist revolution, and still others are young comrades who newly joined the Party during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. Gathered together, the old, the middle-aged and the young studied side by side and encouraged each other. The delegates said gladly that the composition of the Tenth Central Committee fully demonstrates that our Party is flourishing and has no lack of successors and that it is firmly united on the basis of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought.

The congress indignantly denounced the Lin Piao anti-Party clique for its crimes. All the delegates firmly supported this resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China: Expel Lin Piao, the bourgeois careerist, conspirator, counter-revolutionary double-dealer, renegade and traitor, from the Party once and for all; expel Chen Po-ta, principal member of the Lin Piao anti-Party clique, anti-communist Kuomintang element, Trotskyite, renegade, enemy agent and revisionist, from the Party once and for all and dismiss him from all posts inside and outside the Party. The delegates unanimously supported the decisions made and all the corresponding measures taken by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China with regard to the other principal members of the Lin piao anti-Party clique.

The Tenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China called on the whole Party, Army and people to study its documents conscientiously and implement them thoroughly, persist in continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat, adhere to the basic principles "Practise Marxism, and not revisionism; unite, and don't split; be open and aboveboard, and don't intrigue and conspire," and unite to win still greater victories!

The congress pointed out: At present we should continue to put the task of criticising Lin Piao and rectifying style of work above all else. We should make full use of that teacher by negative example, the Lin Piao anti-Party clique, to educate the whole Party, Army and people in class struggle and two-line struggle, and should study Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought and criticise revisionism and the bourgeois world outlook. We should continue to do well the work of struggle-criticism-transformation in the super structure, including all spheres of culture, work hard to grasp revolution and promote production, other work and preparedness against war and do our work better in all fields. We should act in accordance with the political line defined by the Tenth Congress and the new Party Constitution adopted by it, and build our Party into an ever stronger and more vigorous Party, which will lead the people of all nationalities in the country and unite with all the forces that can be united to further consolidate the dictatorship of the proletariat.

The congress pointed out: The present international situation is characterised by great disorder on the earth. Such great disorder is a good thing, and not a bad thing, and it is further developing in a direction favourable to the people of all countries and unfavourable to imperialism, modern revisionism and all reaction. We must uphold proletarian internationalism, adhere to the consistent policies of our Party, strengthen our unity with the proletariat, the oppressed people and nations of the whole world, strengthen our unity with all the countries subjected to imperialist aggression, subversion, interference, control and bullying and form the broadest united front against imperialism, colonialism and neo-colonialism and in particular against the hegemonism of the two superpowers-the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. We must unite with all genuine Marxist-Leninist Parties and organisations the world over and carry the struggle against modern revisionism through to the end. The congress called on the working class, the poor and lower-middle peasants, the commanders and fighters of the People's Liberation Army and the people of all nationalities in our country to strengthen without fail their preparations against wars of aggression, be on guard against the outbreak of an imperialist world war and particularly against surprise attack by social-imperialism and be ready to wipe out resolutely, thoroughly, wholly and completely any enemy that dare invade us! 

Long live the great, glorious and correct Communist Party of China!

Long live the Tenth National Congress of the Party, a congress of unity and victory!

Long live Marxism - Leninism - Mao Tsetung Thought!

Long live our great leader Chairman Mao! A long, long life to Chairman Mao!


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