The PCC shows great resilience because of its adaptability and its governance.
Flag rising ceremony on Tian’anmen square at 4 a.m. on July 1, 2025
In a century marked by the collapse of many ideological parties, especially after the Cold War, the persistence and dynamism of the CCP raise fundamental questions: what explains its longevity? How did he reinvent himself in the face of historical upheavals? What is its current transformation into a governance focused on the essence of state power in contemporary China?
From the revolution to the exercise of power
The CPC was born in 1921 in the form of a small intellectual circle, inspired by Marxist theory and the October 1917 Revolution in Russia. His first decades were marked by a revolutionary struggle: first against the warlords and the Guomindang regime, then against the Japanese aggression. With the victory in the civil war in 1949 and the Foundation of the People’s Republic of China the same year, the CCP went from the status of revolutionary avant-garde to that of a ruling party.
The post-revolutionary period was marked by deep changes, which prompted party to adapt to new realities. Faced with serious challenges, both international and national, the CCP has managed to overcome the difficulties and adapt, while it sought to get the country out of a century of humiliation and to engage on the path of national revival.
The most emblematic turning point remains that of reform and opening, a strategy initiated in 1978 under the direction of Deng Xiaoping. This turning point not only marked a change in economic policy, but also a deeper institutional transformation. He revealed a party capable of constructive self -criticism – a rare quality in major political organizations.
Learning and reform capacity
Institutional learning capacity is undoubtedly the key to PCC resilience, always showing a desire to diagnose your own failures, experiment with policies and adjust its strategies according to the evolution of circumstances. From the family -based lump sum operating system (an agrarian reform that marked the transition from collective farm to family production) and the creation of special economic zones (areas designated with exclusive economic regulations and economic policies to attract foreign investments) in the early 1980s, until China’s membership in the World Trade Organization in 2001, PCC promoted a pragmatic political innovation.
Most importantly, the reforms have not been exclusively economic. The PCC has also set up a vast education, corruption and public consultation system (including basic level elections and online petition channels), in order to ensure reactive governance and adapted to the realities on the ground. Institutional reform and social adaptability have become the particularities of the PCC governance model.
The party adaptability is not frozen: it is perpetual evolution. Rather than resting on its historical achievements, the PCC has actively managed transitions: from an agricultural company to an industrial company, from low -end manufacturing to high -end production, and today from high -speed growth to high quality development.
The Ier Congress site of the PCC in Shanghai welcomes many visitors on May 2, 2021.
The transition to governance: a new era
One of the deepest transformations of recent decades is the PCC passage from a revolutionary party to a governance party. It is not a simple semantic movement, but a change in the way in which the party conceives its role: less oriented on the mobilization of masses for an ideological transformation, more focused on social stability, economic inclusion, sustainable development and technological leadership.
In Chinese political discourse, this evolution is often described as the transition from a party to power to a governance party. While the first suggests a hierarchical approach based on authority, the second implies a more complex mode of governance, which incorporates planning, regulation, participation and feedback mechanisms. Governance encompasses a wide range of fields: environmental protection, public health, rural revitalization, digital regulations, response to disasters and the extension of social protection.
For example, the accent put by the party on social governance aims to establish a collaborative system between the State, society and citizens, to maintain order and guarantee services. This symbiotic structure is reflected in particular in community network management, early alert systems based on megadonts and social credit systems, which illustrate governance distributed and supported by technology.
Rather than relying on an ideological orthodoxy, the CPC today draws a large part of its popular support from its performance: improvement in living standards, modern infrastructure, reinforced and national public services. The management of the PCC has developed a vast development story: the Chinese dream of the great national renewal, mixing historical memory, international ambitions and promises of common prosperity.
This public support based on tangible results is reinforced by a continuous institutional reform. The fight against corruption, revived with vigor in 2012, made it possible to discipline the members of the party while sending a strong message to the population on the commitment of the party towards its own purification. Likewise, internal disciplinary bodies, party schools and democratic centralism mechanisms have been reshaped to guarantee unity while encouraging debate and political experimentation.
This double approach – centralized direction and decentralized governance, experimentation and implementation – is reflected in the management of complexity. It allows firm orientation from the center, while encouraging initiatives of the provinces, municipalities and local actors.
A century of institutional innovation
The institutional resilience of the CCP is now faced with new external challenges. The dynamics of current relations between China and the United States and the broader changes in the world order constitute both threats and opportunities. Rather than taking refuge in a defensive attitude, the CPC reacted by emphasizing autonomy in key fields: semiconductors, green technologies, advanced manufacturing and scientific research. This link between national security and development strengthens the position of the CCP as a guarantor of the fate of China over the long term.
Indeed, the current phase of PCC’s evolution can be described as “governance in the face of uncertainty”. Climate change, energy transitions, economic disturbances induced by AI and potential geopolitical decoupling require anticipatory governance. In this sense, the CCP is not content to react to crises, it strives to strengthen institutional resilience to the unknown.
At 104, the CCP is less a static ideological monolith than a complex and evolving system of governance and state management. This institutional flexibility, based on popular support obtained thanks to performance, strategic foresight and the desire to restructure, allowed the CCP to resist storms that have struck others.
With the end of American hegemony, new challenges are looming. On the interior level, the CCP has played an engine role of development. The transformation of a backward and torn country by war into a world power into eight decades is an unprecedented accomplishment in history. At the same time, over the development of China, its role in the world also evolves. This is why China and the CCP are now focusing on how the country can best fulfill its global role of “great facilitating power”.
At a time of generalized disillusionment with regard to political parties around the world, the CCP is an example of longevity, not by clinging to a rigid ideology, but remaining faithful to its objective while learning and adapting permanently.
*Warwick Powell is assistant professor at the Queensland technological university in Australia and principal researcher at the Taihe Institute.
