Founded in July 1921, the CPC today has more than 66 million members and over 3.5 million basic organizations. The ruling party of the PRC, the CPC holds a National Congress every five years to elect a Central Committee that in turn elects a Political Bureau led by a Standing Committee. The nine new members of the Politburo Standing Committee elected at the 16th National Congress of the CPC in November 2002: Hu Jintao, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Zeng Qinghong, Huang Ju, Wu Guanzheng, Li Changchun, and Luo Gan. The new Constitution of the CPC, amended and adopted at the 16th CPC National Congress on November 14, 2002, specifies that the CPC takes as its guide to action Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of the “Three Represents.” (The Party must always represent the requirements of the development of China’s advanced productive forces, the orientation of the development of China’s advanced culture, and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people in China.)
