The Council on Foreign Relations has published a comprehensive introduction the Chinese Communist Party including its history, an outline of its current leadership, the challenges that it faces, and its current policy goals. From the introduction:
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the founding and ruling political party of modern China, boasting over 82 million members to date. In 2012, the CCP underwent a pivotal once-in-a-decade power transition that saw its fifth generation of leaders set the future agenda for the second-largest economy in the world. While the party has maintained a political monopoly since its founding, the effects of China’s rapid economic growth have triggered increasing social unrest and political destabilization that challenge the country’srise as a global power. A spate of political scandals has also exposed deep power struggles inside the infamously opaque organization. While the changeover will do little to affect immediate party policy and direction, the implications of the new appointments could shed some light on how China plans to position itself on the world stage. [Source]
Also see prior CDT coverage of the Chinese Communist Party.
