The Information Office of the State Council of China on Thursday issued the country's first ever white paper on its political party system, systematically summarizing the political party system with Chinese characteristics.

The 15,000-word white paper comprises ten chapters: the preface; An inevitable choice in China's social development; A basic political system for China; Major manifestations of socialist democracy; Political consultation in the multi-party cooperation system; Multi-party cooperation system and building of state power; Multi-party cooperation system and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference; Multi-party cooperation system and modernization; conclusion and appendix.

Zhuang Congsheng, director of the Research Office under the United Front Work Department (UFWD) of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, said rich experience had been accumulated for China's multi-party cooperation system over past decades and during the process, an increasing number of countries paid great attention to the democratic and political building of China.

"However, the fact that not too many people know well China's political party system has caused some misunderstanding. The white paper will help the international community learn the historical background, features, advantages, values and functions of China's multi-party cooperation system," said Zhuang.

The white paper would also help Chinese, especially young Chinese understand the political party system, so as to better adhere to the system, said Professor Zhen Xiaoying, of the Central Institute of Socialism.

"The political party system China has adopted is multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC)," the white paper says.

The white paper says that under the system are the CPC and eight other political parties: the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, the China Democratic League, the China National Democratic Construction Association, the China Association for Promoting Democracy, the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party, China Zhi Gong Dang, the Jiu San Society and the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League.

The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is an important institution of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC, says the white paper.

The white paper says China's multi-party cooperation system has a glorious history of 58 years. As the basic political system of China, it has been proved through practice to be inevitable, innovative and superior.

The formation and development of China's multi-party cooperation system was a logical choice of its modern and contemporary history, a product of the combination of Marxism-Leninism and China's own situation, and a crystallization of the wisdom of the CPC and other democratic parties, the paper says.

The system is well suited to China's conditions, the reality of China's revolution, construction and reform, and the essential demands of socialist democracy.

It reflects the fine cultural tradition of the Chinese nation, which features all-embracing and harmony while reserving differences.

The multi-party cooperation system identifies the status and functions of the CPC and the eight other political parties in the political life of the state, and the relations between the parties, the white paper says.

Editor: Donald