The Preparatory Committee for the New Political Consultative Conference was the organization that prepared for the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in 1949.
Background On April 30, 1948, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party issued a slogan to commemorate the May 1 Labor Day (known as the May 1st slogan), calling on all democratic parties to jointly convene a new Political Consultative Conference (the old Political Consultative Conference had broken up in 1946) and establish a democratic coalition government. After that, all democratic parties, people's organizations, non-party democrats and overseas Chinese issued statements, declarations and telegrams in response to the "May 1 slogan". Subsequently, representatives of democratic parties, people's organizations, democrats from all walks of life, ethnic minorities and overseas Chinese who responded to the CCP Central Committee's "May 1 slogan" arrived in the liberated areas from all over China and overseas to discuss with CCP representatives the convening of a new Political Consultative Conference.
On September 18, 1948, when the first group of democratic figures, including Shen Junru, Tan Pingshan, Zhang Bojun, and Cai Tingkai, who were heading north from Hong Kong to the Northeast Liberated Area, had already set off but had not yet arrived, the CCP Central Committee sent a telegram to the Central Committee's Northeast Bureau, requesting that after the democratic figures arrived in Harbin, Gao Gang, Luo Fu, and Lin Feng, on behalf of the Northeast Bureau, consult the democratic figures on the convening of a new political consultative conference. After Fu Dingyi, Wu Han, and Liu Qingyang, democratic figures from Beijing, arrived in Lijiazhuang, Pingshan County, Hebei, Zhou Enlai visited them several times to listen to their opinions on the preparations for the new political consultative conference. Subsequently, Zhou drafted a document on various issues concerning the convening of a new political consultative conference based on the discussions between himself and the CCP's United Front Work Department and the democratic figures in Lijiazhuang. After being approved by CCP Chairman Mao Zedong on October 8, 1948, the Central Committee sent a telegram on various issues concerning the convening of a new political consultative conference to Gao Gang and Li Fuchun of the Northeast Bureau in the name of the Central Committee, soliciting opinions from various democratic parties and democratic figures.
The document stated that "the CCP and representatives of the major democratic parties, people's organizations and non-party democrats who support the fifth item of the CCP Central Committee's 'May 1st slogan'" would be participants in the preparatory meeting of the new Political Consultative Conference. This determined the basic conditions, standards and scope for participating parties in the future multi-party cooperation of the People's Republic of China. In the appendix to the document, "List of units proposed to be invited to participate in the new CPPCC", the democratic parties were ranked as follows: Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, China Democratic League, China Democratic Progressive Party, China Zhi Gong Party, Chinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party, China National Salvation Association, China Democratic League, China National Democratic Construction Association, and China Democratic National Construction Association. In "Questions on the convening of a new Political Consultative Conference", the CCP stated: "I would like to ask you to consider whether the units of the proposed democratic parties, people's organizations and non-party democrats are appropriate, and whether there are any additions or reductions."
At that time, most of the democratic parties and democratic figures were still in Hong Kong or on their way north to the liberated areas. Shen Junru and others hoped that the CCP could forward the draft document "On the Convening of a New Political Consultative Conference" to Hong Kong in order to solicit the opinions of democratic figures in Hong Kong. On October 30, 1948, the Central Committee sent a telegram to the Hong Kong Branch of the Central Committee, asking the latter to copy it to the various party figures in Hong Kong, "and have Pan Hannian and Lian Guan visit them separately or invite them to have a discussion together to solicit their opinions".
From September 1948 to January 1949, three groups of democratic personages traveled north from Hong Kong to the Northeast Liberated Area. The Central Committee appointed Gao Gang and Li Fuchun to organize two seminars to discuss the convening, time, location, participants, and discussion items of the new Political Consultative Conference. Fang Fang and Pan Hannian, the heads of the Central Committee's Hong Kong Branch, also sought the opinions of various democratic parties in Hong Kong on the preparations for the new Political Consultative Conference in accordance with the Central Committee's instructions. At the same time, the United Front Work Department also organized several seminars with democratic personages such as Fu Dingyi, Wu Han, Hu Yuzhi, Zhou Xinmin, Chu Tunan, Lei Jieqiong, and Tian Han, who arrived at Lijiazhuang, where the United Front Work Department was located, from Shanghai, Beijing, and Tianjin to discuss the “Draft of Various Issues Concerning the Convening of a New Political Consultative Conference” drafted by Zhou Enlai and the “Draft Organizational Regulations of the Preparatory Committee for the New Political Consultative Conference” drafted by the United Front Work Department and approved by Zhou Enlai, to listen to their opinions.
On November 25, 1948, representatives of the Central Committee and representatives of democratic personages from all walks of life who arrived in Harbin reached an agreement on the establishment of a preparatory committee for the new political consultative conference. The agreement stated that the preparatory committee for the new political consultative conference should be composed of representatives of the CCP and major democratic parties, people's organizations, and non-party democratic personages who supported the fifth item of the Central Committee's "May 1st slogan". A total of 23 units participated, including the party participating units: the CCP, the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, the China Democratic League, the China Democratic Progressive Party, the Zhi Gong Party, the Peasants and Workers Democratic Party, the China National Salvation Association, the China Democratic League, the China Democratic National Construction Association, and non-party democratic personages. The ranking of the democratic parties was exactly the same as that proposed by the CCP in "On the Convening of a New Political Consultative Conference".
According to the original plan, the preparatory meeting of the New Political Consultative Conference was to be held in Harbin in the autumn of 1948. However, due to the rapid development of the Second Civil War between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and the peaceful liberation of Beijing on January 31, 1949, it was decided to hold the meeting in Beijing instead. In March 1949, the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party approved the proposal for a new Political Consultative Conference and the establishment of a democratic coalition government. Soon after, the Kuomintang- Communist peace talks in Beijing broke down, and the Chinese People's Liberation Army successively captured Nanjing and Shanghai in the Battle of Crossing the Yangtze River. The preparatory work for the New Political Consultative Conference was rapidly advanced.
During this process, Zhou Enlai reviewed and revised the "List of Candidates for Democratic Personages from Various Units to Participate in the Preparatory Committee of the New Political Consultative Conference" in Xibaipo, and printed it into a book together with the "Agreement on Various Issues Concerning the New Political Consultative Conference" and other documents, and sent it to all parties for consultation.
On March 10, 1949, after arriving in Beijing, Li Weihan had extensive exchanges with various democratic parties and democratic figures. He visited more than 20 democratic parties and non-party democratic figures, including Li Jishen, Shen Junru, Guo Moruo, Tan Pingshan, Zhou Jianren, Ma Xulun, and Cai Tingkai, to solicit their opinions on the preparation of a new Political Consultative Conference and party work. From May 23 to 28, 1949, Zhou Enlai and Lin Boqu invited leaders of various democratic parties and people's organizations to discuss specific issues regarding the convening of a new Political Consultative Conference.
On June 11, 1949, the first preparatory meeting of the New Political Consultative Conference was held at Shuangqing Villa, Mao Zedong's residence in Xiangshan, Beijing. The meeting passed the "List of Representatives of Various Units Participating in the Preparatory Meeting of the New Political Consultative Conference", confirming that the units participating in the New Political Consultative Conference (abbreviated as "New Political Consultative Conference") would still be 23, but the order of the various democratic parties was adjusted to: Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, China Democratic League, China Democratic National Construction Association, China Democratic Progressive Party, Peasants and Workers Democratic Party, China National Salvation Association, China Democratic League, China Democratic Promotion Association, and China Zhi Gong Party.
Convening On June 15, 1949, the preparatory committee of the New Political Consultative Conference was established in the Qinzheng Hall of Zhongnanhai in Beijing and held its first plenary session, which ended on June 19. When the meeting opened on June 15, seven people, including Chairman Mao Zedong, Commander-in-Chief of the People's Liberation Army Zhu De, Li Jishen, Shen Junru, Guo Moruo, Chen Shutong, and Tan Kah Kee, delivered speeches.毛主席等七人在新的政治协商会议筹备会上的讲词，人民日报1949年6月20日，第1版 At the speech, Mao proposed "building a brand-new, powerful, and truly democratic people's republic", proposing the new state be called the "People's Democratic Republic of China"; this was later shortened to the "People's Republic of China".
On June 16, 1949, the first plenary session of the Preparatory Committee adopted the "Organizational Regulations of the Preparatory Committee of the New Political Consultative Conference".新政治协商会议筹备会组织条例，人民日报1949年6月20日，第2版 On June 19, 1949, the first plenary session of the Preparatory Committee was held, with Zhou Enlai as the executive chairman. At the meeting, Li Weihan, on behalf of the first group, explained the "Draft Regulations on Units Participating in the New Political Consultative Conference and Their Representative Quotas". The meeting passed the "Draft Regulations on Units Participating in the New Political Consultative Conference and Their Representative Quotas".关于参加新政治协商会议的单位及其代表名额的规定，人民日报1949年6月21日，第1版
The Preparatory Committee of the New Political Consultative Conference was responsible for all preparatory matters for the New Political Consultative Conference. Its key tasks included:
To decide on and invite units and representatives to participate in the New Political Consultative Conference; To decide on the meeting time, venue and agenda of the New Political Consultative Conference; To draft the organizational regulations for the New Political Consultative Conference; To formulate a draft common programme; Proposed a plan to establish the government of the People's Republic of China.