Common Program in the context of "1954 Constitution of the People's Republic of China"

The Constitution of the People's Republic of China is a communist state constitution and the supreme law of the People's Republic of China (PRC). In September 1949, the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference adopted the Common Program, which acted as the temporary constitution after the PRC's foundation. On September 20, 1954, the first constitution was adopted by the first session of the 1st National People's Congress. The constitution went through two major revisions in 1975 and 1978. The current constitution was adopted by the 5th National People's Congress on December 4, 1982, with five subsequent revisions.

The current constitution consists of 4 chapters and 143 articles. It explains the nature of the People's Republic of China, highlights the concept of democratic centralism, and states that the People's Republic of China is a "socialist state governed by a people's democratic dictatorship that is led by the working class and based on an alliance of workers and peasants". It stipulates the central and local state institutions work under the system of people's congress, and states that China implements basic political systems such as the system of community-level self-governance and the regional ethnic autonomy system. The constitution also lists its basic national policies and establishes the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The Central People's Government was the central government of the People's Republic of China between 1 October 1949 and 20 September 1954. The government was formed in accordance with the Common Program and the Government Organic Law promulgated by the 1st National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

The Central People's Government served as the provisional government for exercising state power before the 1st National People's Congress (NPC) was elected to draft the new constitution of China. The government ceased to exist after the enactment of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China on 20 September 1954, and was reformed into the constitutional government of China.

In the People's Republic of China (PRC), there are eight minor and non-oppositional political parties, officially termed democratic parties (Chinese: 民主党派; pinyin: Mínzhǔ dǎngpài), that are permitted to exist by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

These parties were all founded before the PRC's establishment, participated in the drafting of the Common Program and the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference which led to the PRC's founding. The parties ceased operations during the Cultural Revolution, but resumed operations during the reform and opening up era. The democratic parties exist under the leadership of the CCP, and are not opposition parties. They participate in various state bodies such as the National People's Congress, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the State Council. Membership to these parties is restrictive; prospective party members need a reference from senior party members to join the parties, and membership applications are vetted by the CCP's United Front Work Department, which also selects the leaders of the parties. The work of the parties are mostly consultative in nature, including doing research and giving proposals to the CCP.