1st National People's Congress

The 1st National People's Congress (NPC) was in session from 1954 to 1959. It held four sessions in this period. There were 1,226 deputies to the Congress. These were the first legislative elections to take place after the founding of the People's Republic of China.

1st National People's Congress

第一届全国人民代表大会
2nd →
15 September 1954 – 17 April 1959
(4 years, 183 days)
Overview
TypeHighest organ of state power
ElectionNational elections
Leadership
ChairmanLiu Shaoqi
Vice ChairmenSoong Ching-ling, Lin Boqu, Li Jishen, Zhang Lan, Luo Ronghuan, Shen Junru, Guo Moruo, Huang Yanpei, Peng Zhen, Li Weihan, Chen Shutong, Tenzin Gyatso, Saifuddin Azizi, and Cheng Qian
Secretary-GeneralPeng Zhen
Standing Committee80 (1st)
Members
Total1,226 members
1st National People's Congress
Traditional Chinese第一屆全國人民代表大會
Simplified Chinese第一届全国人民代表大会
Abbreviation
Traditional Chinese第一屆全國人大
Simplified Chinese第一届全国人大
Huairen Hall, where the first session of the congress took place

Background

In accordance with the rules set by the 1st National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the first set of deputies to the NPC were elected in the spring and summer of 1954, the first elections under the 1953 Electoral Law which set rules for elections in the PRC, by the following:

Seat distribution

Major partyChairmanSeats
Chinese Communist PartyMao Zedong1,048
Other PartiesChairpersonSeats
Chinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic PartyZhang Bojun178
Jiusan SocietyXu Deheng
China Democratic LeagueZhang Lan
Shen Junru
China Association for Promoting DemocracyMa Xulun
China National Democratic Construction AssociationHuang Yanpei
Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese KuomintangLi Jishen
Taiwan Democratic Self-Government LeagueXie Xuehong
China Zhi Gong PartyChen Qiyou
IndependentsN/A

The first session

Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai at the first session of the 1st NPC in 1954.
Delegates voting at the first session of the 1st NPC.

The first plenary session was held in September 1954.[1] The Congress passed the 1954 Constitution of the People's Republic of China. It elected the state leaders:

Chairmanship Election
CandidatesForAgainstAbstain
Mao Zedong 121000
Vice Chairmanship Election
CandidatesForAgainstAbstain
Zhu De 121000

References