Its principal founders are Ma Xulun, Wang Shao’ao, Zhou Jianren, Xu Guangping, Lin Handa, Xu Boxin, Zhao Puchu, Lei Jieqiong, Zheng Zhenduo, Ke Ling and other comrades. Most of them were progressive intellectuals who stayed in Shanghai during the anti-Japanese war and persisted in resistance against Japan and national salvation with the help of the CPC. After the victory in the anti-Japanese war, they threw themselves the patriotic democratic movement against civil war, for peace, against dictatorship and for democracy. In light the needs of struggle at that time and through full consultation, they decided to establish a political organization aiming at maintaining the democratic spirit and promoting the realization of democracy in China, which was called the CAPD. On December 30, 1945, it was established in Shanghai.

      After it was established, the CAPD issued a series of important documents including the “Declaration on the Current Political Situation” and put forward political views including immediately terminating one-party dictatorship, returning state power to the people, immediately stopping civil war and protecting the people’s freedoms and rights. To increase the forces for peace and democracy, the CAPD contacted and united with 68 major mass organizations in Shanghai and formed Shanghai Mass Organization Federation. On June 23, 1946, it participated in initiating and organizing the meeting against civil war attended by 100,000 people in Shanghai Northern Railway Station. Its leaders, Ma Xulun, Lei Jieqiong and other comrades joined the peace delegation to go to Nanjing for petition. They were besieged and assaulted by Kuomintang’s secret agents and mobs and seriously wounded in the Xiaguan Event of June 23, 1946 which shocked the country. Their blood educated the people and promoted a new high tide of the patriotic democratic movement in Kuomintang-ruled areas.

      The CAPD firmly supported and responded to the call issued by the CPC on May 1, 1948 – “all democratic parties, mass organizations and social celebrities hold a political consultative conference quickly and establish a democratic coalition government”. Its principal leaders went into the liberated area from Shanghai and Hong Kong and participated in preparations for the new political consultative conference. In September 1949 its delegates, Ma Xulun, Xu Guangping, Zhou Jianren, Wang Shao’ao, Lei Jieqiong and other comrades attended the First Plenary Session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), participated in formulating the Common Program and made their contributions to the founding of new China.

      After the founding of the People’s Republic, the CAPD took the Common Program and the Constitution of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference as its guiding principles, formulated the political line – accepting the leadership by the CPC and serving socialism and worked and conducted activities according to the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China. Its leaders and some of its members assumed important positions in the Central Government and local people’s governments. Its organizations at all levels led all members in the active participation in the state political activities and continued to closely cooperate with the CPC and play a positive role in the recovery of the national economy, the consolidation of the people’s political power and socialist construction.

      Since the policy of reform and opening up was implemented, the CAPD shifted the focus of its work to the socialist modernization drive, persistently carried out the basic line for the primary stage of socialism and the CPC’s principle of “long-term coexistence, mutual supervision, treating each other with all sincerity and sharing weal and woe”, conscientiously performed its functions of the participation and deliberation of state affairs and democratic supervision, offered advice and made great efforts to promote economic and social development. It took an active part in building socialist democracy and the legal system and made suggestions on the formulation and implementation of the Teacher Law, the Law on Vocational Education, the Law on Compulsory Education, etc. It advocated respecting teachers and attaching importance to education, protected the legitimate rights and interests of people’s teachers and helped the Party and the government carry out polities on intellectuals. It created new areas for serving the four modernizations in light of social needs, did a great deal of work in giving lectures, running schools, providing scientific and technological consultancy, using intellectual resources for poverty alleviation and maintaining overseas friendship ties and made new contributions to promoting socialist material civilization and spiritual civilization. The magazine – Democracy, the Kaiming Press and the Kaiming Culture & Education Audio-Visual Publishing House sponsored by the CAPD Central Committee played a positive role in ideological education and publishing prosperity.

      In November 1997 the CAPD held its Eighth National Congress and gradually formed the basic working concept of “taking political handover as the focal point of its work, concentrating on the participation and deliberation of state affairs and turning it into a high-quality party which participates in state affairs and meets the needs of the 21st century”. It earnestly built itself in terms of ideology, leadership, organization, office and system, worked hard to raise its overall quality and the level of the participation and deliberation of state affairs and fully brought into play the role of the party which participates in state affairs. While continuing to pay great attention to the reform and development of education, culture and publication, it conducted in-depth investigations and research in such important subjects as the environmental protection and resources utilization in the process of scientific, technological, economic and sustainable development, the development of the western regions and the agriculture, rural areas and farmers and took the initiative to offer advice. It encouraged organizations at all levels and their members to take part in the development of the western regions, extensively conducted six activities in the western regions, including the demonstration of scientific and technological achievements, the development of education, introduction of capital and projects and the training of personnel and played a positive role in implementing the strategy of rejuvenating the nation through science and education and accelerating the economic and social development of the western regions.

      In December 2002 the CAPD held its Ninth National Congress. It took the spirit of the Sixteenth National Party Congress as the guide, conscientiously summed up experience, made overall arrangements for its work, revised its Articles of Association and elected a new Central Committee. The new Articles of Association stipulates “the CAPD is a party which participates in state affairs, fully cooperates with the CPC and is part of the patriotic united front.” “It is the CAPD’s fine tradition to persist in accepting the leadership by the CPC, adhere to patriotism, democracy, unity and realism and establish the CAPD for the interests of the public.” “The CAPD takes the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China as the fundamental principles for its activities. At the primary stage of socialism, its political program is to study and implement the important thought of the Three Represents under the guidance of Deng Xiaoping Theory, earnestly perform the functions of the party which participates in state affairs, hold high the banners of patriotism and socialism, unswervingly carry out the basic line of ‘concentrating on economic development, adhering to the four cardinal principles and persisting in reform and opening up’ and strive to build a moderately prosperous society, advance modernizations, accomplish the reunification of the motherland, safeguard world peace, promote common development and build our country into a strong, democratic and culturally advanced socialist country”.

      At the end of 2005, the CAPD established local organizations in 29 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government throughout the country. There were 302 municipal and county organizations and 5,806 grassroots organizations. They had over 99,000 members at the average age of 50.4, of whom those from the educational circles accounted for 69%, those from the cultural and art circles 6.2% and those from the press 2.1% and the remainder came from the scientific and technological circles, the medical and health circles, the economic circles and the law. There were 58 members who served as deputies to the National People’s Congress (NPC), and there were 79 members who became members of the National Committee of the CPPCC. There were 1,638 members who served as deputies to provincial, municipal and county people’s congresses, and there were 8,795 members who became members of provincial, municipal and county committees of the CPPCC. There were 558 members who assumed positions at and above the level of deputy division chief in the Central Government, local governments and judicial organs.

      The previous chairpersons of the CAPD Central Committee include Ma Xulun, Zhou Jianren, Ye Shengtao and Lei Jieqiong, its honorary chairpersons are Xie Bingxin and Zhao Puchu. Its current honorary chairwoman is Lei Jieqiong, and its current chairman is Xu Jialu.