empire · 1949–present
People's Republic of China
The People's Republic of China, founded by Mao Zedong in 1949, is the world's most populous country and one of its great powers, whose Communist Party-led rise from poverty to superpower is the defining story of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Key Takeaways
- The PRC was founded by Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party in 1949.
- It experienced catastrophic upheaval under Mao (Great Leap Forward, Cultural Revolution).
- Deng Xiaoping's reforms from 1978 launched China's economic transformation.
- It is now the world's second-largest economy and a global superpower.
- Founded
- 1949
- Capital
- Beijing
- Population
- World's largest
Founded after the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War, the PRC has grown from a revolutionary state into the world's second-largest economy and a major global power under successive leaders from Mao to Xi Jinping.
The People’s Republic of China was proclaimed from the Gate of Heavenly Peace in Beijing on 1 October 1949, when Mao Zedong declared that the Chinese people had stood up. The Communist victory in the civil war ended a century of division and foreign humiliation, unifying China under a new revolutionary order.
The PRC’s history divides into the Maoist era of revolutionary upheaval (including the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution) and the reform era opened by Deng Xiaoping from 1978, which transformed China from one of the world’s poorest countries into its second-largest economy and a global superpower.
Notable Figures of People's Republic of China
Chiang Kai-shek
82Chiang Kai-shek was the Chinese Nationalist leader who unified China in the late 1920s, led the country through the Japanese invasion in World War II, but lost the Chinese Civil War to Mao Zedong and retreated to Taiwan, which he ruled until his death.
Deng Xiaoping
89Deng Xiaoping was the Chinese leader who reversed Mao Zedong's catastrophic policies after 1978, opening China to market reforms that transformed it from a poor agrarian country into the world's second-largest economy.
Ho Chi Minh
88Ho Chi Minh was the Vietnamese revolutionary leader who led the resistance against French colonial rule and then American military intervention, founding the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and becoming the unifying symbol of Vietnamese independence.
Mao Zedong
90Mao Zedong was the founder of the People's Republic of China, who led the Chinese Communist Party to victory in the civil war, proclaimed the PRC in 1949, and then imposed radical revolutionary policies that caused tens of millions of deaths.
Sun Yat-sen
85Sun Yat-sen was the Chinese revolutionary and statesman who overthrew the Qing dynasty, founded the Republic of China, and became the founding father of both mainland China and Taiwan — revered by both Communists and Nationalists as the father of the Chinese nation.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was the People's Republic of China founded?
The People's Republic of China was founded on 1 October 1949 by Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party after defeating the Nationalists in the Chinese Civil War.