Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party congress opens (4)

Founded in August 1930 in Shanghai, the CPWDP had 125,600 members by September, 59 percent of whom are leading intellectuals in the fields of healthcare, population resources and ecological protection.

Under the multi-party cooperation system, which remains a major characteristic of China's political party system, the CPC and the non-Communist parties work together and supervise each other, instead of opposing each other.

The CPC rules the country and the non-Communist parties participate in state affairs according to law, instead of ruling the country in turn.

Official figures indicated that China's non-Communist parties had a total of more than 800,000 members as of the end of 2011, with more than 37,000 organs at community-based levels.