Place: Beijing

Number of delegates: 1,600 full delegates and 149 alternate delegates

Party membership: 39.65 million

Major contents: The congress was aimed at, by summing up the historical victory since the 11th Party Congress and eliminating the negative effects of the chaos of the "cultural revolution", defining a correct road, strategy, principles and policies for creating a new situation of socialist modernization construction. Deng Xiaoping made an opening speech. Hu Yaobang made a report on behalf of the 11th Central Committee. Ye Jianying and Chen Yun both delivered important speeches concerning the cooperation between the senior and young officials and the replacement of senior by young officials. Li Xiannian addressed the closing session. In his opening address, Deng Xiaoping put forward the idea of building socialism with Chinese characteristics. The congress outlined the general task of the Party in the new historical period as follows:
to unite the people of all ethnic groups in working hard and self-reliantly to achieve, step by step, the modernization of industry, agriculture, national defense and science and technology and to make China a culturally and ideologically advanced and highly democratic socialist country. It also set the economic goal for the period from 1981 to the end of this century, that is, under the prerequisite of constantly improving economic efficiency, to quadruple the annual industrial and agricultural output value of the country, i.e. from 710 billion yuan in 1980 to about 2,800 billion yuan in the year of 2000, so that people can enjoy a better standard of living. The congress also adopted the new Party Constitution.

The congress elected a new Central Committee composed of 210 members and 138 alternate members, a Central Advisory Commission composed of 172 members and a Central Commission for Discipline Inspection composed of 132 members. At the First Plenary Session of the 12th CPC Central Committee, Hu Yaobang, Ye Jianying, Deng Xiaoping, Zhao Ziyang, Li Xiannian and Chen Yun were elected Standing Committee members of the Political Bureau, and Hu Yaobang general secretary of the Central Committee. Deng Xiaoping was appointed chairman of the Central Military Commission as well as chairman of the CPC Central Advisory Commission. Chen Yun was appointed first secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.