Soong Chingling, also known as Madame Sun Yat-sen, speeks at the 1st Plenary Session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. |
On September 21, 1949, the 1st Plenary Session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) was held in Beiping (now Beijing). Altogether 662 people attended the meeting, including representatives of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the various democratic parties, people's organizations, as well as representatives of different regions and areas, the People's Liberation Army (PLA), ethnic minority groups, overseas Chinese and patriotic personages. At the meeting, the Common Program of the CPPCC was passed and adopted as the provisional constitution, which stipulated the official name, capital city, national anthem, national emblem and the calendar of the People's Republic of China. Mao Zedong was elected chairman of the Central People's Government Committee of the PRC, and October 1st was made the National Day.
(Contributed by Foreign Languages Press)