The CCP claims its origins in the May Fourth Movement of 1919, during which radical

Western ideologies like Marxism and anarchism gained traction among Chinese
intellectuals.[24] Other influences stemming from the Bolshevik revolution and
Marxist theory inspired the Communist Party of China.[25] Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao
were among the first leading Chinese intellectuals who publicly supported Leninism
and world revolution.[26] In contrast to Chen, Li did not renounce participation in
the affairs of the Republic of China.[27] Both of them regarded the October
Revolution in Russia as groundbreaking, believing it to herald a new era for
oppressed countries everywhere.[27] The CCP was modeled on Vladimir Lenin's theory
of a vanguard party.[28] Study circles were, according to Cai Hesen, "the rudiments
[of our party]". Several study circles were established during the New Culture
Movement, but "by 1920 skepticism about their suitability as vehicles for reform
had become widespread."[30]

In the summer of 1919, the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) decided to assist
people of the Far East.[22] In April 1920, the Foreign Affairs Division of its
Vladivostok Branch sent Voitinsky to develop Marxism in China, Korea and Japan.
Voitinsky met Li, and then successfully turned Chen into a communist.[31] Voitinsky
found the Far Eastern Secretariat of the Communist International (Comintern) at
Shanghai. On 5 July, he attended a meeting of Russian communists in China to
promote the establishment of the CCP. He helped Chen found the Shanghai
Revolutionary Bureau, also known as the Shanghai Communist Group. Stojanovic went
to Guangzhou, Mamaev went to Wuhan, and Broway went to Beijing to help Chinese
establish communist groups. Voitinsky provided these groups with promotional,
conference and study abroad expenses

The founding National Congress of the CCP was held on 23�31 July 1921.[33] With
only 50 members in the beginning of 1921, the CCP organization and authorities grew
tremendously.[34] While it was originally held in a house in the Shanghai French
Concession, French police interrupted the meeting on 30 July[35] and the congress
was moved to a tourist boat on South Lake in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province.[35] A
dozen delegates attended the congress, with neither Li nor Chen being able to
attend,[35] the latter sending a personal representative in his stead.[35] The
resolutions of the congress called for the establishment of a communist party (as a
branch of the Communist International) and elected Chen as its leader. Chen then
served as the first general secretary of the Communist Party[35] and was referred
to as "China's Lenin".