The 13th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was in session from 1987 to 1992. It held seven plenary sessions. It was preceded by the 12th Central Committee and succeeded by the 14th Central Committee. It elected the 13th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party in 1987.

List of members

In stroke order of surnames:

Chronology

1. 1st Plenary Session
   • Date: November 2, 1987
   • Location: Beijing
   • Significance: Zhao Ziyang was elected General Secretary. 18-member Politburo, 5-member Politburo Standing Committee and 5-member Secretariat were elected. Deng Xiaoping was re-elected Chairman of the Central Military Commission, and Chen Yun replaced him as Chairman of the Central Advisory Commission. Jiang Zemin was elected to the Politburo for the first time.^{[citation needed]}
2. 2nd Plenary Session
   • Date: March 15–19, 1988
   • Location: Beijing
   • Significance: List of candidates for top State posts to be submitted to the 7th National People's Congress and the 7th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference were adopted.^{[citation needed]}
3. 3rd Plenary Session
   • Date: September 26–30, 1988
   • Location: Beijing
   • Significance: A program on the reform of prices and wages was taken, urging the State Council to put inflation under strict control.
4. 4th Plenary Session
   • Date: June 23–24, 1989
   • Location: Beijing
   • Significance: The meeting was held after the suppression of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. Li Peng delivered a report strongly criticizing Zhao Ziyang for his attitude during the "anti-party, anti-socialist turmoil": he was accused of "passive attitude toward the Four Cardinal Principles" and the "oppose bourgeois liberalization policy", and neglecting "party building, the spiritual civilization construction and ideological and political work". He was thus removed from his capacities of General Secretary, Politburo Standing Committee member, Politburo member and Central Military Commission first vice-chairman, with Jiang Zemin filling his posts as General Secretary and Politburo Standing Committee member. Building on Deng's view that "development is the absolute principle," Jiang Zemin and the third generation of leaders stated, "Development is the Party's top priority in governing and rejuvenating the country."^[1]: 49
5. 5th Plenary Session
   • Date: November 6–9, 1989
   • Location: Beijing
   • Significance: Deng Xiaoping resigned as Chairman of the Central Military Commission, and Jiang Zemin took over the post. Yang Shangkun was appointed CMC first vice-chairman.
6. 6th Plenary Session
   • Date: March 9–12, 1990
   • Location: Beijing
   • Significance: In the official communique, the economic reform was exalted, but the growth of "bureaucracy, subjectivism, formalisticism, passivity and corruption" was denounced as well.
7. 7th Plenary Session
   • Date: December 25–30, 1990
   • Location: Beijing
   • Significance: A decision on the "Program of the National Economy and Society Development Decade" and guidelines for the 8th Five-Year Plan were adopted.
8. 8th Plenary Session
   • Date: November 25–29, 1991
   • Location: Beijing
   • Significance: A decision to enforce family household management of land was taken, in order to secure a bigger output of grain production.
9. 9th Plenary Session
   • Date: October 5–9, 1992
   • Location: Beijing
   • Significance: Preparations for the CCP's 14th National Congress were made. The critical assessment on Zhao Ziyang remained unchanged and so he was not listed as a candidate for the 14th Central Committee.^{[citation needed]}