The 12th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was convened from September 1–11, 1982. The path of modernization through socialism was laid out. 1,600 delegates and 160 alternate delegates represented the party's 39.65 million members. It was preceded by the 11th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, and succeeded by the 13th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. It coincided with the time in which leader Deng Xiaoping was Chairman of the Central Advisory Commission.