Mao Zedong and the Communist Party of China achieved significant success in liberating China, though with notable limitations. The CCP emerged victorious from the civil war in 1949, establishing the People's Republic of China and successfully freeing the country from Western and Japanese control.

The Communist programme successfully removed centuries' old inequalities, spread education, and raised consciousness among the people. Mao mobilised the masses through people's communes and mass organisations like the All-China Democratic Women's Federation. The Party established a government based on 'New Democracy', bringing critical areas of the economy under government control.

However, there were serious shortcomings. The Great Leap Forward launched in 1958 faced problems – the steel produced in backyard furnaces was unusable industrially, and the commune system was not working efficiently. While calling for power to the people, the Party built a highly centralised state with a repressive political system that turned ideals of liberation into slogans to manipulate people.

In terms of laying the basis for current success, the CCP has carried out market reforms that made China economically powerful. However, the political system continues to be tightly controlled. The society now faces growing inequalities and a revival of suppressed traditions, posing new questions about China's development path.