During the 2nd National Congress in 1922, the party issued a statement arguing for the end of Chinese traditions that repress women.

The CCP's time in the soviets from 1927 to 1945 also gave them the opportunity to develop the skills for organizing federations and governing, which greatly facilitated the founding of the ACWF later.

[3] Leaders of the women's movement expressed nationalist sentiments in response to the threat the war posed to their daily lives.

Cai Chang, a prominent leader in the women's movement since, an active CCP member, and a veteran of the Long March, was the first chair of the organization.

[7] The ACWF soon developed beyond its original mission of promoting gender equality, and it became a tool used by the party to mobilize women for economic, political and ideological motives.

[3] Its political tasks focused on identifying and proposing solutions to women's issues, including through academic research.

[8]: 92 During the Land Reform Movement, the ACWF issued a call to Party activists to encourage peasant women to understand their "special bitterness" from a class perspective.

[9] To emphasize the contribution of women, the Five Good Family Campaign was introduced in 1956 to acknowledge efforts in areas such as education, managing the household, establishing connections with neighbors, keeping the house clean, and self-improvement.

Promoting this campaign and ideology was important to the ACWF, and it encouraged local chapters to form women's congresses to spread the message.

The CCP sought to use the ACWF to promote its gender-specific ideas and create a formal channel to mobilize women.

[4] The ACWF also established affiliations with other mass movements: The YWCA of China and the Women Personnel Section of the Trade Union.

[12] In the period prior to the Cultural Revolution, the ACWF was among organizations which hosted birth planning exhibitions to educate the public about contraception, abortion, IUDs, and sterilization procedures.

The committee for the 4th National Women's Congress met in 1976, started rehabilitating many of the female cadres sent to the countryside, and reinstated the ACWF.

[3] The ACWF increasingly studied women's movements in other countries, and held debates that transcended the parameters set by the CCP.

The new focus was on women's self-discovery; and the ACWF launched the Four Self Campaign consisting of: self-respect, self-confidence, self-improvement, and self-reliance.

[citation needed] The ACWF also expanded its legal training for cadres, strengthened its finances, became involved with gay rights, fought employment discrimination and female trafficking, and introduced legislation to meet the challenges faced by women.

[15] With these changes, the ACWF became less concerned with mobilizing grass roots organization, and focused on its role in setting the public discourse for the social and political issues of women.

[16] While the federation expanded in size, it became increasingly difficult to continue to reach all Chinese women through traditional channels.

[12] In a 2023 address to the ACWF, CCP general secretary Xi Jinping instructed its members to "tell good stories about family traditions" and to "actively foster a new type of marriage and childbearing culture.

[8]: 92  Survey results deal with a range of aspects of women's life experiences and are used by domestic research institutes and academics.

[16] It identifies itself as "a people's organization under the leadership of the Communist Party of China" and "an important social pillar of the state power.

This is supposed to give the organization a dual structure of carrying out party orders and informing the government of women's interests.

Since 2015, the ACWF, together with other Party-affiliated "mass organisations" have launched a new round of reform in order to better represent the interest of their members and to defer to Party's authority in their work.

Most women-interest NGOs operating in China are currently listed under the ACWF and have sought a close relationship with the organization to gain legitimacy and protection.

New women's groups have more freedom in exploring sensitive topics and alternative theories on gender because they are not affiliated with the government in any manner.