To obtain an adhesive composition improved in initial tack, water resistance, and ordinary peeling strength by using a chloroprene polymer obtained by polymerizing chloroprene and an ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid in the presence of polyvinyl alcohol and having a specified gel content.

Chloroprene or a mixture thereof (100 pts.wt.) with a monomer copolymerizable therewith and 0.5-10 pts.wt. ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid are pofymerized at 0-55°C in the presence of 0.5-4 pts.wt. polyvinyl alcohol having a degree of saponification of 60-98 mol% and a degree of polymerization of 200-3,000 to obtain a chloroprene latex composition having a solids concentration of 40-65 wt.%. This composition (100 pts.wt.) is compounded with 5-100 pts.wt. tackifying resin to obtain an adhesive composition. This composition is desirable in bonding e.g. paper, wood, cloth, hides and skins, leather, rubber, plastic, foam, etc.