At least a third of the delegates to the Congress will come from the grassroots level, the committee said, without providing a comparative figure from the previous session.

"Leaders and cadres should not constitute more than 70 percent of the total number of delegates," a Central Committee member said yesterday.

In addition, there should be more representation from women and ethnic groups, the official said.

"The delegates should also include a certain number of Party members who come from new economic and social organizations," he said.

New economic organizations usually refer to privately owned enterprises.

Nearly 100 more delegates will take part in next year's meeting than the number that participated in the 16th Party Congress in late 2002, bringing the total to 2,220.

The rise in delegate count comes as the ranks of the Party have expanded to more than 70 million members.

The election process, which has already begun, will be completed by June.

The process follows five procedures: nomination of candidates, qualification checks, public notification of the candidates, short-listing of candidates and final voting.

The Central Committee has required Party committees at all levels to enhance intra-Party democracy and safeguard the democratic rights of all members.

Meanwhile, the committee has widened voter choices by enlisting more candidates.

All the names of qualified nominees at county and prefecture levels are put forward, and a list of candidates is decided by the local Party congress. This is seen as an improvement over past practices when only the standing committee of a local Party committee made the decision.

"The number of shortlisted candidates will be 15 percent higher than the number of delegates to be elected. This figure is five percentage points higher than during the election for the 16th CPC National Congress," the official said.

Provincial CPC committees were also told to listen to the opinions of non-Communist parties, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and people of influence without party affiliation before the shortlist is drawn up.