More grassroots delegates for Party congress

BEIJING - The Communist Party of China (CPC) has elected more young delegates and grassroots-level delegates to attend its upcoming national congress, a senior Party official said here Tuesday.

About 30.5 percent of the delegates elected to attend the upcoming 18th CPC National Congress are from the grassroots level, up 2.1 percent from the previous congress in 2007, said Wang Jingqing, deputy head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, at a press conference here.

Party members who joined the CPC after the reform and opening-up in the late 1970s constitute the majority of delegates, Wang said.

A total of 1,640 delegates joined the Party after November 1976, accounting for 72.2 percent of the total, 20.5 percentage points higher than that of the congress in 2007, he said.

The average age of the delegates is 52, and 64.8 percent of the delegates are under age 55, Wang said.

There are 114 delegates under 35, accounting for 5 percent of the total, 1.9 percentage points higher than the previous congress.

Among all the delegates to the congress, the number of workers saw a sharp increase, from 51 in the 17th congress to the current 169, including 26 migrant workers.

Female delegates account for 23 percent of the total and ethnic minorities account for 11 percent.

According to established practices, the CPC Central Committee will also invite some Party members who have retired from their leadership posts as special delegates to the congress, Wang said.

The 2,270 delegates, elected by 40 electoral units, will represent more than 82 million CPC members in attending the 18th CPC National Congress, which is scheduled to be held in the second half of this year in Beijing.

INTRA-PARTY DEMOCRACY

To ensure the election of more outstanding delegates, the CPC has, for the first time, carried out a multi-candidate survey on the preliminary candidates of the delegates to the upcoming Party congress.

The loss margins in electing delegates to the 18th CPC National Congress were raised to 15 percent or above nationwide, according to the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee.

Some local Party committees have, for the first time, publicized the list of delegates' names via media channels, in a bid to mobilize the participation of, and solicit feedback from, Party members in the election.

The election process was "open and transparent," with each Party member having access to election information. Up to 98 percent of Party members participated in the election of delegates to the Party congress, according to Deng Shengming, spokesman for the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee.

During the press conference, Wang Jingqing said the CPC would continue its efforts to promote intra-Party democracy by ensuring Party members' rights to know and supervise, improving the Party congress system and promoting intra-Party elections and supervision.