CPC Congress delegates broadly representative

Every effort has been made to ensure that the delegates elected to attend the upcoming 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China are broadly representative and include a proportion of members from the grassroots, the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee said on Monday.

In a statement issued on the election of the delegates to the Congress, which is proposed to be convened in Beijing on Oct 16, it said that among the 2,296 delegates, 771 — 33.6 percent — are from the grassroots, including 192 workers, 85 farmers and 266 professional and technical personnel.

The spectrum of the delegates is broadly representative, which meets the requirements set by the CPC Central Committee on the proportion of delegates from various sectors and backgrounds, said the statement.

There are 619 female delegates, 68 more than that at the Party’s 19th National Congress in 2017, with this proportion rising by 2.8 percentage points to 27 percent of the total, according to official data.

The ethnic composition of the delegates remains stable, with 264 coming from 40 ethnic minority groups, accounting for 11.5 percent of the total, data showed.

In 31 provincial-level regions, the proportion of female delegates is higher than the proportion of female Party members among the total number of Party members in these regions, and there are a certain number of delegates from ethnic minority groups in each region, the statement said.

The delegates come from various sectors including the economy, science and technology, national defense, the judicial, procuratorial and public security sectors, and education, publicity, culture, healthcare, sports and social administration, it said.

The age structure is reasonable, with an average age of 52.2 years. Among them, 1,371 members, accounting for 59.7 percent, are under 55 years old, and 18.9 percent are under 45, according to the data.

In terms of education level, 52.7 percent have postgraduate degrees, it said, while 36 percent have college degrees.

The majority of delegates joined the Party after the launch of reform and opening-up in 1978, accounting for 96.9 percent of the total.

“These characteristics of the delegates fully demonstrate that the CPC has a solid class basis and a broad mass basis, and that it is full of vigor and vitality from generation to generation,” the department said.

“Party organizations and Party members at the grassroots have displayed great political enthusiasm for the election of delegates and were highly motivated to participate in the process,” it said.

Various measures have been taken to encourage participation in nomination process, including setting up mobile ballot boxes, holding meetings, and soliciting opinions through phone calls, letters or door-to-door visits, according to the department.

Grassroots Party organizations in all electoral units participated in the process, with an average participation rate of 99.5 percent of Party members, the department said.

“The majority of Party members believed that participating in the nomination of the delegates improved their sense of honor and mission,” it added.