Presidium of 17th CPC Nat′l Congress holds 1st meeting
[ 2007-10-15 09:30 ]
After the preparatory meeting, the Presidium of the 17th Party Congress held its first meeting, which was presided over by General Secretary of CPC Central Committee Hu Jintao.
The Presidium voted and approved the 36 members of its Standing Committee.
It then selected four senior Party leaders as deputy secretaries-general of the five-yearly congress. They are Liu Yunshan, Zhou Yongkang, He Guoqiang and Wang Gang.
More than 2,200 delegates were certified as qualified to attend the congress. Ninety eight percent of the country's seventy three million CPC members took part in the voting and selection of the delegates. Criteria for qualified candidates include their way of thinking, work and life styles, and the recognition by the people. The name lists of candidates were also reviewed by non-communist parties in the country, who put forward their suggestions. The Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee examined the candidates before approving them.
The Central Committee also invited 57 special delegates including former party leader Jiang Zemin to attend the 17th Party Congress. They will enjoy the same rights as the other delegates.
And nearly 500 non-voting delegates and guests including some non-CPC members were invited to the congress.
The 17th CPC National Congress will open on Monday morning and will continue until the following Sunday.
