Participants in upcoming event from all walks of life, a third from grassroots

Liu Guizhen inquires about the health of a villager in Daixian county, Shanxi province, in June 2017. Liu, who has worked as a village doctor since 1978, has been elected as a delegate to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. (ZHAN YAN / XINHUA)

Atotal of 2,296 delegates have been elected to the upcoming 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, according to an official statement released on Sept 25.

The delegates, representing 38 electoral units and the nation’s over 96.7 million Party members, are outstanding CPC members who are highly qualified ideologically and politically, have good work styles and high moral standards, are competent in discussing State affairs, and have made remarkable achievements in their work, the statement said.

Among the delegates are Party members in leadership positions and those from the grassroots, a considerable number of female Party members and those from ethnic minority groups.

They come from all walks of life, such as the economy, science, national defense, law enforcement, education, health, sports and culture.

The eligibility of these delegates will be verified by a special review committee before they attend the upcoming Congress.

On Sept 26, the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee said every effort has been made to ensure that the delegates elected to attend the CPC’s 20th National Congress are broadly representative, and that the delegates include a proportion of members from the grassroots.

In a statement, it said that among the 2,296 delegates, 771 — or 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.

In August, a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee adopted a decision to propose the convening of the 20th National Congress of the CPC in Beijing on Oct 16.

The proposal will be presented to the Seventh Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, which is to be convened on Oct 9 in Beijing.

The Congress, held every five years, is expected to map out the country’s development for the following years.

Contact the writers at xuwei@chinadaily.com.cn