Skip to main content
World
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ON TV
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Agenda for the 16th CCP Congress

Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao
Vice-President Hu Jintao (R) is expected to succeed Jiang Zemin (L) as party chief

   Story Tools

SPECIAL REPORT
• Factfile: NPC key agenda
• Profile: Who is Hu Jintao?
• Profile: Jiang Zemin's legacy
• Special report: New leaders
QUICKVOTE
Will you be sad to see China's leader Jiang Zemin go, when he retires?

Yes
No
VIEW RESULTS

(CNN) -- Every five years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) convenes a congress to pick a new leadership corps, which consists of the Central Committee, Politburo, Politburo Standing Committee, and the General Secretary -- the country's de facto supremo.

Other top organs such as the Central Military Commission as well as the anti-graft watchdog, the Central Commission for Disciplinary Inspection (CCDI), will also be elected either directly or indirectly by the 2000-odd delegates.

The changing of the guard has added significance this year because of the wholesale retirement of the so-called Third Generation, or cadres in their early 70s. The baton will be passed to the Fourth Generation -- cadres in their late 50s to early 60s -- headed by Vice-President Hu Jintao, who is expected to succeed Jiang Zemin as party chief.

Also top on the agenda of the Congress will be the revision of the CCP constitution to allow members of the "new classes," basically private businessmen, to be enrolled as party members.

Jiang's "Theory of the Three Represents" (that the party must represent the foremost productivity, the most advanced culture and the interests of the masses) will be enshrined in the charter as a guiding principle of the party and the nation.

At the same time, the direction of the CCP over the coming decade or more will be spelled out by Jiang in his farewell Political Report to the week-long congress.

Jiang, 76, is expected to sum up the party's achievement since 1989, when he became party boss.

The president will likely say the economy has gone through unprecedentedly robust growth in the past decade -- and that China is poised to reach the level of "a medium-ranked developed country" by the middle of the century.

The outgoing patriarch will also lay out a limited vision for political reform in the rest of the decade.

This will include "inner party democracy" or the promotion of transparency and more consultation in high-level decision-making.

In addition, the CCDI will table a report at the congress underscoring the party's determination to crack down on corruption, seen as one of the country's most intractable problems.



Story Tools

Top Stories
Iran poll to go to run-off
Top Stories
EU 'crisis' after summit failure
 
 
 
 
  SEARCH CNN.COM:
© 2004 Cable News Network LP, LLLP.
A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us.
external link
All external sites will open in a new browser.
CNN.com does not endorse external sites.