The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China has released the circular that starts the election of delegates to the party’s 21st national congress, Xinhua reported on Saturday. A total of 2,360 delegates will be elected by 38 electoral units across the country, 60 more than for the previous congress, according to Bloomberg’s report of the same statement, and the election runs from now until the end of June 2027.
The congress itself will be convened in Beijing in the second half of 2027, a timing the 20th Central Committee settled at its fifth plenary session in late October. The party presents it as a pivotal meeting, held as China works toward basically realising socialist modernisation and the second centenary goal, and the delegate election is described in the statement as laying the foundation for the congress’s success.
The rules stress selection over contest. Candidates must exceed the number of seats by more than 15 percent, and the statement urges putting political standards first, with strict eligibility criteria, rigorous procedures and strict scrutiny of candidates’ political stance, integrity and conduct, alongside zero tolerance for violations of electoral discipline. Xi Jinping convened meetings of the Politburo Standing Committee and the Politburo to study the delegate work and set its overall requirements, the statement said.
Composition is prescribed as well as loyalty. Front line workers should account for an appropriate proportion of delegates, model workers, farmers and professionals should be recommended, and women and ethnic minority party members should each make up a set proportion. Delegates are to come from across the economy, science and technology, national defence, law enforcement and justice, education, health and social administration, and, a newer category, workers in new forms of employment.