More than 2,100 delegates to the week-long Party Congress elected a 356-member new Party Central Committee, as well as a 121-member Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), at the closing session Thursday morning. This was hailed as a successful transition of the Party's central leadership from the old to the new.

While Thursday's election lasted for just around two hours, it had taken one year and a half for the Party to prepare for the election, especially for selecting and deciding on candidates, said an official involved in the work.

"As early as March, 2001, Party General Secretary Jiang Zemin had convened meetings of the Politburo and Politburo Standing Committee in the central government compound of Zhongnanhai, to discuss personnel arrangements for the 16th Party Congress and set down guidelines and basic principles," he said.

According to these guidelines and principles, those qualified for membership of the new Party central committee and the CCDI must be loyal to Marxism, have a steadfast faith in Communism and socialism with Chinese characteristics, always adhere to Deng Xiaoping Theory and the Party's basic line and fundamental creeds, voluntarily maintain a high-degree of uniformity with the Party central committee with Jiang Zemin at the core, and play an exemplary role in implementing the important thought of Three Represents.

Qualified candidates should also be highly competent and responsible in work, and have a high moral standard and a good reputation both within and without the Party.

Top Party leaders also required that the new Party central committee should have a reasonable age structure, with cadres younger than 50 accounting for at least one fifth of the total number of committee members, sources said.

"We must do a good job of ushering in a new leadership to replace the old," Party General Secretary Jiang once said. "Only after having fostered successors who can make the Party and people feel at ease, can we say we have completed our historical mission."

In May of 2001, the work of selecting and examining candidates for the new Party central leadership formally started, with the Party Central Committee sending out 46 inspection teams to 98 central Party and government departments, 11 financial institutions under central administration, 23 leading state-owned enterprises, and all the 31 provinces, autonomous regions and centrally administered municipalities.

The Central Military Commission also dispatched five inspection teams to various Military Area Commands of the People's Liberation Army and equivalent units of the armed police force for candidates selection.

Candidates selection covered a fairly wide range, and as many as 30,200 Party cadres ranking above the county magistrate or county Party secretary level were recommended as initial candidates through a democratic process, sources said.

The central inspection teams then started strict examination of their qualifications. Apart from reading and verifying written recommendation materials, the inspection teams also arranged one-to-one interviews with more than 19,200 individual Party members to hear their opinion on those candidates.

After more than 10 months of hard work, the inspection teams submitted a list of 462 candidates for the new central committee and 179 candidates for the CCDI to the Party Central Committee. During this period, Party General Secretary Jiang also convened 12 Politburo Standing Committee meetings to hear reports from the inspection teams and give timely instructions, sources said.

It was on the 31st of last month that the Politburo Standing Committee, after overall considerations and in view of practical need for work, proposed a final candidates list. The list was further discussed and approved at a plenary session of the Politburo on November 1 before being submitted to the 16th Party Congress for deliberations.

The list included 208 candidates for full membership of the central committee, 167 candidates for alternate membership of the central committee and 128 candidates for membership of the CCDI.

As the election was a multi-candidate competition, the numbers of candidates on the list were respectively 10, 9 and 7 more than the actual seats on offer, sources said.

"This is a well thought-out plan and I support it," said one Party Congress delegate before casting his vote.

"The candidates on this list are better educated, younger and more energetic, and also enjoy public support," said another delegate. "I think their entry will instill fresh blood into the Party central committee and help guarantee the continuation and greater success of our Party's cause."

When the election result was announced, thunderous applause burst out in the Great Hall of the People as delegates welcomed the formation of a new and trustworthy Party central leadership.

(Xinhua News Agency November 15, 2002)