Chen joined the Party prior to the opening of the 2000 Olympic Games, when she was just 23 years old.

It is easy for ordinary people to understand that Olympic medalists and other honor winners become deputies to the Party national congress. But they, like others, have to go through the required democratic electoral procedures, and are not just recommended as a deputy.

All 64 deputies to the 16th CPC National Congress from Guangdong Province were elected through secret ballots conducted at the Ninth CPC Guangdong Provincial Congress, attended by 863 deputies on May 23.

Electoral proceedings began at 9:20 a.m. and ended at 9:32 a.m. Counting was then done by computer. At 10 a.m., the result was reported to the presidium by an election supervisor, and then announced at the congress. Chen Xiaomin was among the elected deputies.

Selecting deputies to the Party national congress was one of the important parts of the provincial Party congress, during which, candidates were repeatedly discussed. Before the formal election, a multi-candidate election was conducted to choose formal candidates.

Since its first introduction at the 13th CPC National Congress 10 years ago, the competitive approach has been used in the election of deputies to the Party national congress and members of the CPC Central Committee. It has now been included in the Party Constitution as a principle.

Deputies to the 16th CPC National Congress, as required by the CPC Central Committee, must be outstanding Party members. Specifically, they should have fine moral characters, be fair, upright, clean and honest; keep close connections with the masses and win support from them; have a strong ability to handle affairs and be able to convey people's opinions and suggestions.

Another requirement for deputies is their wide representative nature. Both Party leaders at different levels and average Party members who worked at grassroots posts should be included.

Stipulations by the CPC Central Committee indicate that deputies to the 16th CPC National Congress from Party leaders above county level should not exceed 75 percent, and average Party members should not be less than 25 percent. The proportion of female and minority ethnic deputies should be respectively higher than the proportion of them to total Party members of their localities. No less than 50 percent of deputies should be under 55 years of age.

An official from the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee noted that the composition was made based on experiences of the 14th and 15th Party congresses and combined with present situation and realities.

While paying attention to the proportion of the deputies, related department also considered their distribution, with a view to make it more reasonable, and trying to cover all fields including economy, science an technology, law, publicity, education, culture, health and sport.

Principle of Democratic Centralism

As a fundamental organizational principle, democratic centralism is the tradition of the Party's political life and characteristics of inner Party democracy. Since its founding 81 years ago, the CPC has consistently upheld this principle and brought it into full play in making major decisions during the Chinese revolution and economic construction.

In 2001, the CPC Central Committee issued a circular on the election of deputies to the Party national congress, with details of deputies' unit and qualifications, and procedures of elections, as well as distribution of the quotas. It stressed democracy and democratic centralism, and the respect and guarantee of voters' democratic rights.

Following this requirement, Guangdong Province started its candidate electoral work in December 2001. Some 3.02 million Party members in 159,000 grassroots Party organizations were involved in the discussion, recommendation and nomination work, accounting for 96.5 percent and 98.1 percent of the total respectively, an all-time high.

Democratic centralism has played an important role since the beginning of the recommendation work in Guangdong. Discussions were held on many occasions during the course of elections, to pool the opinions of the majority. During this time, candidates' political quality and moral characters have been given full consideration. The Party principle on deputy election has been followed in real earnest.

To pool the opinions of the majority, Party organizations sent publicity materials related to deputy elections to units and local Party members working in other provinces. Phone calls were also made for the same purpose. Visits were paid to elderly and sick Party members who were not able to participate in Party branch meetings.

For the Chinese people, the 16th CPC National Congress is closely related with their future. The congress will examine and approve reports delivered by the 15th CPC Central Committee and the 15th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and discuss major issues concerning the state's political, economic and social development and the Party construction for the coming five years and even longer. It will elect a new CPC Central Committee and a new CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. All these will exert a significant influence on China's future development.

Deputies to the congress shoulder a glorious mission and enjoy a lofty honor. Those who voted for Weightlifter Chen Xiaomin think she is a model for Party members and believe she will prove to be a qualified deputy to the Party national congress.

Other provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, state organs and departments directly under the CPC Central Committee, the Chinese People's Liberation Army and armed police forces also accomplished the election of deputies to the 16th CPC National Congress through a democratic way.

Deputies From Non-Public Sectors To Make Debut

Eight of the 800 deputies attending the Ninth CPC Guangdong Provincial Congress are from non-public enterprises, three from Sino-foreign joint ventures, seven from shareholding companies, one immigrant worker from other province, and one post-doctorate researcher. This unprecedented composition has attracted wide public attention.

While addressing the founding of the 80th anniversary of the CPC, General Secretary Jiang Zemin noted two standards. One is to judge whether a person is politically advanced or backward will no longer be based on their property, and other is that private entrepreneurs are also builders of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and they can also join the CPC, as long as they meet requirements.

An article on the People's Daily commented that the comprising of deputies to the Ninth CPC Guangdong Provincial Congress is "realistically significant and has profound influence, demonstrating democracy and creative spirit."

Deputy to the Ninth CPC Guangdong Provincial Congress, Li Shuming, is a street cleaner aged 35 years who came to Guangdong in 1984. She won many honorary titles such as "Guangzhou's Top 10 Model Immigrant Youth," "China's Top 10 Model Immigrant Young Workers" and "Model Worker" of the country, Guangdong Province and Guangzhou City. Talking about the fact that she attended the meeting, she said it is an opportunity given by the Party and the people to immigrant Party members to voice their desires.

Another deputy, Liu Shaoxi, is CEO of a private enterprise, which boasts 2-billion-yuan worth fixed assets and a workforce of 2,000. In 1993, he took the lead to set up a Party branch among other private enterprises.

Li Rongqiang serves as chief engineer at the Shenzhen Exploration Institute. He said, "The congress is more democratic, with deputies coming from all circles and possessing higher academic attainments and qualifications.

(Beijing Review September 4, 2002)