Officials of the Communist Party of China (CPC) are making last-minute touches to preparations for the party's 19th national congress that opens in the Great Hall of the People in the Chinese capital, Beijing on October 18, 2017.
Party delegates, media accreditation
Some 2,287 delegates are expected at the gathering that holds after five years to select new top party officials and lay the framework for the country's development in the following five years and beyond. Given the importance of the congress, 1,800 foreign journalists and thousands more from China have been accredited for coverage.
New Beijing airport project
After touring Zhejiang province last week to see the achievements of the CPC in recent years, some 27 African journalists on Monday October 16, 2017 visited the Beijing New Airport under construction in its southern suburbs in Daxing District, which borders Hebei province. The bird view distance of the new airport is 46 km from Tian'anmen Square in central Beijing. The African journalists were joined by other foreign and Chinese colleagues. Later on in the afternoon of Monday, a reception was held for all journalists to cover the party congress.
Construction of the new Beijing airport underway. File Photo: Xinhua
Able to handle 100 million passengers annually and costing over 400 billion RMB (including expressways, subway lines and high-speed rail, hotel, restaurants, etc), the new airport project began in December 2014 and is due delivery by October 2019. Construction of the airport with six runways is being undertaken by three companies and between 15,000 and 20,000 workers, a source at the site said.
New CPC 18th Central Committee members
Meanwhile, 11 new full members were admitted to the 18th CPC Central Committee. They are Cui Bo, Shu Xiaoqin, Ma Shunqing, Wang Jianjun, Li Qiang, Chen Wu, Chen Mingming, Zhao Lixiong, Zhao Shucong, Duan Chunhua and Losang Jamcan. They were previously alternate members of the 18th CPC Central Committee, a communique said. The Seventh Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee held in Beijing from October 11-14, 2017, with 191 members and 141 alternate members present.
Party constitution review
Also at the level of the CPC, much has been happening. An amendment to its constitution was passed at the Seventh Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee that ended in Beijing on Saturday, October 14, 2017. The document will be submitted to the 19th CPC National Congress for review.
The CPC, with more than 89 million members, is not only the largest political party in the world and in history, but also the ruling party in the largest developing country with nearly one-fifth of the world population. The all-important meeting provides the CPC an opportunity to explicitly declare its policies and the path it will take in the next five years before the next congress and even beyond.
As the world’s second-largest economy and contributor to some 30 per cent of global economic growth since 2008, decisions from the congress are eagerly awaited by the international community.
Media centre prepares
The Media Center for the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) officially opened on Oct. 11.
The 19th CPC National Congress Media Centre based in the Beijing Media Centre Hotel officially opened to foreign journalists on October 11, 2017. The centre has been improved in terms of equipment and services, Hu Xiaohan, the director said. The work space has been expanded to accommodate more journalists than the 18th CPC National Congress. Media communication areas have been increased from two to four and Internet broadband has been boosted from 100 Mbps to 1000 Mbps; while Internet access ports have increased from 36 to 218. Free WiFi covers all service areas, offices and the press room.
Congress information
The website 19th.cpcnews.cn and the WeChat account, cpcnews19th, will provide journalists and members of the public with the congress agenda, latest news, announcements and background information on past national congresses in both Chinese and English. Journalists can also inquire about services provided by the media center via the WeChat account.
Kimeng Hilton Ndukong, a contributor to People’s Daily Online, is Sub-Editor for World News with Cameroon Tribune bilingual daily newspaper in Cameroon. He is currently a 2017 China-Africa Press Centre, CAPC fellow.
