March 30, 2012
Translated by Chunling Song

China has for the first time published lists of the provisional candidates that might stand for election to the Communist Party's National Congress.

According to a report in today's Nanfang Daily, in preparation for the forming of the CPC's 18th National Congress in the second half of this year, a list of candidates who may represent provincial-level party bodies in the new national congress have been published in Guangdong, Beijing, Hubei, Guizhou and Hainan.

According to an official plan announced last year, public notices naming the provisional candidates for other provinces will also be released in the near future.

According to the Nanfang Daily, this is the first time that such a list of candidates has been published.

The Party elects a new National Congress every five years.

According to an official notice released by the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the CPC last October, deputies of the 18th CPC National Congress will be elected through five steps: nomination and recommendation, investigation and inspection, publication of the list of potential candidates, confirmation of candidates and selection of deputies.

The final step should be decided in an election in which there are at least 15 percent more candidates than there are delegates to be selected.

Compared with the 17th Party Congress, the number of deputies will increase by about 50 this cycle.

Links and Sources
Nanfang Daily (南方日报): 我国首次公示党代表候选人初步人选
Southcn.com: List of provisional candidates for Guangdong Province
Xinhua News Agency: 《关于党的十八大代表选举工作的通知》