The 17th National Congress of the CPC

The 17th National Congress of the CPC——中共十七大

On October 15-21, 2007， the 17th National Congress of the CPC was held in Beijing.

2,213 full delegates and 57 special delegates attended, representing more than 73 million Party members nationwide. On behalf of the 16^th Central Committee, Hu Jintao delivered a Great Banner of Socialism with speech titled “Hold High the

Chinese Characteristics and Strive for New Victories in Building a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects”.

The congress summed up work in the previous five years and the valuable experience since reform and opening up; emphasized the need to hold high the banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and adhere to the Chinese-style socialist toad and theoretical system;  comprehensively stated the contents, essence and fundamental requirements of the Scientific Outlook on Development; and further enriched the goals of the Party and the country by 2020, proposing the new goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and making comprehensive arrangements for economic, political, cultural and social construction in accordance with the overall configuration of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

The Congress adopted the Constitution of the Communist Party of China (Amendment), and the Scientific Outlook on Development as an important guiding principle for China's economic and social development and one of the major strategic thoughts China must follow in developing Socialism with Chinese characteristics was written into the Constitution.

The congress elected the Central Committee consisting of 204 members and 167 alternate members, and the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection consisting of 127 members was elected. The following First Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee elected the Political Bureau and its Standing Committee; Hu Jintao was elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and made chairman of the Central Military Commission, and He Guoqiang was approved to be secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

The 17th CPC National Congress was held at a crucial stage of Chinas reform and development. It was an important congress to hold high the banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, continue advancing refotm and opening up and socialist modernization, and achieve the grand goal of building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round manner.