The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) will be held in Beijing on Nov. 8, 2012. It has been one decade since the formation of China's current central group of leaders led by Hu Jintao.

Before this meeting of utmost importance to China, and the world, takes place, what should the Party representatives prepare themselves for? What does the conference's agenda look like? How is the election conducted?

Following below are the answers to the abovementioned questions, based on the findings of reviewing reports on past Party congresses.

Party spirit education

The 18th CPC National Congress features 40 representative groups. After the names of individual delegates to attend the congress were released, each group begins basic level training for those grassroots delegates.

For example, at the training on Sep. 17 for the group comprising delegates from offices directly under the CPC Central Committee, the training contents include a lecture on the Constitution and other regulations of the CPC, and a Party spirit educational event where the trainees watched a live program in which the grandsons of two revolutionary martyrs appeared to tell the heroic stories of their grandfather and grandmother. The training lasted one whole day.

Contribution to local development

China currently has over 2,800 county-level administrations throughout the country. Yet the number of Party delegates to the national congress is limited. A total of 2,270 Party members can attend the coming 18th CPC Congress – less than one representative for each county. Being Party representative of a county is considered a great honor.

Hu Anmei, headmaster of Taoyuangou Primary School in Hubei Province, acted as Party representative during the previous two Party congresses. As a Party representative, Hu seized the opportunity to do something worthwhile for local development. According to her diary published on the local Shiyan Evening News, She once brought four project proposals of her county to Beijing and reported to the then governor of Hubei in person. The governor signed off on two of them on the spot.