Chapter IV Local Organizations of the Party

Article 24. The Party congress of a province, autonomous region, municipality directly under the central government, city divided into districts, autonomous prefecture, county (banner), autonomous county, city not divided into districts, or municipal district is held once every five years.

Local Party congresses are convened by the Party committees at the corresponding levels. Under extraordinary circumstances, they may be held before or after their normally scheduled dates upon approval by the next higher Party committees.

The number of delegates to the local Party congresses at any level and the procedure governing their election are determined by the Party committees at the corresponding levels and should be reported to the next higher Party committees for approval.

Article 25. The functions and powers of the local Party congresses at all levels are as follows:

1) To hear and examine the reports of the Party committees at the corresponding levels;

2) To hear and examine the reports of the commissions for discipline inspection at the corresponding levels;

3) To discuss and adopt resolutions on major issues in the given areas; and

4) To elect the Party committees and commissions for discipline inspection at the corresponding levels.

Article 26. The Party committee of a province, autonomous region, municipality directly under the central government, city divided into districts, or autonomous prefecture is elected for a term of five years. The members and alternate members of such a committee must have a Party standing of five years or more.

The Party committee of a county (banner), autonomous county, city not divided into districts, or municipal district is elected for a term of five years. The members and alternate members of such a committee must have a Party standing of three years or more.

When local Party congresses at all levels are convened before or after their normally scheduled dates, the terms of the committees elected by the previous congresses shall be correspondingly shortened or extended.

The number of members and alternate members of the local Party committees at all levels shall be determined by the next higher committees. Vacancies on the local Party committees at all levels shall be filled by their alternate members in the order of the number of votes by which they were elected.

The local Party committees at all levels meet in plenary session at least twice a year.

The local Party committees at all levels shall, when the Party congresses of the given areas are not in session, carry out the directives of the next higher Party organizations and the resolutions of the Party congresses at the corresponding levels, direct work in their own areas and report on it to the next higher Party committees at regular intervals.

Article 27. The local Party committees at all levels elect, at their plenary sessions, their standing committees, secretaries and deputy secretaries and report the results to the higher Party committees for approval. The standing committees of the local Party committees at all levels exercise the functions and powers of local Party committees when the latter are not in session. They continue to handle the day-to-day work when the next Party congresses at their levels are in session, until the new standing committees are elected.

The standing committees of the local Party committees at all levels regularly report their work to plenary sessions of local Party committees and accept their oversight.

Article 28. A prefectural Party committee, or an organization analogous to it, is the representative organ dispatched by a provincial or an autonomous regional Party committee to a prefecture covering several counties, autonomous counties or cities. It exercises leadership over the work in the given prefecture as authorized by the provincial or autonomous regional Party committee.