By 17:00 Wednesday afternoon, a total of 1,375 Chinese and foreign reporters had applied to cover the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) slated to open on Friday.
Among the reporters, 170 are from Hong Kong, eight from Macao, 85 from Taiwan and 540 from foreign countries.
This was announced by Xu Xinhua, director of the press center for the congress, at a reception held for reporters Wednesday evening.
Xu extended his warm welcome to reporters coming to report the Congress.
Hailing the upcoming CPC national congress as the first in the new century, Xu said, it is of far-reaching significance and has drawn great attention from Chinese and foreign media organizations.
The press center, located in the Beijing Media Hotel, will assist reporters in their reporting activities, he said.
More than 500 Chinese and foreign reporters attended the reception.
(Xinhua News Agency November 6, 2002)
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