Floral decorations in Tian'anmen Square add color to today's opening of the Party Congress. - Xinhua

The upcoming 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China will elect a new Central Committee and a new Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, congress spokesman Li Dongsheng said yesterday.

He said a proposed list of candidates had been discussed and prepared by the Political Bureau of the 16th CPC Central Committee and would be submitted to the Presidium of the 17th Congress for deliberation and approval.

The list was based on the work of a special working committee under the leadership of the Political Bureau.

The agenda of the congress was decided yesterday afternoon at a preparatory meeting of the congress, Li said.

He said the main items of the agenda are:

To hear and examine the report submitted by the 16th CPC Central Committee;

To examine the report on the work of Central Commission for Discipline Inspection;

To deliberate and adopt the amendment to the Party Constitution;

To elect the Party's 17th Central Committee and Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

The congress, which opens today, will discuss and adopt an amendment to the Party Constitution to embody the "scientific outlook on development" and other major strategic thoughts advanced since 2002.

The Party Congress would also include in the Party Constitution the major theoretical viewpoints, strategic thoughts and work arrangements defined in the political report to be submitted to the once-every-five-years political event "so that the amended Constitution fully reflects the latest achievements in adapting Marxism to Chinese conditions and meets requirements arising from new situations and tasks for improving the Party's work and strengthening Party building," Li said.

Li also said 1,554 private entrepreneurs joined the CPC last year.

The structure of the Party membership had changed as society had changed. Technicians and private entrepreneurs, managers and engineers for foreign companies, the self-employed, professionals and those working with intermediary institutions have joined Party, he said.

"These people, together with workers, farmers, intellectuals, cadres and the enlisted, are also the builders of socialism with Chinese characteristics," Li said.

Facts proved that absorbing private entrepreneurs into the Party could help expand the mass foundation of the Party, facilitate the healthy development of non-public economy and Party building and elevating the vital force of the Party.

Established in 1921, the CPC has a membership of more than 73 million, about five percent of the population.

There are 38 delegations, made up of 2,213 delegates from all over the country, to the congress, which will chart the roadmap for China's development and decide the ruling Party's leadership lineup for the next five years.

Discussions of 34 delegations on the political report to be delivered by the Party's General Secretary Hu Jintao today will be open to more than 1,900 domestic and overseas journalists at designated periods, Li said.

He said journalists are welcome to listen to the discussions, which used to be inaccessible to media, and will be offered question and answer sessions, adding the move is part of the country's efforts to give overseas media broader information access during the Beijing Olympics next year.

Upon the conclusion of the congress on Sunday, the Party's 17th Central Committee and the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection will hold their first plenary sessions respectively to elect their new leading bodies, Li said.

Members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the new Central Committee of the CPC will meet Chinese and foreign reporters after the plenary session of the Central Committee, he said.