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China’s Communist Party says all delegates elected for next month’s key Congress under guidelines set by President Xi

The countdown for next month’s key Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) began as the ruling party announced that all delegates totalling nearly 2,300 were “elected” for the once-in-a-five year meeting in which President Xi Jinping is widely expected to get endorsed for a record third term.

As many as 2,296 delegates were “elected” to attend the upcoming 20th National Congress of the CPC to be held on October 16, official media reported, citing a statement by the party in Beijing.

Scotching rumours and speculation over tensions within the ruling party over Xi’s continuation for an unprecedented third term, the statement said that the delegates were elected “under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era,” and in accordance with the Party’s Constitution, adopting methods required by the CPC Central Committee.

Xi, 69, himself was “elected” as a delegate to the Congress in April this year, according to the party’s earlier announcement.

Among the delegates are party members both in leadership positions and working on the frontline, a considerable number of female Party members and those from ethnic minority groups, as well as those from various sectors including the economy, science and technology, national defence, judicial, procuratorial and public security sectors, education, publicity, culture, health care, sports and social administration, it said.

The Congress, in which Mr. Xi is expected to get endorsed for an unprecedented third term, is being held amid a big purge of top security officials stated to be part of a “political clique” opposed to the Chinese President.

Also, three security officials were sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve this week for corruption, raising eyebrows about the sudden surge of punishments ahead of the Congress.

The CPC holds a Congress every five years but the upcoming Congress is regarded as significant, as it is a leadership change year for the century-old party.

Xi, heading the party, the military and Presidency, is due to complete his 10-year tenure. As per the norm widely followed since the death of party founder Mao Zedong in 1976, all predecessors of Xi strictly followed a 10-year tenure keeping up with the directive of Mao’s successor Deng Xiaoping.