China's ruling Communist Party has begun the process of electing delegates to its 21st National Congress, the gathering that will set the party's leadership for the next five years.

The party's Central Committee issued a circular setting out arrangements for the election, and the process began on Saturday 7 November, according to an official statement. A total of 2,360 delegates will be elected by 38 electoral units across the country, with the work scheduled to conclude before the end of June 2027.

The road to the 2027 congress

The 21st National Congress itself will be held in Beijing in the second half of 2027, a decision taken by the 20th Central Committee at its fifth plenary session in late October. The congress is the party's highest decision-making body and is expected to bring a significant reshuffle of its top leadership.

The Organisation Department of the Central Committee has made detailed arrangements for the election, covering nomination, scrutiny and balloting across the electoral units. General Secretary Xi Jinping convened meetings of the Politburo Standing Committee and the Politburo to study the arrangements and set out the requirements for the work.

Zero tolerance for interference

The party has also warned of zero tolerance for bribery and other attempts to interfere with the delegate elections. The warning came in guidelines issued alongside the circular, with the Organisation Department overseeing the process. Delegate selection is usually the first visible stage of the lengthy internal process that determines who advances into senior positions, and the coming months of elections will offer the earliest clues about the shape of the leadership that emerges at the congress.

[Source: en.people.cn](http://en.people.cn/n3/2026/1107/c90000-20516765.html) | [Source: dimsumdaily.hk](https://www.dimsumdaily.hk/communist-party-of-china-21st-congress-delegate-election-begins-with-2360-seats/)