China vows ‘zero tolerance’ for election meddling ahead of 21st party congress

China’s ruling Communist Party has warned of “zero tolerance” for bribery and other attempts at election interference as delegate selection begins for next year’s national congress, which is expected to feature a major leadership reshuffle.

The party’s 20th Central Committee issued guidelines on selecting the delegates, a process that would be overseen by its Organisation Department, state news agency Xinhua reported on Saturday.

The party congress, to be held in the second half of next year, will select a new Central Committee and is expected to feature a major reshuffle of China’s top political and military leadership.

The congress is expected to bring together 2,360 delegates, according to Xinhua. They will vote to elect more than 300 members of the Central Committee from a vetted slate of candidates.

The delegates will be elected by 38 electoral units across the country. The central leadership has instructed that political standards must be given top priority in the selection process, to ensure that those elected have a “reasonable composition, broad representation and the support of party members”.

“[We must] strictly vet candidates on political grounds, conduct thorough assessments of their political qualities, strengthen evaluations of their party spirit and focus on their political stance … Anyone deemed politically unqualified will be rejected outright,” according to Xinhua.

The party also called for candidates to be assessed on their commitment to the “Two Safeguards” – a party slogan referring to members’ obligation to uphold the core leadership of Xi Jinping and the authority of the Central Committee.

As in previous congresses, the party has set requirements for the composition of the delegation. It must include exemplary figures from the frontline workforce, a certain proportion of women and ethnic minority party members, as well as representatives from different sectors.

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The party also requires the election to be competitive, with the number of candidates exceeding the number of available seats by more than 15 per cent.

Issuing a stern warning over the conduct of the vote, the Central Committee said: “Supervision must be strengthened throughout the entire delegate election process, with zero tolerance for violations of regulations or the law.”

It also cited previous cases of vote-buying, canvassing and other attempts to disrupt elections, urging party organisations at all levels to use them as cautionary examples in educational campaigns.

While the delegates will represent more than 100 million party members nationwide, they are selected through internal recommendations and screening processes rather than the competitive ballots of Western democracies.

As seen in the 20th national congress in 2022, candidate pools are first drawn up by party organisation departments in each electoral unit. Those nominees then face thorough vetting by the local discipline and anti-corruption watchdogs.

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About six months before the congress, party committee members in each electoral unit vote on the list of candidates.

Each electoral unit then formally selects its delegates based on nominations from its subordinate party organisations and submits the names to the sitting Central Committee, where a credentials committee assesses them.

The final list of delegates is announced about a month before the congress.

The current selection process began on Saturday and was expected to be completed by the end of June next year, Xinhua said.

Meanwhile, multilevel elections are also under way across the country to form the next National People’s Congress – China’s top legislature. Due to take office in early 2028, the incoming NPC will confirm the state’s top leadership appointments after people’s congresses at various regional levels finish electing the national slate.

Xi and other Chinese leaders cast their votes on Friday in elections for deputies to district-level people’s congresses in Beijing. Former Chinese president Hu Jintao also cast his vote through a proxy, Xinhua reported.

Xi has cast ballots in elections for people’s congress deputies three times since assuming leadership in 2012. Such participation is standard practice among Chinese leaders and is intended to show support for the electoral process.