At least eight percent of nominees have been eliminated in the primary elections of members and alternate members of the 17th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and members of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

The 17th CPC National Congress elected Sunday 204 members and 167 alternate members of the CPC Central Committee, which will make key decisions in the coming five years. The congress also elected 127 members of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

The margins were bigger than those at the 16th CPC National Congress in 2002, indicating a sign of progress of intra-Party democracy. It was the fifth time that competitive election was used at the CPC congresses.

The nominees for primary elections were 8.3 percent more than the elected members of the CPC Central Committee, 9.6 percent more than the elected alternate members, 8.7 percent more than the elected members of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

The elimination margins at the 16th CPC National Congress five years ago were roughly five percent.

A total of 183 elected members and alternate members of the new central committee are new comers, accounting for 49.3 percent of the decision-making body. New comers to the 127-members Central Commission for Discipline Inspection are even more, with 79.5 percent in the whole body.

Seventy-five out of the CPC Central Committee are under 50 years old, with 22 younger than 45 years. A total of 37 are females and 40 are from ethnic minorities. About 92.2 percent received at least university degrees. The Central Committee also group nine academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

(Xinhua News Agency October 21, 2007)