The 16th CPC National Congress elected a new central committee, achieving a smooth succession of the Party's central leadership by bringing in a group of spirited and capable leading officials.

On November 14, 2002, 2,132 delegates to the congress voted for the 16th CPC Central Committee composed of 198 members and 158 alternate members through secret multi-candidate ballot. They also elected a new Central Commission for Discipline Inspection comprising 121 members.

The First Plenum of the 16th CPC Central Committee was held on November 15. The plenum elected members and alternates of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and general secretary of the CPC Central Committee.

Based on the nomination of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, it approved members of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, members of the Central Military Commission, and secretary, deputy secretaries and Standing Committee members of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection elected at the commission's first plenum.

General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee: Hu Jintao

Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee

Standing Committee Members: Hu Jintao, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Zeng Qinghong, Huang Ju, Wu Guanzheng, Li Changchun and Luo Gan

Members (listed in the order of number of strokes in their surnames): Wang Lequan, Wang Zhaoguo, Hui Liangyu (Hui), Liu Qi, Liu Yunshan, Li Changchun, Wu Yi (female), Wu Bangguo, Wu Guanzheng, Zhang Lichang, Zhang Dejiang, Chen Liangyu, Luo Gan, Zhou Yongkang, Hu Jintao, Yu Zhengsheng, He Guoqiang, Jia Qinglin, Guo Boxiong, Huang Ju, Cao Gangchuan, Zeng Qinghong, Zeng Peiyan and Wen Jiabao

Alternate member: Wang Gang

Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee

Members: Zeng Qinghong, Liu Yunshan, Zhou Yongkang, He Guoqiang, Wang Gang, Xu Caihou and He Yong

CPC Central Military Commission

Chairman: Jiang Zemin

Vice Chairmen: Hu Jintao, Guo Boxiong and Cao Gangchuan

Members: Xu Caihou, Liang Guanglie, Liao Xilong and Li Jinai

Central Commission for Discipline Inspection

Secretary: Wu Guanzheng

Deputy Secretaries: He Yong, Xia Zanzhong, Li Zhilun, Zhang Shutian, Liu Xirong, Zhang Huixin and Liu Fengyan

Standing Committee Members: Gan Yisheng, Ma Wen (female), Ma Zhipeng, Wang Zhenchuan, Liu Fengyan, Liu Jiayi, Liu Xirong, Li Zhilun, Wu Guanzheng, Wu Yuping (female), He Yong, Shen Deyong, Zhang Shutian, Zhang Huixin, Zhao Hongzhu, Xia Zanzhong, Huang Shuxian and Xie Houquan

Composition of the CPC Central Committee

Beyond Party and state leaders, members and alternates of the new CPC Central Committee come from central Party and state leading organs, central financial institutions, key state-owned enterprises, provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities throughout the country and the military. The mainstay is ministerial- and provincial-level leading officials and those of major military area commands. There are also leaders of prefectures, cities and army-level military units as well as elites in various fields. Among them are 27 women and 35 people of ethnic minorities. All members and alternates of the 16th CPC Central Committee began working after the founding of the PRC in 1949, including some who began their working career after the initiation of the reform and opening up policies in the late 1970s. Their average age is 55.4 years, with those under 50 years accounting for one-fifth. People with education at and above junior college level make up 98.6 percent of the total.