Chapter IV

Local Organizations of the Party

Article 24

A Party congress of a province, autonomous region, municipality directly under the Central Government, city divided into districts, or autonomous prefecture is held once every five years.

A Party congress of a county (banner), autonomous county, city not divided into districts, or municipal district is held once every three years.

Local Party congresses are convened by the Party committees at the corresponding levels. Under extraordinary circumstances, they may be held before or after their due dates upon approval by the next higher Party committees.

The number of delegates to the local Party congresses at any level and the procedure governing their election are determined by the Party committees at the corresponding levels and should be reported to the next higher Party committees for approval.

Article 25

The functions and powers of the local Party congresses at all levels are as follows:

(1) To hear and examine the reports of the Party committees at the corresponding levels;

(2) To hear and examine the reports of the commissions for discipline inspection at the corresponding levels;

(3) To discuss and decide on major issues in the given areas; and

(4) To elect the Party committees and commissions for discipline inspection at the corresponding levels and delegates to the Party congresses at their respective next higher levels.

The Party congress of a province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government elects the Party advisory committee at the corresponding level and hears and examines its reports.

Article 26

The Party committee of a province, autonomous region, municipality directly under the Central Government, city divided into districts, or autonomous prefecture is elected for a term of five years. The members and alternate members of such a committee must have a Party standing of five years or more.

The Party committee of a county (banner), autonomous county, city not divided into districts, or municipal district is elected for a term of three years. The members and alternate members of such a committee must have a Party standing of three years or more.

When local Party congresses at various levels are convened before or after their due dates, the terms of the committees elected by the previous congresses shall be correspondingly shortened or extended.

The number of members and alternate members of the local Party committees at various levels shall be determined by the next higher committees. Vacancies on the local Party committees at various levels shall be filled by their alternate members in the order of the number of votes by which they were elected.

The local Party committees at various levels meet in plenary session at least once a year.

Local Party committees at various levels shall, when the Party congresses of the given areas are not in session, carry out the directives of the next higher Party organizations and the decisions of the Party congresses at the corresponding levels, direct work in their own areas and report on it to the next higher Party committees at regular intervals.

Article 27

Local Party committees at various levels elect, at their plenary sessions, their standing committees, secretaries and deputy secretaries and report the results to the higher Party committees for approval. The standing committees at various levels exercise the powers and functions of local Party committees when the latter are not in session. They continue to handle the day-to-day work when the next Party congresses at their levels are in session, until the new standing committees are elected.

Article 28

The Party advisory committee of a province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government acts as political assistant and consultant to the Party committee at the corresponding level. It works under the leadership of the Party committee at the corresponding level and in the light of the relevant provisions of Article 22 of the present Constitution. The qualifications of its members shall be specified by the Party committee at the corresponding level in the light of the relevant provisions of Article 22 of the present Constitution and the actual conditions in the locality concerned. It serves a term of the same duration as the Party committee at the corresponding level.

The advisory committee of a province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government elects, at its plenary meeting, its standing committee and its chairman and vice-chairmen, and the results are subject to endorsement by the Party committee at the corresponding level and should be reported to the Central Committee for approval. Its members may attend plenary sessions of the Party committee at the corresponding level as non-voting participants, and its chairman and vice-chairmen may attend meetings of the standing committee of the Party committee at the corresponding level as non-voting participants.

Article 29

A prefectural Party committee, or an organization analogous to it, is the representative organ dispatched by a provincial or an autonomous regional Party committee to a prefecture embracing several counties, autonomous counties or cities. It exercises leadership over the work in the given region as authorized by the provincial or autonomous regional Party committee.