Party Congress: opening and menu set
The meeting will start at 9 am on 18 October in a ceremony televised live. Delegates will have a buffet with eight hot dishes and eight cold dishes, as well as rice, bread and noodles; no sea cucumbers or prawns this time in accordance with the frugality preached by Xi Jinping.
Beijing (AsiaNews) – The 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party is set to start at 9 am on Wednesday, 18 October, with an opening ceremony in the Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square. The ceremony will be broadcast live on national television.
In making the announcement, Xinhua noted that 2,287 delegates from across the country will attend the event, which is held every five years. Delegates began arriving yesterday in the capital by air, train, and bus (pictured).
As recently noted, the Congress will focus on three topics, two reports and one amendment to the Congress.
The first report will review the Party's work over the past five years and map out what the Party and the country need to do in the next five years and beyond. Submitted by the Commission Central for Discipline Inspection, the second report will focus on the fight against corruption. The amendment will include Xi Jinping's ideas in the party’s constitution.
Yesterday’s announcement included the food delegates will enjoy. Special treats such as sea cucumbers and prawns are off the menu. Each buffet will include eight hot dishes and eight cold dishes, as well as rice, bread and noodles.
Wang Lilian, an official from a works committee under the party’s powerful Central Committee, presented the no frills list of food.
Culinary frugality follows the line set by Party Secretary Xi Jinping who, after taking over, called on party members to avoid splashy spending, banquets, and extravagances so as not to worsen the sentiments of a population frustrated by party members enriching themselves in a country with tens of millions of poor people.
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