China invites overseas journalists to cover CPC congress

A Chinese official has invited overseas media to cover the upcoming 19th Communist Party of China (CPC) National Congress.

Jiang Jianguo, head of the State Council Information Office, made the announcement Thursday during an informal meeting with representatives of overseas media outlets in Beijing.

The national congresses, normally held every five years, are major events for the CPC and China with increasing international influence, said Jiang.

The 70th anniversary of the CPC as the ruling party is in 2019 and the CPC's centenary is just four years away.

Jiang spoke about CPC Central Committee General Secretary Xi Jinping's speech at a workshop for provincial and ministerial officials last Wednesday. The workshop was held to lay the ideological, theoretical and political foundations for the 19th CPC National Congress, said Jiang.

"Xi has earned the utmost trust and respect from Party members and the Chinese people," said Jiang.

This year's congress is expected to seek solutions to a series of issues concerning the short-term and long-term development of the country, according to Jiang.

Attendees of the meeting include representatives of AFP, AP, Asahi Shimbun, Bloomberg, Kyodo, Reuters, TASS and the Wall Street Journal.