16th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party

16th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party

The flag of the Chinese Communist Party
Date	8–14 November 2002 (6 days)
Location	Great Hall of the People, Beijing, China
Participants	2,114 delegates
Outcome	Election of the 16th Central Committee and 16th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection

The 16th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was held in Beijing between November 8 and 14, 2002. It was preceded by the 15th National Congress and was succeeded by the 17th National Congress. 2,114 delegates and 40 specially invited delegates represented the party's estimated 66 million members.

The Party National Congress examined and adopted the amendment to the Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party proposed by the 15th CCP Central Committee, and decided to come into force as from the date of its adoption. An amendment to the Constitution was approved the Party National Congress, with Jiang Zemin's signature ideology of "Three Represents" written into it. The Congress and elected a 356-member 16th CCP Central Committee, as well as a 121-member Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI). The Congress marked the nominal transition of power between Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, who replaced Jiang as General Secretary, and a newly expanded Politburo Standing Committee line-up. The institutional transition would be completed in state organs by the 1st session of the 10th National People's Congress in March 2003. Jiang, however, remained head of the Central Military Commission, therefore in practice, the power transition was not complete.