In the past two decades the National Congress of the CCP has been pivotal at least as a symbolic part of leadership changes, and therefore has gained international media attention.

The Congress formally approves the membership of the Central Committee, a body composed of the top decision-makers in the party, state, and society.

Each five-year cycle of the National People's Congress also has a series of plenums of the Central Committee which since the mid-1990s have been held more or less regularly once every year.

Hence the party congress is a time of a general personnel reshuffle, and the climax of negotiations that involve not only the top leadership but practically all significant political positions in China.

One of the major roles of the Presidium Standing Committee is to submit to the Party Congress Presidium a list of people who would chair the first plenary meeting of the newly elected Central Committee, thereby ensuring leadership continuity during the formal procedure that is used to elect the Politburo, the PSC and the General Secretary.

[5] At the opening of the meeting, the General Secretary delivers the "political report" (Chinese: 政治报告) of the incumbent Central Committee.

[6] The Congress formally approves the membership of the Central Committee, a body composed of the top decision-makers in the party, state, and society.