BEIJING - The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) announced on Tuesday the start of the election of delegates attending the Party's 18th National Congress to be held in 2012.

A total of 2,270 delegates will be elected by 40 electoral units across the country. The election will be completed by June 2012, according to a statement from the CPC Central Committee.

The statement said the number of candidates should be at least 15 percent greater than the number of available posts. The delegates should be the best representatives of CPC members and from all walks of society.

They should be made up of leaders, cadres and Party members from the grassroots level, it said.

The quota of grass-roots delegates will be increased and there will be more workers, farmers and professionals among them.

The proportion of women delegates will be higher than at the previous Party congress and those from ethnic groups will take up a proper proportion, it added.

The CPC now has more than 80 million members across the country, up from 70 million five years ago.

The statement noted that the election must strictly follow the Party constitution and embody the principles of democratic centralism.

The candidates can be nominated through voting or other methods agreed by the majority of local party committees and members, and the name list must be published to solicit opinions from party members and the public, especially the discipline agencies.

In terms of the nomination of candidates from businesses and financial institutions, the regulatory agencies of the industries in question must be consulted, the statement said.

CPC committees of all levels are asked to supervise the election, the statement said.

The 17th Central Committee of the CPC decided at its sixth plenary session in October that the Party's 18th National Congress would be held in Beijing in the second half of 2012. The congress typically convenes once every five years.