Petri Saraste, a reporter from Finland, plans to interview a CPC member from ethnic minorities at the Congress. He wants to hear a voice from China's grassroots about the country's development as well as the challenges it faces.

The senior Asia correspondent with Finnish private broadcaster MTV3 also desires to cover news stories about China's environment and food safety issues.

"The rising number of reporters shows the significance of this meeting and the world's growing interest in China," according to Saraste.

The media center for the Congress started operation on Nov 1. It will arrange coverage for activities related to the event and provide necessary information and technical services.

Compared with the previous Congress, the scope of coverage will be expanded and more interviews will be arranged in the media center, Zhu Shouchen, the center's deputy director, said.

"They will be quite busy," Zhu said of reporters covering the event.

On Thursday, the center also launched its official website (www.cpcnews.cn) to offer journalists and readers the Congress agenda, the latest news on the event, announcements and background information on past CPC national congresses in both Chinese and English.

The center's photo service room will also provide free photos to both domestic and overseas press.