BEIJING - The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) will open Thursday, Nov 8?and last seven days till Nov 14, a spokesman for the congress said on Wednesday.

The five-yearly event will open at 9:00 a.m. Thursday at the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing, said spokesman Cai Mingzhao at a press conference Wednesday afternoon.

A preparatory meeting of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) appointed Xi Jinping as secretary-general of the five-yearly event, Cai said.

Cai said the agenda for the CPC national congress were decided at the preparatory meeting Wednesday afternoon. The agenda are as follows:

-- To hear and examine the report submitted by the 17th CPC Central Committee;

-- To examine the report on the work of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection;

-- To deliberate and adopt the amendment to the CPC Constitution;

-- To elect the Party's 18th Central Committee and Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Hu Jintao presided over the preparatory meeting at the Great Hall of the People, which was attended by 2,280 Party delegates and specially invited delegates.

There are a total of 2,325 delegates and specially invited delegates to the 18th Party congress.

A 22-member delegate credentials committee was approved at the meeting. A presidium of the congress consisting of 247 members was also approved.

Those attending the meeting also approved the organizational setup and tasks of the secretariat of the congress.

The presidium of the congress had its first meeting on Wednesday afternoon. Hu Jintao was present and delivered a speech.

Presided over by Xi Jinping, secretary-general of the congress, the meeting approved a list of the presidium's 41-member Standing Committee including Hu Jintao.

Afterwards, presided over by Hu Jintao, the meeting went through some specific items on the agenda. Liu Yunshan, Li Yuanchao and Li Zhanshu were approved as deputy secretaries-general of the congress.

The meeting then approved a report on the examination of delegates' qualification by the credentials committee.

According to the report, 2,270 delegates were elected from various electoral units across the country and the list had been published with the approval of the CPC Central Committee. After examination, their qualifications were all valid. Of them, two died of illness after the list was published. The actual number of delegates now is 2,268.

The election work began in October last year and was finished in July this year, the report said, noting that almost all primary CPC organizations and up to 98 percent of Party members took part in the election.

The delegates elected are ideologically advanced and highly representative, the report said.

The report said that in light of the practice of the 17th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee specially invited 57 delegates to attend the 18th Party Congress and they would enjoy equal rights as elected delegates.

A draft electoral method of the 18th CPC National Congress was approved at the meeting and was handed over to each delegation for deliberations.

Items concerning attendance of non-voting participants and guests at the congress were also approved at the meeting.

The CPC Central Committee decided to invite relevant leading Party officials and a group of non-Communist figures to attend the congress as non-voting participants.

The non-voting participants, totaling 314 in number, include non-delegate members and alternate members of the 17th CPC Central Committee and non-delegate members of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, non-delegates nor specially invited delegates but former members of the Central Advisory Commission and some Communist Party veterans.

In addition, 147 non-Communist guests were invited to attend the opening and closing sessions of the congress.