BEIJING - The Communist Party of China (CPC) is scheduled to open its 18th National Congress at around 9 am Thursday at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to set the tone for the future?of the Party and the country over the coming five years.

The five-yearly event will elect a new generation of leadership at the meeting.

The detailed agenda of the congress have been set 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.

A total of 2,325 delegates and specially invited delegates are expected to attend the 18th CPC National Congress.

Two of the 2,270 delegates elected from various electoral units across the country 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, and almost all primary CPC organizations and up to 98 percent of Party members took part in the election.

Relevant leading Party officials and a group of non-Communist figures were invited 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.

China's leading media organizations, including the China National Radio and the China Central Television, will give live coverage of the opening ceremony of the CPC congress.

The China Radio International will also broadcast live the opening ceremony in Chinese mandarin, English, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Arabic, Mongolian and Korean, along with real-time coverage at the websites of Xinhua News Agency, the People's Daily and the central government.