China is undergoing a generational leadership transition. Over the past decade, top Chinese leaders have carried out "intra-Party democracy" to ensure checks and balances of power within the Party's leadership.

The term "intra-Party democracy" is nothing new for the CPC. At the eighth CPC National Congress in 1956, some Party members called for preserving the collective form of leadership, objecting to a single charismatic and all-powerful leader.

In 1980, the regulations passed at the fifth plenary session of the 11th CPC Central Committee reiterated advocating collective leadership and improving intra-Party elections. However, these policies were not carried out well at that time. Since the 1980s, though village elections have been greatly promoted, intra-Party democracy seems to have lagged behind.

Under such circumstance, the 16th CPC National Congress in 2002 characterized intra-Party democracy as the lifeblood of the Party. In the past decade, a number of developments have already boosted the process of intra-Party democracy.

The first is that competitive elections have been applied. This was adopted from the "two ballot" election system of the village committee of the CPC. Villagers would recommend candidates, and then Party members voted on these candidates.

This has become the main method of electing leaders in low-level Party committees, public institutions and even private enterprises. It allows self-recommendation, election campaigns and public opinion assessment. But at present, this kind of election largely applies at the grass-roots level.

Meanwhile, the spread of competitive selection helps promote the adjustment of Party policies. Competitive selection, with the form of "public recommendation, direct selection," has been adopted among some high-ranking officials.

This includes open registration, competitive test, democratic assessment, multi-candidate interview and Party committee balloting. Beside the candidate's knowledge and talent, public relations and recognition are also important.

Compared with the past, when the selection of major personnel was decided solely by Party chiefs, the competitive selection makes the leadership selection process more open and democratic. Meanwhile, authorities maintain selection rights to some extent.

More importance has been attached to the rights of CPC representatives, and the notion of representative democracy has been deeply recognized among Party members.

The system of standing CPC representatives has been experimented with in areas such as Zhejiang, Guangdong and Hubei provinces. On this basis, a five-year period has been set for Party representatives across the country.

How to effectively play their roles during this period, which includes the holding of national congress of the CPC, has become the new focus.

CPC representatives could practice their rights of inspection, investigation and making proposals. They listen to the annual working reports by the Party chiefs and make suggestions. They also discuss and vote on major personnel and policy decisions.

In some areas, local CPC representatives, deputies from the standing committees of local people's congress and members of local committees of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference can conduct field research in local communities and make proposals to improve people's lives.

The significance of the year limit is to make CPC representatives practice their rights, thus realizing the democratic right of Party members and reinforcing supervision of Party committees. Currently, this practice is carried out at committees of city level and below.

Last but not least, intra-Party democracy has been practiced in other aspects, such as the system of Party standing committees' voting by secret ballot, and democratic assessment system.

It also encourages non-Party members to take part in intra-Party elections, and public assessment has been included in leadership selection processes, making "incremental democracy" more manageable.

The significance of intra-Party democracy does not only lie within the Party itself. It is a vital driving force for China's political reforms.

The CPC is China's ruling party and the elite within the Party are leaders of various government organizations. When more and more Party elites become familiar with the norms of competitive election and experience this practice, their confidence in developing competitive democracy will be boosted.

This will also help government organizations to experiment democracy, for example, promoting competitive elections among the people's congresses at various levels.

After the 18th CPC National Congress, intra-Party democracy should develop more rapidly and become the breakthrough point of China's political reforms. Intra-Party competitive elections should continue to be carried out, especially from the top level to grass-roots levels. Elite competition can be involved and a systematic framework can be established.

Selected officials must be aware of their responsibilities and be supervised properly. Meanwhile, CPC representatives should practice their rights to supervise the leadership of Party committees.

As intra-Party democracy proceeds, China's path toward democratization will also be wide open.

The author is associate professor at Contemporary Chinese Politics Research Institute of Shenzhen University. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn