Global media flock to Golden Hall in Beijing

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‍Preparations are complete, the wait is almost over.

The Great Hall of the People in Beijing will on Wednesday open its doors to the world to witness a new chapter in China’s story, as the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) begins.

And on Tuesday evening, CGTN Digital visited the Golden Hall for a peek behind the curtain of what promises to be the most open CPC National Congress to date.

CGTN Photo

Stuttering through the gridlocked traffic of Beijing from CGTN headquarters to Tiananmen Square, we find that life is going on as normal a day ahead of China’s biggest political event in five years.

Jumping from the car to beat the traffic, we scramble past familiar landmarks - the Forbidden City to the right, then the National Museum of China to the left - as we weave closer to the Great Hall of the People.

Tourists throng the streets, until we reach a Tiananmen Square cleared of tourists and transformed into a grand car park for the next seven days as provisions for the 2,880 delegates, as well as thousands of journalists and officials, are put in place.

CGTN Photo

The Great Hall of the People was one of ten “great constructions” opened in 1959 to mark the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

Fifty-eight years later, journalists from around the world are huddled beneath the sparkling chandeliers and propped against the gold-red pillars of the Golden Hall on the eve of the 19th CPC National Congress - all preparing to hear the agenda of a gathering that will set China’s short-term future.

CGTN Photo

International languages mix with Chinese in the hall - more than 1,800 foreign reporters have registered to attend, and journalists from as far afield as Zambia and Panama tell us their expectations for the big event. Thanks to simultaneous translation technology, everybody is looped in when the press conference gets underway.

Preparations for the 19th CPC National Congress began in October 2016, and spokesperson Tuo Zhen revealed that the agenda for the 19th CPC National Congress had been agreed this very afternoon:

- Discussion on the report of the 18th Central Committee, and on the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection work report;

- Amendments to the Party Constitution;

- Elections to the Central Committee of the 19th National Congress, and to the Central Commission of Discipline Inspection.

CGTN Photo

Tuo took questions from domestic as well as Spanish, American, Pakistani and Kazakh journalists, giving answers on topics as diverse as China’s opening up to the world to domestic poverty alleviation efforts and the anti-corruption campaign.

The Congress will feature a series of innovations to open proceedings up further than ever before. There will be more press conferences than previously, and the 2,880 delegates will take part in a daily “tunnel” during which they will be interviewed by the media.

CGTN Photo

As the journalists filtered out into the Beijing night we passed the main auditorium, where on Wednesday General Secretary Xi Jinping will deliver the CPC work report on the past five years. The waiting is nearly over, the 19th CPC National Congress will begin in just a few hours’ time.