China’s ruling Communist Party will open its 18th congress in Beijing Thursday to elect the fifth generation of Chinese leadership.

A total of two-thousand-325 delegates, including former President Jiang Zemin, will take part in the weeklong congress to elect some 360 full and alternate members of the party’s Central Committee.

The newly formed committee will convene its first session on December 15th, the day after the congress ends. It will select some two dozen members of the decision-making Politburo. During the inaugural session, Vice President Xi Jinping is expected to replace President Hu Jintao as party chief in a power transition that takes place every ten years.