BEIJING, Oct. 14 (INP): The Communist Party of China (CPC) is set to hold its 19th National Congress on Wednesday. The five-yearly political event is expected to pave the way for China's future development. During the year, nearly 3,000 delegates have been selected to attend this year's congress, that has attracted the World’s attention. Attendees will include high-ranking government officials, Party leaders, and military officers as well as grassroots Party members from "frontline production and manufacturing" such as workers, farmers, technicians, nurses and teachers. The National Congress is scheduled to review the Party’s work since 2012 and chart a course of action to guide the nation’s development over the coming years under a new leadership elected by 2,300 delegates nationwide. There have been a lot of assumptions and speculation in the run-up to the CPC National Congress, with an excessive amount of attention placed on the leadership reshuffle in the Western media. Some reports and commentary have framed the political meeting as the American fantasy drama Game of Thrones. This makes for good entertainment, but trying to understand Chinese politics through the lens of American fiction or by projecting the mechanics of Western democracy onto Chinese politics creates a distorted picture of how China’s political system works and why the National Congress matters to China and the world. In a nutshell, the National Congress creates a five-year roadmap for the nation. Take the goal of poverty alleviation for instance. It is common knowledge that China has lifted more people out of poverty than any other country. In the past five years alone, China has lifted at least 65 million people out of poverty, about equal to the entire population of the United Kingdom. China plans to lift the remaining 40 million or so out of poverty by 2020. Together, that is about equal to the entire population of Vietnam, and all within eight years. Once the first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society ahead of the 100th anniversary of the founding of CPC in 2021 is realized, China will eradicate poverty in a country with a population of about one fifth of the global total. The second centenary goal, which aims to build a modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, and harmonious, will be completed by 2049, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Especially since the 18th CPC National Congress, China has made onerous efforts to realize the “Two Centenary Goals” and fulfill the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation. INP/J/AH/LK