IRI Host Networking Conference

September 17, 2002

From August 23-27, IRI sponsored a networking conference for urban election officials from throughout China. The session occurred on a boat on the Yangtze River as it traveled from Yichang in Hubei province to Chongqing City in Sichuan.

The purpose of the conference was to deepen IRI's involvement in urban elections and to bring together local officials charged with designing and implementing this important new field of Chinese political reform.

As a result of the conference, IRI was invited to conduct training for election officials and newly elected community leaders in several parts of China where the Institute has not previously worked.

Elections for urban community committees are being held on an experimental basis in select provinces and municipalities throughout China. Last spring IRI became the first foreign organization permitted to observe these elections.

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