Cai Mingzhao, spokesman for the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), will hold a press conference on Wednesday, Nov 7, 2012 at the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing, according to Xinhua.

Starting at the 12th National Congress in 1982, each congress had its own spokesperson, usually a high-ranking official from the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, according to cpc.people.com.cn.

The 12th National Congress established the new position of spokesperson, as proposed in 1982 by Zhu Muzhi, then-deputy minister of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee and head of the International Communication Team of the CPC Central Committee. Zhu became the first spokesperson for a CPC national congress and presided over news conferences.

Zhu was also the spokesperson for the 13th National Congress.

Spokespersons for the 14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th national congresses were Liu Zhongde, Xu Guangchun, Ji Bingxuan and Li Dongsheng, when they were deputy ministers at the Publicity Department.

Zhu Muzhi, spokesperson for 12th and 13th national congresses

Zhu Muzhi, a native of Jiangyin, Jiangsu province, was born in 1916 and joined the Communist Party of China in 1938. He was a member of the 10th, 11th and 12th CPC central committees. He was also a member of the 12th and 13th advisory commissions of the CPC Central Committee.

Liu Zhongde, spokesman for 14th National Congress

Liu Zhongde, a native of Ji'an, Jilin province, was born in May 1933 and died in May 2012. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1958. He studied at a military pilot training school in Northeast China in 1948, and in 1953 he was enrolled at the Architectural Engineering Department of the Harbin Institute of Technology. He was a delegate to the 13th, 14th and 15th national congresses and a member of the 14th and 15th CPC central committees. He was also a member of the standing committees of the 9th and the 10th national committees of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). He was chairman of the Subcommittee of Education, Science, Culture, Health and Sports of the 9th CPPCC National Committee.

Xu Guangchun, spokesman for 15th National Congress

Xu Guangchun a native of Shaoxing, Zhejiang province, was born in Nov 1944. He joined the Communist Party of China in May 1973. He was a delegate to the 16th and 17th national congresses of the CPC, a member of the 15th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and a member of the 16th and 17th central committees of the CPC.

Ji Bingxuan, spokesman for 16th National Congress

Ji Bingxuan, a native of Mengjin, Henan province, was born in November 1951. He graduated from Zhengzhou University, and joined the Communist Party of China in April 1980. He was an alternate member of the 16th CPC Central Committee and a member of the 17th CPC Central Committee. He is secretary of the CPC Heilongjiang Provincial Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the Heilongjiang Provincial People’s Congress.

Li Dongsheng, spokesman for 17th National Congress

Li Dongsheng, a native of Zhucheng, Shandong province, was born in December 1955. He joined the CPC in March 1986. He is deputy minister of Public Security and deputy secretary of the CPC Public Security Ministry Committee (ministerial level). He was a deputy to the 11th National People's Congress.