BEIJING - The Ninth National Congress of Returned Overseas Chinese and their Relatives will be held from December 2 to 5, said the All-Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese (AFROC) Tuesday.

Congress participants will discuss AFROC's work in the next five years, amend its constitution and elect its new leadership, said Qiao Wei, vice chairman of AFROC, at a press conference in Beijing.

A total of 1,186 delegates, including 348 returned overseas Chinese and 838 family members of returned overseas Chinese, will take part in the congress, Qiao said.

Among them, 320 delegates are female, 93 are ethnic minorities, and 88 are from Hong Kong and Macao, according to Qiao.

Delegates include eight academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, 24 deputies to the National People's Congress, and 63 members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

A total of 702 delegates are members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and 126 are members of non-communist parties.

AFROC has also planned to invite 581 overseas delegates and observers from 94 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas and Oceania.

"Compared with previous congresses, the ninth will have the most participants," Qiao said.

Several individual and institutional AFROC members will be recognized at the congress for their meritorious efforts, Qiao said.

According to official figures, the number of Chinese nationals living abroad, as well as Chinese with foreign citizenship, is around 50 million.

The Eighth National Congress of Returned Overseas Chinese and their Relatives was held in July, 2009.