[slurry]

Local people's congresses are directly elected. Higher levels up to the National People's Congress, are indirectly elected by the level below.

So imagine you vote for town council. The town councils in your county elect a county council, the county councils elect a state legislature, and the state legislatures elect Congress.

Elections for local people's congress are - for China - fairly open. There are 50-100% more candidates than seats. But candidates are in practice only nominated by the CP and related organizations. But the point is, you can choose between a couple of alternative CP picks, rather than having a single CP pick imposed upon you. A little bit like elections in Iran, I guess. That's not wide open elections like in the West, but it's not nothing.

Elections are more centrally controlled the higher up in the hierarchy you go, but there is always some wiggle room.