BEIJING - China will increase the proportion of community-level deputies to the people's congresses, and reduce the number of deputies elected from among leading Party and government officials, Chinese leader Hu Jintao said Thursday.

The proportion of community-level deputies, particularly those elected from among workers, farmers and intellectuals on the frontlines of various fields of endeavor, will be raised, Hu said in a keynote address at the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

Deputy liaison offices should be established in people's congresses to improve the mechanism for deputies to maintain contact with the people, Hu said.