Thirty-one provincial committees of the Communist Party of China reshuffled their respective leaderships through internal elections from the fourth quarter of 2011 to early July, the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee said Monday.

The Party committees of 374 prefectures and cities, 2,789 counties and urban districts, and 33,368 townships across the Chinese mainland had elected their new leading officials from December 2010 to April this year.

The department described the local Party-committee leadership reshuffle as a success, saying the process had been running in an "orderly, sound and steady manner".

"The leadership change in local Party committees occurred in the country's crucial period of building a moderately prosperous society in all aspects, deepening reform and opening up and speeding up the transformation of economic development. It was a significant event in the Party's political life," a department statement said.

Local Party committees, discipline inspection organs and organization departments promoted democracy, pushed forward reform and strictly enforced discipline amid elections, so as to ensure a successful leadership reshuffle, according to the statement.

According to the organizational rules of the CPC, standing committee members, who constitute the core of leadership in local Party committees, are elected by delegates at a regional Party congress. Those from the CPC central committee are elected at a national congress.

At the provincial level, 404 standing committee members have been elected nationwide. They are on average 54 years old, and 105 of them are younger than 50, the statement said.

Among them, 37 are female and 50 are from ethnic groups. About 98 percent completed college studies, and 72 percent had either a master's degree or a doctorate.

Also, 63 percent of standing committee members of provincial Party committees had the experience of working as Party or government heads of lower-level cities or counties.

A large number of the newly elected officials are familiar with Party affairs and government work and, in terms of age, experience, skills and personalities, they have contributed to a balanced and effective provincial leadership, the statement said.

In addition, 4,384 standing-committee members were elected in Party committees of prefectures or the same-level cities, and 30,028 were elected at the county or urban district level, according to the statement. More than 90 percent of them had received a college or postgraduate education.