A senior Communist Party of China (CPC)
official said on Thursday that, though corruption is widespread, an
education campaign is being run to improve the quality of officials
and reduce the incidence of corruption cases.
"It is true that with regard to our grassroots
cadres, some of them probably are less competent and are not able
to resolve problems that have triggered group petitions or
protests," said Li Jingtian, deputy head of the Organization
Department of the Central Committee of the CPC.
"Some even abuse their power for personal gain," Li
said at a press conference on the CPC's nationwide education
campaign to “preserve the advanced nature of Party members.”
The first group of 801,000 grassroots Party
organizations and 13.855 million Party members finished their
education in the first half of this year.
He said that this "has achieved comparatively
remarkable results, won endorsement of Party members and the
general public, and is appreciated by all social sectors."
The campaign is aimed to improve the quality of the
69 million Party members and resolve the outstanding problems of
some grassroots organizations and members.
"Although the results should not be overestimated,
I believe that after this advanced education campaign, corruption
cases will be fewer," said Li, also deputy head of the Steering
Group for the Education Campaign to Preserve the Advanced Nature of
Communist Party Members.
According to the arrangement of the CPC Central
Committee, Party organizations and members will join in the
education program in three groups each lasting half a year.
The first group involved Party and government
organizations at and above the county level and some enterprises
and public institutions. The second group will come from urban
grassroots units at township level, and the third from rural
areas.
In the program, members review the Party
Constitution and the "Three Represents," discuss specific
requirements for preserving the “advanced nature” of members,
solicit opinions from the general public, and then carry out
criticism and self-criticism and formulate rectification
measures.
Currently, the campaign is being run among the
second group of 1.8 million grassroots Party organizations and 30
million members, accounting for 52 and 43 percent of the total
respectively, according to Li.
Li said that last year, the CPC expelled 49,000
members.
"We will educate those unqualified Party members in
an effort to make them qualified. If they fail to improve, the
Party will deal with them strictly according to the Party
Constitution," said Li.
The official also denied reports that thousands of
CPC members had renounced membership in recent months, saying they
were "false rumors spread by people with ulterior motives."
Li said an increasing number of young people and
intellectuals are applying to join the CPC after having witnessed
its leadership in the country's reform and socialist modernization
drive.
Last year, 17.38 million Chinese applied to join
the Party, 8.5 percent more than the previous year; and 2.418
million joined, up 8.2 percent, including 894 private
entrepreneurs.
The CPC now has more than 69 million members in 3.4
million grassroots units.
(Xinhua News Agency July 8, 2005)