The first spokesman of the low-profile Organization Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee made his debut on Monday, promising to increase transparency in Party affairs in the future.

Deng Shengming finds his feet as a spokesman at a press conference on Mondy.

Deng Shengming, the department's secretary general, made his first public appearance at a press conference held at the department's building in central Beijing.

"The role of a spokesman is fairly unfamiliar to me, so I hope you will kindly spare me some help and understanding," Deng said at the beginning of the press conference.

The Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, one of the most influential, low-profile components of the Party, controls most of the Party's significant personnel assignments and large-scale State-owned enterprises throughout the country.

Monday's press conference was the second of its kind ever held by the department.

The first one was held on May 12 to announce the allocation of special Party membership dues in the reconstruction of earthquake-hit areas in the provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Yunnan, Deng said.

"In the future, the department will hold more press conferences on various topics at the request of the media," he said. "It is a substantial move for the department to increase the transparency of the Party's personnel apparatus."

At the press conference, Wang Qinfeng, deputy director of the department, revealed that the number of CPC members has increased to nearly 78 million over the past six decades.

By the end of last year, the Party had a total of 77.99 million members, about 116 times the figure in 1949 when the People's Republic of China was founded, he said.

More than 20 million people applied to join the CPC last year and the Party recruited about two million new members in 2009, Wang said.

Of the total 78 million CPC members, about 18.5 million are younger than 35 years old and close to 28 million hold a college degree or above.

Wu Hui, a professor with the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, the Party's highest academy, said Monday's conference can be seen as an example of the Organization Department's implementation of the policies made at the Party's 17th national congress, as well as the fourth plenary session of the 17th CPC Central Committee, to increase the transparency of Party affairs.

"The publication of the statistics and the establishment of a spokesman show the department's progress in making the Party's personnel affairs more transparent and open," he said.

Ren Jianming, director of the anti-corruption and governance research center of Tsinghua University, said the gradual openness of the Organization Department is a positive sign.

"But the positive trend must be maintained. The press conferences should be held regularly and systematically. Furthermore, the department should hold such conferences at the demand of the public or the media," Ren said.

No question-and-answer session was held at Monday's press conference.

However, another press conference, which is to be attended by the spokespersons of 11 central Party departments, will be held on Wednesday to announce information and answer questions from the media, according to the State Council Information Office.