An increasing number of young people in the village have thought about joining the CPC, Lu says.

Xiong Chaochao, at 23 years of age, is the youngest applicant in the village.

After graduating from a vocational school in Jiangxi Province, Xiong is now the owner of a tissue factory where he employs ten of his fellow villagers.

"CPC members here are like role models to me. If I was one of them, I would feel obliged to do more for the villagers," he says.

To encourage more well-educated young people like Xiong to return home, the village's Party committee has simplified its approval procedures for new small businesses.

On a larger scale, the CPC is creating more grassroots committees with migrant worker memberships. Mobile Party committees have been established for migrant workers in the provinces of Sichuan and Hubei and the municipality of Chongqing.

"Since the founding of the CPC 90 years ago, the Party has always paid great attention to the strategic importance of China's vast countryside," says Xie Yizuo, a representative from the China Executive Leadership Academy.

"From what I can tell, the CPC is now taking a practical step in its development strategy, based on its understanding of China's rural areas," he says.