The membership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) had grown to 70.8 million by the end of 2005, according to the latest statistics of the party.

Of the CPC members, 23 percent were below 35 years old, up 0.3 percentage points over the previous year; 19.2 percent were female, up 0.6 percentage points; and 29 percent had received college education, up 1.7 percentage points, according to statistics of the Organization Department of CPC Central Committee.

(Xinhua News Agency June 19, 2006)