The Communist Party of China (CPC) recruited 11.85 million
members from 2002 to 2006, an average of 2.37 million per year,
according to the organization department of the CPC Central
Committee Monday.
"Departments all over the country made significant achievements
in recruiting Party members from workers, farmers, intellectuals,
soldiers, and cadres in the last five years," said Wang Zigui,
assistant head of the China Executive Leadership Academy in Yan'an,
Shaanxi Province.
Statistics from Shandong University showed that 91.9 percent of
undergraduates had applied for Party membership, of whom 13.5
percent were admitted; in addition, 40 percent of graduates were
admitted.
Figures from the organization department indicate that 2.86
million employees or employers of private enterprises and 810,000
self-employed people had been recruited by the end of 2006.
About 178,000 grassroots Party committees had been established
in non-state companies by 2006, up by 79.8 percent from 2002.
"Recruitment and the establishment of Party committees in
private enterprises will help broaden and consolidate the Party's
ruling foundation and be new source for long-term development,"
said Prof. Liu Pingqing, an expert on the non-public economy at the
Beijing Institute of Technology.
The CPC also established a migrant member network both in urban
and rural areas to improve the management of "migrant" Party
members.
The CPC has more than 70 million Party members. Most
government-related organizations have Party branches.
However, members who have moved overseas or worked in private
companies have difficulty maintaining connections with the
Party.
Under the CPC Constitution, members must belong to a branch and
participate in the Party's regular activities. Members who fail to
participate for six consecutive months or fail to pay membership
dues without good reasons can be deemed to have voluntarily
abandoned their membership.
Party committees have set up 8,031 hotlines to provide
assistance to migrant Party members. "They can connect with the
Party at any time, no matter where they are," said Wang Zigui.
(Xinhua News Agency July 16, 2007)