Statistics from the Organization Department of the Communist
Party of China (CPC) Central Committee show that China now has
70.8 million Party members.
Those under the age of 35 account for 23 percent of the
membership.
While almost 2.5 million people where allowed to join the CPC
last year about a quarter of those who applied the number of
college students joining the Party increased at more than double
the overall rate to reach 734,000.
About 20 percent of Tsinghua University's undergraduates have
earned their CPC membership. The percentage for graduate students
is 50 percent.
Liu Minhua, a teacher in charge of the Party affairs of the
Department of Automation in Tsinghua, said more young people are
joining the Party as they see it as an organization that draws the
best minds.
Liao Wang, president of the student union of Beijing University,
said one of the reasons that students join the Party is to show
they are among the best.
"Employers quite often recruit Party members from graduating
classes, as they believe Party members are the top students," he
added.
For a great many students, being a Party member isn't all about
political thought. Party members among the student body also devote
themselves to social work, Liu said. They often visit hospitals to
care for the elderly, help clean up public places or memorials, or
volunteer their time to China's Red Cross Society.
Liu said by participating in social work, the young people, most
of whom come from single-child families and may have been a bit
spoiled, begin to recognize their social responsibility and come to
understand the Party's principle of serving the people.
(China Daily July 1, 2006)