Party Recruitment of Students

past and present

Education in China (2010)

• 6-year elementary schools– 99 million students

• 3-year middle schools– 53 million students

• 3-year high schools– 24 million students

• 3- or 4-year colleges and universities– 22 million students

No. of Colleges & Universities

College Entrance Exam

• National College Entrance Examination

• abolished during the Cultural Revolution

• Deng Xiaoping’s decision in 1977– “without grasping science and education, the

Four Modernizations would have no hope”– restored College Entrance Examination– like an “atomic bomb”, especially among the

sent-down youths

the lucky ones

… so why do they join the PartyParty ...

indeed two separate questions:

What incentive do theythey have in joining the Party?

What incentive does the PartyParty have in recruiting them?

First: their incentives ...

… and so many others’

UndergraduateStudents

GraduateStudents

Total 5,506,000 271,000

CCP members 209,000 76,000

% CCP members 3.8% 28.2%

CCP Members in Chinese Universities

A survey of university students

• Some of your friends have joined the Party, others are striving to do so. What is your opinion?– They believe in Communism and want to make

a contribution …………………………4%– They think the Party is good and are joining in

order to be further educated …………….. 10%– In reality they want a “Party card” which they

can use as capital to receive future benefits 59%

… and see what some 5th graders say ...

“We all want to join the Party. This is because you can get promotions when you are a Party member. You can have power when you are promoted. And with power you can become rich. None of the Party members in our village is now poor”.

What are their real incentives ...

• Materialistic gains rather than ideological doctrines

• A professor of political science in Hong Kong: “the young generation now joined the Party like young professionals join the Lions Club or Rotary Club to establish business ties.”

Number of College Graduates

student Party members

• advantage in job market, especially for positions in government agencies or state-owned enterprises

future political career

• Party membership plus college education are necessary conditions for political advancement

… but there are different voices

• A student in Beijing: “I cannot be bothered, there are more ways to succeed now. One can go abroad, or work for a private enterprise, or foreign companies.”

• A folk rhyme in Hubei Province: “Each tills their field, and each makes their money: who cares whether you’re a Party member or not?”

Second: the PartyParty’s incentives ...

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Party’s recruitment strategies emphasized class origin.

Peasants and workers were especially welcome, but intellectuals were not.

It’s all changed since the late 1970s ...

since Deng Xiaoping started the reforms in the late 1970s, the Chinese Communist Party has staked its legitimacy on economic performance more than anything else.

To get rich is glorious!

To achieve the ambitious economic development goals, the Party desperately needs youth and talent.

The “Three Represents theory”

Jiang Zemin:“Our Party … has always represented the development requirements of China’s advanced social productive forces”

Party recruitment of talents

• The secretary of a local Party committee: “The Party is the leader of our country’s economic construction, and first of all we need excellent people from all professions”.

• In 1990, 0.8% of all undergraduate students were CCP members; in 2000, Party members constitute 3.8% of all under-graduate students.

Party recruitment of adult population

Years of School Education

Elite Universities in Beijing

• In 2011, 29% of undergraduate students at Tsinghua University were Party members.– 8.3% in 1995– 16.5% in 2005– 24.8% in 2010

• In 2010, 36.2% of undergraduate students at Renmin University were Party members

Fudan University in Shanghai

• 30.9% of undergraduate students at Fudan University are Party members– 16.4% in 2000– 26.7% in 2010