Grassroots Party units continue to play key role

With the Communist Party of China witnessing a steady expansion in its membership, primary-level Party organizations are growing stronger and assuming crucial roles in governance across diverse sectors, as underscored in a report issued on Monday.

Released by the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, one day ahead of the Party's 104th founding anniversary on July 1, the report revealed that by the end of 2024, Party membership had surged to over 100.27 million members.

Over 2.13 million people joined the CPC in 2024, of which 1.12 million were at the forefront of production and work, accounting for 52.6 percent, the report said.

It also showed that the CPC had 5.25 million primary-level organizations at the end of 2024, an increase of 74,000 compared with the previous year.

Zhuang Deshui, deputy head of Peking University's Research Center of Public Policy, emphasized the importance of grassroots Party organizations, stating that their continuous growth helps to better implement policies from the central authorities, unite the people in facing challenges and address public concerns more promptly.

He drew a parallel between these organizations and the blood vessels of the human body, saying that "the seamless functioning of blood vessels is vital in ensuring an individual's health and vitality".

"Primary-level organizations, being the closest to the people, should proactively lead in providing assistance when needed, while also essentially improving their governance capabilities to effectively resolve difficulties faced by the people," he said.

The CPC continues to exercise self-supervision and self-governance by upholding the spirit of reform and applying strict standards. It has focused on strengthening primary-level organizations and nurturing a team of Party members who hold themselves to the highest standards, in order to provide an organizational guarantee for building China into a strong country and realizing national rejuvenation on all fronts by pursuing Chinese modernization, according to the latest report.

In recent weeks, Party organizations at all levels in Hechi, a city in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, have been involved at the forefront of rescue efforts amid flood disasters caused by continuous heavy rainfall, safeguarding the lives and property of the people.

In the early hours of June 21, a total of 31 people were trapped in Wuzhuan, a town in Donglan county in Guangxi, due to severe flooding.

The Party organization at the local emergency department promptly intervened, rescuing and relocating all those in danger, according to Guangxi Daily.

Zhuang praised the quick response of primary-level Party organizations in the rescue efforts, adding that such leadership and action have also played a vital role in various sectors, including combating the epidemic, poverty alleviation, rural revitalization and advancing key construction projects.

"On the path to Chinese modernization, it's essential for Party organizations at the grassroots level to guide people to bravely face the challenges," Zhuang said.

"The greater the challenges, the more these organizations should stand at the forefront," he added. Zhuang also underlined the importance of further enhancing self-governance within the Party to deal with emerging issues.

In another example, the Party organization at the Beijing International Commercial Tribunal has taken actions to help improve the judges' dispute resolution capabilities.

"We've organized judges who are Party members to strengthen their learning of the Party's theory and history, as well as updated laws and policies, to ensure the quality of their adjudication of international commercial disputes," said Ma Jun, chief judge of the tribunal at the Beijing No 4 Intermediate People's Court.

He noted that such in-depth study also aims to bolster the construction of the foreign-related judicial system and improve legal services for domestic and foreign litigants.

Data from the latest report showed that workers and farmers accounted for about 32.7 percent of all CPC members.

Of the total CPC membership, 57.6 percent hold junior college degrees or above, 1.4 percentage points higher than at the end of 2023.

Women accounted for 30.9 percent of all CPC members, up 0.5 percentage points from 2023, it said, adding that the proportion of members from ethnic minority groups remained at 7.7 percent.

caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn