About 30 percent of the employees in his company are Party members and 70 percent of the Communist Youth League members are applying to join the Party, according to him. "It is worthwhile devoting time and effort to apply for Party membership," he said.

At the same time, Feng noted that young people generally have a positive perception of the Party's image. "Party membership is synonymous with being professionally competent, morally advanced, hardworking and innovative," he said.

Seeking expression

For the past three years, Liu Yingxiang, a 25-year-old Party applicant, has been working in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Currently serving as assistant to the general manager of the local office of a large Chinese state-owned construction company, his ambition is to work his way up the business ladder. He told Beijing Review in an e-mail interview that in Bangladesh, he feels the importance of being part of an organization more strongly than ever before. He said all his Bangladeshi friends belong to one or more organizations. They have to join organizations in order to make their voices heard and have their legitimate rights protected, he explained, since an individual is usually powerless in the face of the authorities.

"I want to join the Party not only because I believe in the Party but also because I will be able to better express my views as a Party member," Liu said. He further observed that the CPC is the ruling Party in China with an unparalleled political status and a broad representation, while other political parties in China only represent certain social groups.

Queried about the various problems such as corruption plaguing the Party, he replied that it is a stark fact that the quality of some Party members have yet to be improved, but complaining does not help. As more qualified applicants were recruited to give the Party new blood, he said, it would grow in a healthy manner into an organization full of vigor and vitality.

Unfortunately, he continued, the Party was not well understood by Bangladeshis and other foreigners. He often found himself bombarded by queries posed by his foreign friends. As a Party applicant, he feels it is his obligation to tell them the truth and dispel their misunderstandings.

For college students, however, applying for Party membership means competition. Xie Chunhui, a second-year journalism major at China Youth University for Political Sciences, seems to be winning. She has completed a course at the university's Party School and is due to be admitted to the Party soon, as one of the first students in her class to join the Party in college. She told Beijing Review that all 36 students in her class filed applications to join the Party shortly after they entered college, but only five had the opportunity to attend the Party School in the first year. Party School attendees are "active students"-those who are high achieving, capable, and extroverted; academic achievement is the most important yardstick, Xie said. She is one of the top students in her class and won a national scholarship last year.

"Some 60 percent of the students leave our university as Party members, much higher than the ratio in other tertiary institutions," she said. "It is a shame if you cannot join the Party before graduation."

In her mind, Party membership is an honor and a testament to a student's ability, and student Party members have an advantage in the job market. For her, joining the Party is a "compulsory course" in college.

Li of the Beijing Foreign Languages Printing Factory, who has supervised three Party applicants since 2003, said one of the purposes of recruiting young Party members is to set up examples. "They can help foster a progressive atmosphere among the young people," he said.

Of course, not every young Chinese craves CPC membership. Xie Yanzhuo, a 20-something graphic designer, said she does not want to join the Party primarily because she is a Christian. "Choosing to stay out of the Party does not necessarily mean we are incapable or have low political consciousness," she said.