BEIJING, July 17 (Xinhua) -- About 15,000 members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) ascended to leading positions through open elections from 2003 to 2006, according to the Party's central organization department.

    More than 390 were prefectural-level cadres and about 3,800 worked at leading positions at county level, revealed the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee.

    It showcased the Party's endeavors to build a permanent in-house democracy mechanism, said the department.

    The Party had made it compulsory to solicit ordinary members' recommendations and opinions for selecting cadres, as numerous experiments carried in local CPC leadership re-elections had proved it an effective way of enhancing transparency and efficiency.

    It had granted non-Party members of the public a say in the elections, the department said.

    Other methods, including door-step surveys and publication of survey results, appraisals of work performances in probation and secret voting by all members of local Party committees, had also been employed and promoted in the elections for better assessment of the candidates, it said.

    Founded in 1921, the CPC has more than 70 million members and more than 3.5 million grassroots organizations. Its regime came into being in the past revolution era and it had for decades followed the Soviet model.

    With China's rapid economic development, the Party is facing problems such as corruption, low efficiency and bureaucracy, prompting measure for improvement

    Experts point out that developing democracy within the Party is an important part of political restructuring and building of political civilization in China.