Xinhua Insight: The changing motivations of younger generation Party membership

Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-28 22:46:50|Editor: Mu Xuequan
Video PlayerClose

BEIJING, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Ask Shao Dongke what it means to be a member of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and he tells a story, not of famous revolutionaries, but of Liu Fang, his late grandmother.

Indifferent to fame or fortune, Liu cared deeply for those in need, Shao recalled. The former primary school teacher devoted half her life to special education.

"She was just an ordinary Party member, but she was a role model to me," he says, "One day I want to be like her."

Shao, 30, joined the CPC in 2013 while he was at Tsinghua University. He is one of the newer members of the 88.8-million-strong party. The world's largest political party is accepting more and more young members as it nears its 96th anniversary on July 1.

About 15.5 percent, the largest share, of members are 30 years old or younger. Unlike the older generation who regard Party membership as a sign of devotion to China's revolution, young Chinese born since the beginning of the reform and opening-up era hold a different opinion of their political identity.

RESPONSIBILITY

Shao regards Party membership as "a responsibility," a word mentioned by many young Party members when asked.

After graduation last year, the doctoral graduate of Public Administration could have chosen to work in the city, but he decided to follow in his grandma's footsteps: To work for the needy.

Instead he left Beijing and took up a position as deputy county mayor of Ninghua, a remote, impoverished county in east China's Fujian Province.

"My skills are needed here, at the local level. It gives me an opportunity to utilize what I have learned to the maximum level," he says.

Ninghua is one of the four starting points of the "Long March," the 10,000-km historic trek of Chinese communists between 1934 and 1935. The historic setting has not only given Shao insight into the hardships endured by the Chinese Red Army, but also the current state of the underdeveloped local economy.

Shao wants to help families shake off poverty. The young deputy mayor is in charge of trade and tourism, so he is drafting proposals to bring fortune to the old revolutionary base through e-commerce and red tourism.

As a Party member, Shao said, he is guided by the Party's code of conduct, which encourages him to take concrete measures and to avoid empty talk.

HONOR

Starting from Ninghua, Red Army troops trekked to Yan'an City in northwest China's Shaanxi Province. This was where Gao Yu, 30, was born and grew up.

Raised in the "Red Cradle" of the Chinese revolution, since childhood Gao has been surrounded by reminders of how the Party led the revolution and achieved national independence.

Being a Party member is an honor, he says. "Membership is a sign of excellence."

Gao became a Party member in 2007 when he was in junior college. "If you are admitted by the Party at an early age, it shows that you are intelligent and valued," he says.

Today, when joining the Party, he says, candidates must show evidence of excellence and a sense of responsibility.

That is why his main inspiration is not the revolution that happened before he was born, but rather a famous wheat breeding expert.

Gao met Wang Hui when he interviewed him when he was an anchor for a TV station. He was touched that the retired professor with Northwest Agriculture and Farming University had devoted himself to research on wheat breeding for 44 years, and developed 11 new kinds of wheat.

"Wang is my idol," says Gao, "He has contributed a lot to China's food security. He has not even quit work even though he has passed retirement. We, as young Party members, should learn from him. As a journalist, I want to share more stories of people like Wang."

"China has a tradition of honoring role models. Being a Party member means you try to inspire others," says Gao.

RED STAR EMPLOYEE

Like Shao and Gao, Li Jia also joined the Party out of admiration of people in her daily life. "When I joined the Party in my junior year, I did not think too much about it. I saw many excellent schoolmates become Party members. I want to be like them," she recalls.

However, when she got a job with the Shanghai branch of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), she found that her Party membership was not common in her social circle. She said that despite this, there was no contradiction between her job and her political status.

Party branches at foreign companies are growing, and most are composed of "star employees" recognized by company management.

"During our daily Party activities, we study Party's policies and important documents in addition to items about China's economic and social development," Li says, "We are busy at work so we don't have much time for more Party activities, but we combine our theoretical study with our work and daily life, so it works better with us."

Being a communist in a foreign capitalist company, in Li's eyes, means always taking the lead in the daily life. "Party members in my company care about our other colleagues and protect the rights and interest of employees. We all do our best to make our company more competitive."

"Many Party members in our companies set good examples to us. Their excellence is seen in their seriousness at work and kindness to others," she says.

TOP STORIES
EDITOR’S CHOICE
MOST VIEWED
EXPLORE XINHUANET
010020070750000000000000011105091364019651