WUHAN, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Communism seems to be a Utopia for many young Chinese. But for Xu Ke, 20, it is the purest belief that respects equality and freedom and pursues happiness for all.
Xu, now a junior at Wuhan University in central China's Hubei Province, had only a vague idea of communism three years ago when joining the Communist Party of China (CPC) in high school.
But she consolidated her Marxism belief after attending a "Young Marxist Training Program" that was initiated by the CPC Hubei provincial committee in July 2014 and will last till her graduation.
She said she was inspired by studying classical works, including the Communist Manifesto written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
A one-month work experience at a township government made her better understand the leading role of the CPC, which considers Marxism as a guiding ideology in the world's most populous developing nation.
"I visited seven villages in a single day and sweated more than I had sweated in the past 20 years,"said Xu, adding that Party members in Jingshan County were decisive and efficient in mobilizing farmers to fight a drought in August that left about 9,800 people short of drinking water.
"I learnt a lot from my mentor Yi Hongmei, secretary of the CPC Qianchang township committee," she said, "about how the Party members, which followed the mass line, fostered stronger ties with the people and improved their livelihood in hard times."
Xu, born in a well-off family, was among the 53 students aged from 19 to 24 selected from 1,000 qualified applicants from more than 20 universities in the province to attend the pilot program. Most of them are from universities in Wuhan, the largest college town in the world, with a student population of 1.18 million.
On weekends, summer and winter vocations in the next two years, top experts will teach them Marxism theories and they will carry out social practices in communities, enterprises, township governments and villages.
Li Hongzhong, secretary of the CPC Hubei provincial committee, is in charge of the project.
The organization department of the CPC Hubei provincial committee will follow the progress of the students, who will likely be given preferential treatment in the civil servant enrollment after their graduation.
"This is the first time in recent years the CPC has taken actions to train young Marxists," said Liu Feng, director of the Chinese leadership science research center under the Chinese Academy of Governance.
"It is sending a strong signal that the ruling party is using Marxism to nurture successors of its cause and breed a next-generation politicians who can apply Marxism in their practical work," said Liu.
As the ideological basis of the CPC administration, Marxism needs every generation of youths to inherit and develop, said Ouyang Kang, a philosophy professor from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology who lectures the students on "Theses on Feuerbach" written by Marx in 1845.
"Genuine knowledge comes from practice, which is a basic principle of Marxism," said Ouyang, adding that the systematic theoretical study and solid grassroots practice will make young students more passionate about Marxism and the CPC.
More than 90 years ago, a group of young people with Marxism beliefs founded the CPC, which from the outset referred to itself as a party of workers and peasants and tried to build rural support for a communist revolution. After decades of struggle, they took power and established the People's Republic of China.
But nowadays, profound social-economic changes at home and abroad are shaking the ideological convictions of Chinese youths, leading to what critics call a crisis of faith. Meanwhile, ambitious young people choose to leave the countryside, where more than half of China's population still lives, as the gap widens between the rural poor and the urban elite who have most benefited from reforms.
"My grandson has no interest in joining the Party or staying in the countryside and it worries me a lot," said Zhang Youqun, who has been Party secretary of Jindun Village in Dawu County for 18 years.
"There should be successors of our party's cause," said Zhang, adding that he saw hopes as university elites with quality and convictions came to the village thanks to the program.
Xu previously wished to be a translator for senior government officials or, like her parents, a well-paid staff member of the State Grid Corporation of China, the country's No. 1 electric utilities company. But now she deems a position in a township party committee or government the best choice for her.
"Many of my classmates want to go abroad and make a big fortune," she said. "But for me, Marxism is positive energy which encourages me to increase my personal value by working for many of those who need me most."
"The pilot program is a good beginning, but the number of trainees is so small and is still elite education," said Zhou Yezhong, a law professor with Wuhan University.
How to make more young people able and willing to attend such programs is a challenge not only for the ruling party but also for university educators, he said.
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