BEIJING -- The Chinese Communist Party said Wednesday the number of its members as of June 5 reached a record 95.14 million.
The breakdown of members shows a conspicuous change in the CCP's structure. The membership of white-collar workers from private companies or state-run enterprises was 25.68 million, fast approaching the 25.81 million members who are farmers and the like, the party's largest group.
According to statistics of the Organization Department of the CCP Central Committee, there are 33.46 million members employed by companies or government organizations, which is more than the 32.29 million who work in agriculture, raising livestock, fisheries or laborers such as seasonal workers.
"This may be hurting the validity of the party, which was originally formed mainly by laborers and peasants," said Takashi Suzuki, an associate professor of Aichi Prefectural University who specializes in Chinese politics. "As the CCP embraces members from different classes and levels, it reveals the difficulty of one-party rule."
Behind the diversity of members is the fact that in 2002 the CCP started allowing private entrepreneurs and the like to join the party to expand the party's support base. Under the anti-corruption campaigns and conflicts with the United States during President Xi Jinping's administration, however, the number of new members has been narrowed to raise the "quality" of members.
The CCP held a ceremony celebrating its centennial on Thursday. The state-run Xinhua News Agency has commented that the CCP had grown from about 50 members when it was founded in 1921 to become the party that has taken power for an extensive time in a massive country of 1.4 billion people.
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