Grassroots innovation helps CPC retain vitality

The Westin Beijing Financial Street Hotel has become more environmentally friendly thanks to a program proposed by the hotel's Communist Party of China (CPC) branch.

The program, which involved renovating the hotel's rooms to help them save more energy, will reduce the hotel's electricity costs by 920 yuan (149.9 U.S. dollars) per room every year, hotel officials said.

Another program from the hotel's CPC branch allows hotel employees to give opinions to hotel managers face-to-face, according to Xu Tao, secretary of the CPC branch.

Hotel manager Merlin Wilson was impressed by a calligraphy event that Xu organized in December last year, saying such events have contributed to the hotel's development and strengthened morale among its employees.

The hotel's CPC branch currently has 13 members and has received 15 new applications from employees who wish to join the CPC, Xu said.

The party-building efforts made by the hotel's CPC branch were part of the innovation the CPC wants to promote at the grassroots level to consolidate its governance base in the world's most populous nation.

The CPC had 85 million members in 4.20 million grassroots organs across the country by the end of 2012, according to figures released by the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee on Sunday.

In addition to branches in government organs and state-owned enterprises, CPC branches have been expanded to private enterprises and social organizations in recent years.

These efforts reflect the importance that the CPC has attached to building grassroots organs, as well as comply with a report delivered to the CPC's 18th National Congress held last year in which CPC organs were urged to promote grassroots party-building in an innovative way.

The report also called for efforts to make grassroots CPC organs more service-oriented, with serving the people and engaging in people-related work being their main tasks.

"Grassroots-level CPC organs are directly facing various problems, with the fastest-changing situation," said Professor Dai Yanjun from the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.

Dai said grassroots party-building has witnessed many breakthroughs and achievements in recent years due to efforts made by CPC organs.

The coverage of CPC organs in the non-public economic sector has expanded markedly. By the end of 2012, the number of CPC organs increased by 18.8 percent in the sector from a year earlier.