The Communist Party of China (CPC) had a total of 87.793 million members at the end of 2014, the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee said Monday.
CPC members increased by 1.1 million compared to 2013, up 1.3 percent. The grassroots Party units increased by 56,000 to 4.36 million, also up 1.3 percent, the department said in a communique published ahead of the 94th anniversary of CPC's founding on July 1.
The statistics showed the Party's vigor and vitality have been strengthened, the communique said.
The statistics showed that the growth rate of CPC members has dropped while the structure of its members has improved.
By implementing the newly-edited CPC's working rule for recruiting members, party committees at all levels have appropriately controlled the growth rate of the number of CPC members on the premise of ensuring the quality of members, the communique said.
In 2014 the CPC recruited 2.057 million new members, 351,000 less than that of 2013, including 962,000 members from the front line of work and production, accounting for 46.8 percent of all new members.
A total of 1.693 million new members were under the age of 35, accounting for 82.3 percent of all new members in 2014, up 0.6 percentage points from that of 2013. A total of 38.8 percent of new members have college degrees or above, up 2.6 percentage points from that of 2013, the communique said.
The Party has 21.672 million female members as of the end of 2014, up 0.4 percentage points. A total of 37.755 million members, or 43 percent of the total, have college degrees or above, up 1.4 percentage points.
In terms of CPC members' professions, 7.342 million are workers, 25.937 million are farmers, herdsmen and fishermen, 12.532 million are professionals, 9.016 million are administrative staff, and 7.397 million are functionaries in Party and state organs.
In addition, the Party has 2.247 million student members, 7.105 million members are with other occupations, and 16.216 million members are retired persons.
The coverage rate of grassroots Party units has increased, especially in the newly-emerging sectors. More than 99 percent of grassroots in city subdistricts, villages and communities have CPC units, and 1.579 million non-public enterprises have CPC units, accounting for 53.1 percent of the total.
