Fighting indifference
According to Zhang, in the past two or three decades, Party-building has been "softened, dwarfed, weakened and marginalized" due to loose management.
"Some Party members are indifferent about their identity and are weak in their ideals and ethics. Some members even believe in gods or ghosts," said Zhang, "Against this background, enhancing Party members' consciousness and faith is of unprecedented significance and the top priority is ensuring that members study."
While members could easily skip Party branch activities before, they are now required to take part in each session.
They do not only need to show up for classes and meetings, but also need to study for enough hours and take notes in a special notebook.
"We take notes at every meeting, writing down our comments and what we have learned," said Mao. After she lost her notebook, she rewrote all her old notes from memory in her new one in case this homework is checked one day.
"Now our members all attend every activity if there are no special circumstances," Mao said.
Beijing college teacher Lucy Tao shared with the Global Times that her Party branch's meetings and activities have also become more frequent since the latter half of 2016.
"We not only write notes but also take tests after studying the theoretical and practical issues related to Party-building," said Tao. "I believe it helps. After studying many times, you naturally reflect on how to promote yourself, how to play a leading role in life and work."
"Whether one has strong Party consciousness is like how two people deal with their friendship. If two people don't contact each other for 10 years, even though they are still friends, they may have gradually forgotten how close they used to be," said Zhang. "Similarly, if Party branches don't hold activities and their members don't even participate in Party activities, their Party consciousness naturally fades."
"It is very logical to strengthen Party members' consciousness and activate the team through education and management," Zhang added.
Vanguard role
Zhang suggested that it is important to avoid formalism in the process. "When Party branches organize activities and members learn about the Party Constitution, they should also implement what they learn in their daily lives instead of casting it aside afterward," noted Zhang.
"There should be a system to check, evaluate and supervise how Party members practice the Party Constitution and Party members' eight obligations," he added.
The Party Constitution says that one important obligation of Party members is to play a "vanguard role" in production, work, study and social life.
Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, some 195,000 Party members have been sent to impoverished villages across the country to play a leading role in Party-building and relieving poverty, according to media reports.
According to Zhang, boosting the vanguard role of Party members will be a gradual process that takes time.
"It is quite sensible to expect Party members to play a vanguard role at work. It depends on how grass-roots Party branches encourage them in this direction," said Zhang. According to the Xinhua News Agency, as of the end of 2016, there were a total of 89.44 million Party members in China and more than 4.5 million Party branches.
"The first thing is to draw them closer to the Party through education and management. The next step requires a systematic project and the design of platforms to allow them to take the lead. It takes time," added Zhang.
