Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Thursday, September 28, 2017

China's Communist Party integrated with society

The idea of a Communist Party cell as a legitimate part of civil society has been seen in the West simply as a tool of dictatorship. In China, the view is very different.

Xinhua Insight: Anatomy of grassroots CPC cells

Many people visit Shanghai Tower to admire what is the tallest building in China, but few people know that it is home to one of the smallest cells of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in the country…

It had five CPC members from five different companies when it was launched in February. Now its membership has grown to ten…

Under CPC regulations, such a joint branch can be set up for companies with less than three Party members, as they are not qualified to form an independent branch…

A large "gold-collar lounge" on the tower's 22nd floor has been reserved for Party members to study Party policies and principles.

"This is a library, a gym, a teahouse and a place to meet new friends," [Lu Jiawei the head of the cell] said. "We hold various activities of the Party organiz,ations, including sessions of criticism and self-criticism."…

"If the Shanghai Tower can be regarded as a mark for the physical altitude of China's economic development, the building of Party organizations within it marks the spiritual altitude of economic and social development," said Shao Zhuqing, deputy Party committee secretary of Shanghai Tower Construction and Development…

Not far away from the tower, functional CPC cells are vibrant in Shanghai Disney Resort…

"Some of my colleagues are surprised to know there is a Party committee within the company," said Murray King, vice president of public affairs for the Shanghai Disney Resort.

"The Party committee is a normal part of our business, a normal part of our operations, in fact it is a very helpful part," he said…

Nearly 1,000 kilometers away from Shanghai, grassroots Party organizations are leading villagers toward a better life in Jinggangshan, home to CPC's first rural revolutionary base…

The committee is responsible not only for enabling the villagers to get to know CPC policies and goals such as poverty eradication, but helping ensure they are carried out and achieved in the village.

There are 19 Party members in the village, with the eldest born during the war against Japanese aggression and the youngest in 1993…