Where is the party for the 90 year old?

On Friday, I attended a rather formal presentation by the former Vice Minister of Commerce, and currently vice chairperson of the Committee of Foreign Affairs within the party. No mention of the 90th anniversary either. She focused her presentation on investment climate for foreign companies and stated very assertively that attracting even more foreign direct investment is one of China’s key tasks as it will contribute to the achievements of several priorities of the 12th Five Year Plan, such as balancing regional development, transforming China into an innovative nation, contributing to the country’s green targets and a few others.

After the presentation, still looking for signs of anniversary celebration I skipped lunch and instead went to the site where 90 years ago, on July 23, 1921 the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was held. The 13 delegates had gathered in secrecy at the residence of one of them, located in the heart of what is nowadays known as Xintiandi, one of Shanghai’s most fashionable pedestrian districts full of restaurants, fancy shops and bars. I was expecting a huge crowd but there was none, just a few Chinese tourists and some foreign journalists also looking a bit disappointed. When there is no queue in China, you’ve got to take the opportunity so I actually got inside the building and started thinking of the historical meaning of this event, assisted by several propaganda posters in the museum.

Fast-forwarding 90 years, there are some interesting statistics about the CPC that I read a few days ago in a newspaper. The CPC has now more than 80 million members, making it the world’s largest political party. That means that 1 among every 17 Chinese is a member.

Last year 3 million people joined it, and according to official statements clearly highlighting these facts 40% of the new members were college students and 40% were industrial workers, farmers, herders and migrant workers, which is an interesting fact if it is true as most people would say that joining the party is difficult as it is extremely elitist. Mind you, the 3 million new members were the result of a tough selection since there were actually 21 million applications! On the minus side 32,000 members left, either because they were expelled or they withdrew (no breakdown here). Other interesting statistics show that in terms of age the party members are quite well diversified. Gender distribution however is far worse: only 22% of the members are women.

These are just figures and statistics, which I guess do not really describe how much the CPC means for the country I am living in. One thing is for sure, the CPC today is quite different from the CPC of 90 years ago. Since 1978, one of the main goals of the CPC has been to improve people’s livelihood and hundreds of millions Chinese have been lifted out of poverty. The country opened up for foreign trade and investments following a change in policy of the CPC. The CPC still plays an important role in the Chinese business environment as it is the CPC that appoints the top managers in the big state-owned enterprises and the 12th Five Year Plan also shows how the policies of the CPC influence China’s development. In fact, perhaps the seminar I attended shows more of what the CPC is about today, at least for us foreign investors. Understanding the policies of the CPC is something we cannot ignore as investors in China and we follow them closely.