CPC extends presence within foreign enterprises

Sheng Li, a Communist Party of China (CPC) branch secretary at Nokia Siemens Networks Shanghai (NSN Shanghai), is excited after recently being elected one of the 2,270 representatives to attend the incoming 18th CPC National Congress.

"This honor is the best reward for my Party work at a foreign enterprise," Sheng told the Global Times, adding that the branch now has 33 Party members.

By the end of 2011, statistics showed that there were more than 82.6 million Party members in China. Almost every government department, State-owned enterprise (SOE), university, school or even large private company has a Party branch or committee to maintain the link between individual Party members and the national political organization.

International companies that hire local employees in China are no exception, though many were initially reluctant to allow these Party organizations to prosper.

"I still remember the first talk I, as a Party branch secretary, had with my American boss. She told me to limit the Party work in our company," Sheng recalled, who has been in the position for over six years.

Zhu Lulin, the Party branch secretary at Australia and New Zealand Bank China (ANZ China), echoed Sheng's words, saying that foreign bosses still hold prejudices toward Party branches due to their limited knowledge of the CPC.

As a result, Party members who joined foreign companies often keep a low profile, and even when some form branch Party committees, they keep their activities out of their bosses' sight.

"I used to organize Party activities in my spare time, and kept them away from the foreign bosses," recalled Yu Chunkui, 65, a retired Party branch secretary at Siemens.