CPC extends presence within foreign enterprises(3)

Chinese characteristics

"The number of Party members in our general branch has increased from 80 in 1996 to 183 in July this year," Li Ming, the general Party branch secretary of Bosch Rexroth China, told the Global Times. "I have also noticed a trend toward more young members in recent years."

Li's experience is shared by most CPC secretaries at the American and European companies in China, which are more willing to cooperate. At Japanese companies, however, the situation is different.

Ren Fei, Party branch secretary of JVC (China) Investment Co. (JVC China), told the Global Times that his Japanese bosses did not support the formation of Party branches, as the Japanese consider Party activities as personal political beliefs,  which have nothing to do with enterprises.

Ren attempted to explain the importance of establishing Party branches at their company offices in China, but said he had met with limited success.

More than 300,000 grass-roots Party committees have been set up in the country's private sector, which includes private enterprises, self-employed businesses and foreign enterprises, up from fewer than 100,000 about 10 years ago, according to statistics released by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) in May, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

 "The rapid development of foreign enterprises brought new challenges for the CPC, as most of them lack grass-roots organizations to recruit new Party members and mobilize older members," Liu Zonghong, director of the History and Research Department at the Party School of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee, told the Global Times.

"The establishment of CPC grass-roots organizations in foreign enterprises can help consolidate the CPC's ruling basis in China, facilitate the healthy development of foreign enterprises and guarantee the legitimate rights and interests of employees," said Liu.