"Joining the Communist Party: Chinese Youths Wondering if It Will Help Their Employment..."

New Party Members Reach 2.44 Million
Second Highest Number Since 2013

As China continues to face its worst employment crisis in history, the number of young people joining the Communist Party is increasing, multiple foreign media outlets including the BBC reported on the 18th (local time). The reason Chinese youth seek to become Communist Party members is that it gives them an advantage in civil servant appointments or employment in state-owned enterprises.

As the worst employment crisis in history continues in China, the number of young people joining the Communist Party is increasing. The photo shows a job fair held in Chongqing last April.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

As of the end of last year, the number of Communist Party members reached 98.04 million, an increase of 1.32 million in one year. In particular, the number of new members admitted reached 2.44 million. This is the second highest number since 2013, when President Xi Jinping came to power, following the 4.38 million new members admitted in 2021.

While China's population decreased for the first time in 61 years to 1.41175 billion last year, the size of the Party membership actually increased.

This is interpreted as a result of a choice to gain practical benefits such as employment. Additionally, when anti-government protests such as the "blank paper protests" occurred during the COVID-19 lockdowns last year, the Chinese government’s judgment that it needed to embrace young people to solidify the one-party rule system is also seen as a reason for the surge in youth joining the Party.

According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, the youth unemployment rate for those aged 16 to 24 last month was 21.3%. This is a record high and has been rising every month. The youth unemployment rate in June was 21.3%, up 0.5 percentage points from the previous record high of 20.8% in May.

Especially since last month, a record 11.58 million new university graduates have entered the job market. In response, the Chinese government has called in representatives from companies such as the delivery app Meituan and the video-sharing site Douyin to request job creation.

As youth unemployment continues to rise, it is reported that illicit practices such as buying and selling fake internship certificates have also emerged. On the 19th, Dong Zijing, a professor at Peking University, wrote in China Youth Daily that "the market for buying and selling fake internship certificates is quietly booming."

Professor Dong emphasized, "Internship activities are opportunities to enhance understanding of professional fields before employment," and warned, "Universities should combat fake internships through random inspections and other measures. Companies involved in forgery of official documents must be strictly investigated and punished." He also suggested, "Companies should be encouraged to pay more attention to nurturing internship trainees."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.