By the end of June 2003, about 700,000 Chinese college students had joined the Communist Party of China (CPC), accounting for 8 percent of the total number of students, according to a national meeting on college education Tuesday.

In 1990, only 1.16 percent of college students were CPC members. The dramatic increase in 13 years showed the great importance attached by CPC organizations to recruiting on campus as well as students' eagerness to become party members, experts say.

Currently 3.95 million college students have applied for CPC membership, accounting for almost half of all non-CPC students. In some universities, over 90 percent of college students are party membership applicants. Statistics show about 200,000 post-graduate students on campus are CPC members.

Official figures showed the number of Communist Party of China (CPC) members had reached 66.941 million by the end of 2002. The total number included 14.882 million below the age of 35, 11.918 million females, and 4.231 million ethnic minorities. In addition, 35.747 million CPC members have completed senior middle school education, and 1.619 million have received university or higher education.

(Xinhua News Agency October 28, 2003)