"Let’s be frank, many young people want to do these [government] jobs because it will give them an opportunity to take bribes"

Zhang Ming, professor at Renmin University in Beijing

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The number of people joining the Chinese Communist party has fallen for the first time in a decade as President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign reduces the allure of working for the authoritarian state.

For many young Chinese, joining the party and landing a government job with good benefits and the chance to make a bit on the side was the ultimate dream.

But last year, just 2.4m people joined the world’s biggest political party – a quarter fewer than in 2012 – marking the smallest number of new members since 2003 and bringing total membership to 86.7m by the end of 2013.
The number of people registered to sit civil service exams has also dropped sharply, with state media blaming anti-corruption and government austerity campaigns for the fall in interest.

“The declines definitely have something to do with the anti-corruption campaign,” said Zhang Ming, a professor at the politics department of Renmin University in Beijing. “Let’s be frank, many young people want to do these [government] jobs because it will give them an opportunity to take bribes.”

A steady drumbeat of arrests and investigations into officials at all levels of the party reached a peak this week when a formal probe was launched into Zhou Yongkang, the most senior cadre to face corruption charges in the history of the People’s Republic.

Even for senior party members, official salaries are a pittance, while many of them have the power to approve or block deals and investments worth millions or billions of dollars.

Party membership is virtually a prerequisite for rising through the government ranks and until recently government jobs have provided good benefits, sometimes including cars, housing, medical care and bonuses.
But as well as launching corruption investigations into hundreds of thousands of officials, President Xi has slashed official budgets and benefits since he took power in late 2012.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/10057...#axzz395o56nlh

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