Scholar urges 'exit mechanism' for China's Communist Party members in downsizing plan

A mainland scholar has suggested downsizing the ruling Communist Party by setting up an "exit mechanism" to cut at least 31 million members.

An article in the latest edition of the People's Forum Biweekly Political Commentary, a magazine run by the party's mouthpiece, People's Daily, suggests the world's biggest political and ruling party establish a comprehensive "exit mechanism" and management system to trim the roughly 83 million members to what the author said was a more reasonable 51 million.

The Bolsheviks had only 240,000 party members before the October Revolution in 1917 when it became a ruling party, Professor Zhang Xien , who teaches politics at Shandong University, wrote in the article.

But the Communist Party of the Soviet Union lost power when its membership increased to 19 million in 1991, a painful lesson to oversized parties that did not set up a sturdy exit mechanism for members, he added.

Zhang suggested the party's Central Committee classify members into three categories: honorary, probationary and formal members, with the honorary group being where most of the cuts should be made, because it was largely composed of "older, sick and retired members who are unable to toe the party line".

He estimated "honorary members" could make up 20 per cent of the members, and many of them "are forced to stay in the party in order to save face, or for other political reasons". He also suggested the party extend the probation period of some "unqualified members" who failed to pass internal assessments.