China’s Communist Party asks cadres to cough up fees – on time and in full
Disciplinary watchdog gives breakdown of revenue and expenditure, including the disclosure that some well-heeled members are dodging their dues
The Communist Party has shed some light on its opaque handling of membership fees, and called on cadres to pay their dues promptly.
The party earned 52 million yuan (HK$61 million) in interest on dues between 2010 and 2014, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said on Thursday.
In 2014, China’s 87 million party members paid 570 million yuan in membership fees.
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About 290 million yuan was paid by senior cadres, usually high-ranking government officials managed by the Organisation Department of the Communist Party’s Central Committee.
As it remains taboo for the public to question how the party is funded, the CCDI said that party membership fees should be spent only on party activities, such as training members,rewarding elite members and subsiding those in need.
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Like income tax, party dues are means tested according to members’ monthly salaries.
Those who earn less than 3,000 yuan per month pay 0.5 per cent of their earnings, while those who earn more than 10,000 yuan pay 2 per cent.
Students, unemployed workers and those who rely on government welfare pay as little as 0.2 yuan per month.
This means that the relatively well-paid senior executives of state-owned enterprises, who are usually party members, pay a large portion of the total membership fees per year.
CCDI inspectors found last year that cadres at some state-owned enterprises were not paying their membership dues despite receiving large salaries.
