China’s Communist Party reaches out to ‘new social class’ of young managers, returned students and new media workers
Decision to establish specialist bureau follows order last year from President Xi Jinping to ‘unite the younger generation’
The Chinese Communist Party’s united front work department has established a new bureau targeting a “new social class” of younger in the private economy, students returning after studying abroad and those working in new media.
The new bureau will be the eighth at the department that deals with issues outside the party such political parties; ethnic and religious issues: Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan affairs; Tibet affairs
and others.
The concept of “new social class” was first thought of by then party chief Jiang Zemin in 2001. A guideline for united front work, published in 2015, defines the new class as containing four groups: management staff in the local private sector and in foreign companies; employees at service agencies and non-profit social organisations including lawyers, accountants and tax agents; freelancers, and those who work in the new media industry.
The department’s head Sun Chunlan said the new social class would be “a key focus” of united front work, which historically has been an effort by the party to mobilise allies outside the party – students, intellectuals, overseas Chinese and political associations and organisations in China – to promote the prevailing party line.