Members of Communist Party of China (CPC)reached 70.8 million by the end of 2005, with most of the new members young and capable, a senior Party personnel official said Wednesday.

About 17.67 million people applied to join the CPC in 2005, only 2.47 million of them were accepted, said Ouyang Song, deputy head of the Organization Department of CPC Central Committee.

The number of grassroots CPC organizations across China has exceeded 3.52 million, including 170,000 grassroots party committees, Ouyang said at a press conference held by the Information Office of the State Council Wednesday.

"Joining the Communist Party has become increasingly popular among China's younger generation," Ouyang said, quoting statistics as saying that 80 percent of the members newly recruited last year were under the age of 35.

He said the numbers of new Party members, members under the age of 35, and people filing the applications in 2005 were all on the rise.

"The possibility cannot be ruled out that some applicants think more about their personal interests in joining the Party, but most of the young people want to join the Party with correct motives," He said.

Source: Xinhua