Ep 5: Who are eligible to join the CPC?

Q: I’m a foreigner. Am I eligible to join the CPC?

If someone is a child of a Chinese-and-foreign mixed family,

if someone has got the permanent residency in China, is he/she eligible to join the CPC?

Throughout the history of the CPC, there have been party members from other countries, including Vietnam, Japan, India, Austria, Poland, the UK, the US, and the Soviet Union. For example, Lebanese-American Shafick George Hatem arrived in Yan'an with the Red Army in 1937 and joined the CPC that year.

A revision to the constitution that was adopted by the 8th National Congress of the CPC in 1956, clearly put forward that a party member must be at least 18 years of age, and a citizen of the People’s Republic of China. Israel Epstein from Poland worked as a foreign correspondent in China during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. In 1957, Epstein was granted Chinese citizenship and he joined the CPC in 1964.

Q：As a foreigner who has been living in China for a long time, can I give advice to the party? Can my voice be heard? 

As the CPC is the ruling party of China, people can put forward their suggestions to party organizations and government organizations through local and state levels. A number of cities have information hotlines available. In some Shanghai’s expat communities, a community-to-government channel has been established to pass on advice and suggestions from foreign residents.