Nearly 60 percent of over 8,000 college students in Beijing said that they want to join the Communist Party of China (CPC), according to a recent survey.

The survey, conducted by China Communist Youth League Beijing Committee, polled 7,466 students in public universities and 677 students in private colleges with additional interviews to 88 students, reported the China Youth Daily Wednesday.

"It is common to see so many college students join the Party as it is not a bad choice and some see it as a way for them to gain recognition," Qi Xingfa, a professor at East China Normal University, told the Global Times.

There are 91 universities and 814,300 college students in Beijing.

The survey also shows that most college students approve of the country's leading group and pay attention to the Party's philosophies and policies.

An education official said that as of 2012, there were 2.9 million student Party members in China and they had played a leading role among other students, reported news portal people.com.cn in 2013. 

"My father encourages me to join the Party. I was told to follow the Party's steps since an early age," a student surnamed Hu from Beihang University told the Global Times.

Zhao, a student Party branch chief with the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), said that he became a CPC member because she loves the Party and considers it is a way to realize her self-worth, adding that nearly a half of her classmates have applied to the Party.

Zhao added that some students joined the Party because they regard it as a stepping stone to a decent job in State-owned enterprises.

"Some join the Party because being a Party member is a requirement for many positions in Party organizations and State-owned enterprises," said Wang Zhanyang, a professor at the Central Institute of Socialism.

"We cannot stop students' pragmatic motives, but we now raise that threshold in developing new members and pay more attention to promoting their qualities," Wu Wenjun, vice Party chief of BIT's Foreign Language School, told the Global Times.

CPC authorities and the Ministry of Education issued a document in July 2013 urging colleges to place utmost importance on political standards in recruiting Party members and demanded a control on the "number and structure" of student Party members.

It came against the backdrop of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee suggesting that the Party should be kept at "an appropriate scale" to maintain a desirable structure and ensure the high quality of its members.

The survey also said that over 85 percent felt proud of being a Chinese while being mindful of other cultures and global events. Over half of the respondents said that they understand the "Chinese Dream" and nearly 75 percent believe that it will be fulfilled.