Young Party members from Shanghai-based Tongji University re-take their oath at a session promoting the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China on November 23, 2017. Photo: IC

The number of Communist Party of China (CPC) members in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region was over 1.61 million by the end of 2018, an increase of 3.33 percent from the year before.

Among these Party members in Xinjiang, 523,300 are women, 622,500 are from ethnic minority groups and 887,300 hold college degrees or above, according to data released by the Xinjiang Daily on Monday. 

Party members of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang have jointly made efforts to push various efforts in all aspects, especially grass-roots poverty alleviation, according to Chen Guohui, a member of the working group stationed in Liangzhouyoukake Qiaogetale village in Aksu Prefecture in southern Xinjiang.

Chen's village has gained 16 new Party members since 2018, 12 of whom are from ethnic groups and eight are women.

"These new Party members are local farmers and herdsmen, auxiliary police officers and village officials. They have played an active role in implementing efforts for safety, poverty alleviation and management work in the village," Chen told the Global Times.

Chen also noted that a Party member surnamed Liu in the village, who owns a vegetable greenhouse, offers 10,000 vegetable sprouts to villagers for free every year and teaches them how to take care of the vegetables.

Turhongmo Memet, 35, is a Party member in the village. His abilities in driving agricultural machinery, including tractors, and raising sheep have enhanced his income.

By sharing his experience of farming and raising sheep with other villagers, Turhongmo is now able to live a better life. 

With the help of these Party members and village officials, 50 poverty-stricken villagers were successfully lifted from poverty in 2018 and 20 of them now have stable jobs.

As of the end of 2018, the CPC had altogether 90.59 million members, 1.03 million more than in 2017. Some 4.61 million Party organizations at the grass-roots level have been established, an increase of 0.8 percent compared with 2017, according to data released by the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee on Sunday. 

All the 55 ethnic minority groups in China have Party members. Party members from ethnic groups in China's five autonomous regions account for 35.6 percent of all Party members in these regions, according to the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee.

China's five autonomous regions are Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Tibet Autonomous Region, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.