The Communist Party of China had 68.232 million members at the end of 2003, an increase of 1.291 million from 2002, said sources with the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee.

　　A total of 16.023 million people nationwide filed applications for CPC membership in 2003, up 5.9 percent. There were 2.235 million people recruited as CPC members last year, 139,000 more than the previous year.