By IANS,
Beijing : Members of China’s Communist Party could be asked to pay 10 percent extra on their annual membership fees to help revitalize the struggling economies of three provinces.
The Global Times newspaper Friday identified the provinces as Ningxia Hui, Shaanxi and Gansu.
A draft development plan completed its final round of consultation in Xi’an, capital of Shaanxi province, May 26 and awaits final State Council approval, Shandong’s Ji’nan-based newspaper reported.
“I never heard of a special Communist Party fee of this kind in the history of the Communist Party of China (CPC),” Liu Zonghong, from the CPC Shanghai Municipal Party School, told Global Times.
If approved, all CPC members will pay the special fee for 10 years in a gesture toward the revolutionary bases of support for the party during the final phase of the Chinese Civil War (1945-49).
Party members earning 3,000 yuan ($460) a month or less currently pay up to 180 yuan a year membership fees.
Those on 5,000 yuan a month pay a 1 percent annual fee of 600 yuan, while 10,000 yuan salary earners pay 1,800 yuan a year.
Those earning more than 10,000 yuan a month pay 2 percent: 2,400 yuan and upwards.