Wanted: Communist Party members for high-paying jobs at internet giants
- Baidu and Didi advertise for people to take charge of ‘party-building’ activities
.jpg?itok=H5_PTCSf&v=1700020945)
Wanted: bachelor’s degree holder with at least two years of experience in government affairs and Communist Party membership. Applicants with experience in government or big companies preferred. Annual salary 240,000 yuan (US$34,760) to 480,000 yuan (US$69,520).
The high-paying job offer on employment website Liepin.com was posted late last month by Didi Chuxing as part of the ride-hailing giant’s effort to recruit someone for “party-building activities” within the company.
According to the ad, the “government affairs manager” would be responsible for planning activities in line with the party committee’s instructions.
Over at internet search firm Baidu, a similar position is on offer for even more – up to 560,000 yuan a year. As part of the job, the successful applicant will have to “organise and plan party-planning activities, strengthen company cohesion and influence, promote the company’s brand and image”.
Xi Jinping targets grass roots in push to extend Communist Party control
The vacancies come as President Xi Jinping seeks to reassert the party’s control over society, with requirements that all companies of a certain size, including foreign firms, establish their own party branches.
Regulations released in the last few weeks spell out how these branches should operate.
The point was driven home in November when the party’s organisation department in the southern province of Guangdong called a meeting of internet companies, telling them to strengthen party activities.
Baidu and Didi declined to comment on the positions, which were later taken down from Liepin.
Two similar positions from Didi and one from Baidu remained online, but the salaries were not disclosed.
But a source close to the company said the final salary would depend on the applicant’s experience and previous payment.
Chinese Communist Party needs to curtail its presence in private businesses
A decade-long, Beijing-based party member said she was surprised by how high the advertised salaries were.
“To my understanding, the position usually does not pay this much,” she said. “Maybe 6,000 a month.”
She said she had to attend party-building activities in her previous and present positions.
One meeting was based on the theme “criticism and self-criticism”, and involved members reviewing their own and others’ performance.
“One person said that she had a ‘bourgeois mindset’ because she yearned for the company to send her on business trips abroad,” she said.
