The official Xinhua News Agency reports that Communist Party membership increased by 11,859,000 between 2002 and 2006 averaging 2.37 million per year. As of the end of 2006, Communist Party membership reportedly totaled 2.391 million, of which 14.292 million were female and 55.472 million were 35 years of age or above. According to an overseas Chinese global media, the Epoch Times, between December 3, 2004, and July 16, 2007, over 23.8 million persons quit the Communist Party, the Communist Youth League and the Young Pioneers by renouncing their membership on the web.
