According to an article published by Xinhua, the CCP’s grass roots expansion effort can be summarized in the following four stages:
1) From 1949 to the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee in 1978 – expanded in villages, corporations, community districts, organizations, schools, and so on.
2) From the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee in 1978 to the 13th National Congress in 1987 – restored the damage caused by the Cultural Revolution and reestablished the party organizational structure.
3) From the 13th National Congress to the 16th National Congress in 2002 – further expanded under the socialist market economy system.
4) From the 16th National Congress in 2002 until now – strengthened party member development.
The article claimed that by the end of 2008, there were over 3.71 million party organizations established at the grass roots level, 3.5 million more than in 1949. Party members have reached 75.9 million, up by 71.4 million, crossing various age groups and educational backgrounds.
Source: Xinhua, September 26, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-09/26/content_12114209.htm