Abstract
This paper first surveys the distribution of cadres of the Communist Youth League (CYL) in the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese government, and traces their rise to power. The subject of this study includes 200 CYL leaders, former and present, who now serve as vice-ministers or vice secretaries of provincial party committees. The cutoff time is early October 2006, when the CPC provincial party secretaries underwent a reshuffle. This paper believes that the rise of this CYL faction results from factional politics and the organization's mission of grooming cadres for the party and the government. The CYL's mission is both to provide talented cadres to the party, government, and civil organizations and to recruit youth of different backgrounds and specialties to serve in the CYL. CYL thus becomes a talent pool and a network, giving rise to a so-called Tuanpai (League Faction). As a national network and a recruitment pool for the preparation for future political leaders, Tuanpai has advant ages over other more traditional factions. Chinese leaders, with or without a CYL background, must take into account this national network to solidify their power base. Consequently, the political influence of this faction will continue in the future, irrespective of changes in leadership.
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