PARTY CORE GROUPS AND PARTY LIFE
The party has formally constituted “party core groups” in the various government ministries. This form of organization evidently is not used in government bodies below the level of a ministry. In those lower-level government units, the party members are formed into party committees with branches and other subordinate divisions, depending on the number of party members in the unit. The ministerial-level government bodies, however, have both a party core group and a party committee. The former is by far the more powerful body.
Party core groups date back to the early days of the PRC. The initial idea was to have a separate forum for the top party members to utilize, given that in those days the CCP had visions of bringing a moderate number of nonparty individuals into positions of some authority. After the political campaigns of the 1950s, this original rationale no longer held , as virtually no individuals other than CCP members retained high positions in the ministries. The practice, nevertheless, continued.