By the end of 2006, 31,000 democratic party members and personages without party affiliation in China took government official posts at and above the county level, says a white paper issued Thursday by the Information Office of the State Council.

In the areas of work they are put in charge, they have commanding power, the power to make decisions as well as the power to nominate and remove personnel, says the white paper titled China's Political Party System.

Among these officials, the white paper says, 18 served as deputy leaders in the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and various ministries, commissions, offices and bureaus directly under the State Council; 24 served as deputy provincial governors, vice-chairpersons and deputy mayors in the 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government; 356 served as deputy mayors or deputy governors of the people's governments of 397 cities (prefectures, leagues, districts); 35 served as vice-presidents of provincial courts or deputy attorneys-general of provincial procuratorates; and 141 serve as vice-presidents of courts and deputy attorneys-general of procuratorates at the prefecture/city level.

In addition, many members of the democratic parties and personages without party affiliation hold leading positions at institutions of higher learning, people's organizations, scientific research institutes, and state-owned enterprises.

The white paper says that 69 of them assume such posts at the 93research institutes under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and 38 at the 72 universities or colleges directly under the Ministry of Education. In 2007, two of them took up the positions of Minister of Science and Technology and Minister of Health, respectively.

At the same time, the State Council and governments at all levels have also invited 767 members of democratic parties and personages without party affiliation to work as counselors in the counselors' offices of the governments, and invited 1,393 as staff members of the central and local research institutes of culture and history.

Editor: Donald