though i should caution there is no "party". the "party" is 70 million people, bigger than the population of iran, is there a single "iranian" mentality?
my cousin is a party member, he works on a computer assembly line making 3000 per month. 90% of party members have no power at all. one corrupt official steps on the heads of 10 clean ones or powerless party members to get there.
even so, because of the vast amount of officials in china, there's still too much corruption.
how the government actually works and how to get promoted, it's very complex. you can't just be a party member, that alone is worthless. you have to work in an actual government job (and not at a state owned enterprise or even finance, it has to be in administration) and through a combination of technical skill, charisma and backdoor deals, claw your way up slowly.
even most government officials don't know exactly how to get promoted. its a combination of higher level voting, personal ability, connections, money and public opinion. this is why americans just call it authoritarian, since they don't care about the real factors involved.
Yes, indeed wrong wording there, let me rephrase it. The top leadership should get rid of their paranoia mentality.