Holding any position of authority in China almost always means being a party member, and getting expelled from the party effectively ends a person's political career. Other countries, including the United States, have their own disclosure rules for government workers, but what sets China apart is both how far reaching the controls are and how many people they touch. According to a paper from Fudan University, close to 70 million people were employed by the Chinese state as of 2020, a number that includes workers at public hospitals, schools, universities and state owned companies.