The number of national-level Chinese writers registered by the Chinese Writers Association has reached 6,442, among whom 809 are women while 705 are from the ethnic groups.

Meanwhile, another 33,000 writers are being registered by the Chinese Writers Association's 40 member organizations across the country, it was learnt on Monday.

Since the fifth National Congress of the Chinese Writers Association in 1996, the group has managed to recruit 1,493 new writers, 642 of them under the age of 45.

Writers registered in China's various writers associations have played an irreplaceable role in crafting modern Chinese literature, the official Xinhua News Agency said, adding that many of them are authors of most of China's greatest works.

Xinhua quoted the old Chinese saying that "literature thrives as the State prospers" to describe the growth the Chinese writers nowadays who are using their pen to keep track of the country's progress in all fields.

Currently, the sixth National Congress of the Chinese Writers' Association is being convened in Beijing starting Monday to select its new leading body.

(China Daily December 18, 2001)