BEIJING - The Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), one of China's leading academic organs, has recruited a total of 54 new members this year in order to capitalize on available talent.

Among the 54 academicians newly recruited are six foreign scholars -- four from the United States, one from Japan and one from Australia -- said the CAE's vice president Xu Rigan on Thursday.

The dilatation has taken the CAE's total number of members to 783, said Xu, adding that it would help to extend the range of subjects covered by the organization and promote the development of the nation's engineering technology.

These academicians have an average age of 56.7 years old, with 38, or 70.4 percent, of them under 60, which indicates a trend for younger talents joining the CAE, Xu said.

More than 46 percent of them were selected from higher-learning institutions, while 38.9 percent had worked in various research organs.

The Division of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering took in eight of the 54, the most of the CAE's nine divisions.

In response to public doubts over a number of high-level government officials and senior company managers as candidates, Xu said, "our selection process is fair and square to all candidates...for academicians in the field of engineering management, two selecting criteria are academic background and past management performance."

Xu said only three were selected as academicians of the CAE's engineering management division.

"We did find that a small number of candidates violated rules during the process of selection. Consequently, we invalidated their candidate qualifications and reported these cases to their working units," said Xu, adding that those guilty of serious misconduct had it recorded in the CAE credit system.

Xu called upon the new academicians to continue to make full use of their advantages in the engineering field "in a modest, discreet and objective manner rather than taking pride as an authoritative figure."

As one of China's most important think tanks, the CAE usually recruits members every two years. It took in 33 and 48 academicians respectively in 2007 and in 2009.