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BEIJING — China is hoping to ease employment pressures from a flood of new college graduates by recruiting more of them into the military.
A recent directive from the government's Central Military Commission matches job worries with the military's own drive to raise its technical capabilities and adopt the management and training concepts of the U.S. and other modern militaries.
To help facilitate that, the upper age limit for enlistment into the 2.3 million-member People's Liberation Army has been raised from 20 to 24 for recruits with bachelor degrees, the official Xinhua News Agency reported late Sunday.
College graduates will also be given preference in recruiting over candidates who only have high school diplomas, Xinhua said. The new policy is expected to produce a "better performance in dealing with modern warfare," it said.
China began enlisting college students in 2001, but the effort has gained steam as the number of graduates continues to expand. Beijing's municipal government last month offered to help find jobs for any graduate who performs the standard two-year stint in the armed forces.
An estimated 6.1 million college graduates entered the job market this year, joining the 1.8 million graduates who finished school last year but have yet to find work.
Wages have stagnated and some graduates have been forced to take unskilled positions as shop assistants or housekeepers.
At the same time, the PLA is in need of better-educated soldiers to fly its sophisticated new jets, program its smart weapons, and handle the logistics of an expanding number of roles including U.N. peacekeeping operations and anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden.
