Beijing: The Chinese military is offering the much-sought-after Beijing household registration permit as reward to non-local graduates who join it, following reports that the world`s largest standing army is not attracting many students.
For non-local college graduates who desire Beijing "hukou", or household registration permit, joining up for a spell in the Chinese military may be a good option, a report in the state-run Global Times said.
Hukou is a Chinese household registration record.
In China, one individual has only one legitimate identity and hukou record in the place he or she was born.
Residential permits in cities like Beijing are key to success in China as they provide better access to education, employment and better living conditions.
The move, which is widely seen as an incentive to boost the declining number of new recruits, has attracted many students, the daily said.
An official from the municipal education commission termed this preferential policy for new recruits who have graduated from the capital`s colleges this year as a breakthrough.
"Previously, non-local students had to return to their hometowns to enrol," he told the daily.
The 2.3-million-strong People?s Liberation Army (PLA), which now wants to recruit only the graduates in view of the increasing role of technology in the military, is currently conducting the recruitment drive in the campuses in Beijing.
Some see the new move as an effort to relieve the depressed job market, as a record 6.99 million graduates, up from 1. 90 lakh in 2012, are set to enter the workplace this year.
Already, the PLA has changed its enrolment period after 23 years to attract more talented people.
The Ministry of National Defence has launched online applications starting August 1 instead of October.
The new recruitment period, which follows the graduation season, will help attract more talented young people to the army, official media reported earlier.
PTI
