Beijing, June 20: Chinese President Hu Jintao has urged the nation to find suitable civilian posts for some 42,000 soon-to-be demobilized military officers, as China's army begins a massive cut in its ranks, state press said today. A nationwide teleconference held yesterday publicized a June 15 order by Hu calling on government and military officials to secure proper jobs in the civil sector for the demobilized officers, the people's daily reported.


The order appeared to be part of a plan to cut the People's Liberation Army (PLA) by 500,000 troops to around 1.85 million soldiers over the next five years.
According to reports, this was first announced by Hu in a May 26 speech on military modernization.

Bureau Report