This year, 42,000 PLA officers will retire, and 13,000 of them are expected to be employed by private companies, while in 2001 and 2002, the numbers of former army officers to work in private firms stood at 8,000 and 11,000 respectively.

In the past, all retired officers were hired by government institutions or state-owned enterprises, but the booming private businesses over the past two decades have created new job opportunities for these former service people, thus easing a heavy load for the government.

However, the government has offered officers at the ranks of battalion and regiment leader the freedom to choose between being assigned a government job by the government or looking for a job by themselves. Those who are willing to find a job by their own efforts will be paid a monthly allowance, enough for fundamental daily needs, and allowed to start their own business or be employed by a private company.

The government has issued many preferential policies to encourage former officers to enter the private sector, such as a three-year tax exemption and conveniences in obtaining bank loans and registering a company.

For the past few years, some ex-officers have been very successful in running their own businesses. Xie Lan, a former teacher in the army, first found a job in a Singaporean real estate company after leaving the army, and later, she started her own firm. The former captain has sponsored a series of successful cultural shows at home and abroad.

Major Li Jianming, of a telecommunications brigade at the PLA's Beijing Military Area Command, told Xinhua that the preferential policies have received a warm welcome among the service people. This year, 10 retiring officers in his unit have chosen to work in private firms, compared to one in 2001 and five in 2002.

(Xinhua News Agency July 7, 2003)