Six engineers from China's military ranks have been elected to the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), bringing the total number of military experts in the country's top engineering body to 73.

Military experts account for 12 percent of the newly elected CAE members, a percentage that's higher than previous elections to the CAE, according to an official with General Political Department of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

The six experts are elected for their contribution in areas of information technology, military medicine and manned spaceflight.

They come from the Institute of Information Engineering, the Second Military Medical University and some research organizations of the General Armament Department and the General Staff Headquarters of PLA.

CAE elections are held every two years. This year's 50 new members were elected from 526 candidates. There are 704 members of the CAE.

(Xinhua News Agency December 15, 2005)