On 1 Apr. 2023, China’s State Council and Central Military Commission jointly promulgated the revised “Regulation on Conscription Work” (hereinafter the “Regulation”, 征兵工作条例). The Regulation was last revised 22 years ago in 2001.
The highlights of the Regulation are as follows:
- The number of conscripts, frequency and time of, and requirements for national annual conscription shall be provided by the conscription orders of the State Council and the Central Military Commission.
- In conscription, priority will be given to graduates of higher education institutions and to conscripts with special requirements for political and physical conditions or professional skills. Regular higher education institutions may be directly assigned conscription tasks.
- Relevant departments shall incorporate the informatization of conscription into the information system of the national e-government and the armed forces.
- The military service authorities shall organize relevant departments to make initial military service registration among male citizens who reach the age of 18 by December 31 of the current year. The military service authorities shall determine in accordance with the law that male citizens who have initially registered for military service shall perform military service, be exempt from military service, or not perform military service.
- As needed by the armed forces, female citizens may be enlisted in active service according to applicable provisions.
Cover Photo by Eriksson Luo on Unsplash
Contributors: CJO Staff Contributors Team
