The People's Liberation Army has raised educational requirements for its Shanghai enlistees this year, military recruiters said yesterday.

The new rules require recruits to have at least a high school education.

The local annual recruitment campaign will kick off at the beginning of November as part of a nationwide enlistment effort, the Shanghai Military Recruitment Office said. The targets are local men between age 18 and 22.

The Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China, in a bid to raise enlistment criteria nationwide, ruled that all new recruits must have at least completed junior high school. Higher standards were established for Shanghai and Beijing.

The top military body also specified that priority will also be given to graduates who have just finished high school or college this year.

The local recruiters also said screening tests for AIDs and drug use will be adopted this year nationwide.

Those tests have been used only on a trial basis in the past, the military officials said. Candidates who fail the tests will not be accepted into the army.

In addition to the physical exams, enlistees must also pass a mental test.

(Shanghai Daily October 15, 2008)