China has more than 18,000 military schools for young people and more than 20 million Chinese youngsters attend them each year for national defense education.

The Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China said here Sunday that the schools provide activities such as summer camps, physical training and military survival skill contests.

The defense education and the military experience the young people receive in the schools have strengthened their national pride and their awareness of defense issues, the committee said.

The youth military schools are run by the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China and the Chinese Young Pioneers supported by the PLA and the Ministry of Public Security. They are an important form of national defense education for young Chinese.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the founding of these schools which were set up in April, 1996.

(Xinhua News Agency July 31, 2006)