More ex-officers choose to join in private companies
( 2003-07-06 16:45) (Xinhua)
More and more ex-officers have chosen to join in the private sector since
2001, the year the government partially abandoned the decades-old practice of
job assignment for all former army officers upon their retirement, according to
the headquarters of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA).
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 holiday 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.
|
