China offers online employment training for retired military officers

An Internet-based employment training system for retired commissioned officers had been put in place across the country, according to China's minister of human resources and social security. Over 40,000, or 95 percent, of those who retired this year had received training through the system, said Minister of Human Resources and Social Security Yin Weimin at a working conference held in Beijing Thursday. The system particularly targets retiring high-ranking officers who choose to start their own businesses or find employment on their own instead of taking offers to join governmental agencies or public institutions. A considerable sum of retirement payments and systematic employment training will be provided if they choose not to take governmental reallocations through the traditional channel. An official report in August indicated that about 116,000 commissioned officers, or 42 percent of all qualified officers, have chosen the new way of settlement in the first ten years since the introduction of the policy. Yin's speech also highlighted the ministry's efforts in pushing forward training and reforms in the civil servant system. Over five million civil servants were trained this year and a pilot program for a contract-based civil servant management system had been put on trial.