The air force is offering pilot training to high school pupils in its latest attempt to attract young and qualified recruits needed to upgrade the People's Liberation Army.
Flight training will be provided for about 1,000 successful applicants, age 14 to 16, in selected high schools, according to a statement jointly issued on Thursday by the ministries of education, public security and the PLA general political department. The training will start later this year.
The programme is the most recent in a slew of initiatives the air force has taken to induct young talent to build an "integrated air and space capability" and to forge greater balance among the PLA's land, sea and air branches, as urged by President Xi Jinping.
The pilot-training plan was announced on the same day that the air force released its new recruitment commercial The Skies Belong to the Brave.
The ad said "a large number of new high-quality pilots" were wanted to join the air force to operate "new types of fighter jets", according to PLA air force spokesman Colonel Shen Jinke.
Applicants would be subject to background checks and psychological tests to make sure the right people were picked, Senior Colonel Peng Junxia, head of the air force's pilot recruitment bureau, was cited as saying by Xinhua.