Key facts
- The Central Military Commission and State Council general offices issued the end-to-end sunshine recruitment opinion in early November 2026.
- The Defense Ministry recruitment office said graduates first passed 50% of recruits in 2022 and have held above 70% for three years.
- The assisted enlistment placement system was trialed nationwide in the first half of 2026, per the Hebei recruitment office.
- Shenzhen's Longgang district uses a smart city database to map eligible youth by residence, education and specialty.
- Ningbo's recruitment office checks applicants' hospital records under confidentiality agreements to screen medical history.
- Linyi in Shandong used smart devices in 2026 to measure recruits' body mass index, lung capacity and balance.
China's Central Military Commission and State Council general offices issued an opinion on end-to-end sunshine recruitment in early November 2026, ordering data-driven systems across the enlistment process to build a military focused on war readiness. The Defense Ministry published the text on November 9, 2026, attributing it to the PLA Daily.
The Defense Ministry recruitment office said the share of university graduates among recruits first passed 50% in 2022 and has held above 70% for the past three years. It said the assisted enlistment placement system, which combines applicants' preferences, strengths and military needs through an algorithm, was trialed nationwide in the first half of 2026.
Local recruitment offices described data links with other agencies. Ningbo's office checks applicants' hospital records under confidentiality agreements to screen medical history. Shenzhen's Longgang district uses a smart city database to map eligible youth by residence, education and specialty. Linyi in Shandong used smart devices in 2026 to measure body mass index, lung capacity and balance.
In early September 2026, university graduate Zhang Hongming, who holds a senior electrician certificate, was assigned to an army unit through the assisted placement system at a Qinglong county enlistment meeting in Hebei.