China is looking to recruit more college students for its armed forces in 2017, officials said at a teleconference on this year’s recruitment plan Friday.

According to the officials, recruiters should supervise and guide college students in the process, including student registration, pre-recruitment requirements and preferential recruitment conditions, in order to raise both the quantity and quality of recruited students.

Armed forces on all levels should also enhance quantified assessment in their recruitment methods to ensure a high quality of students, the officials continued.

Those young people with outstanding performance in disaster relief, and those who are the children or siblings of soldiers who have died while on active duty, should be the priorities for recruiters.

This year’s recruitment period is set to start on Aug. 1 and conclude on Sept. 30, as those with a high school education or above will make up the majority of the recruitment.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and other top Chinese leaders visit a major exhibition marking the 90th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) at the Military Museum of the Chinese People’s Revolution in Beijing, capital of China, July 21, 2017. Senior leaders Li Keqiang, Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan and Zhang Gaoli, also visited the exhibition. [Xinhua]

Top Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping, on Friday visited a major exhibition marking the 90th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, called for unremitting efforts to build the army into a world-class military.

Senior leaders Li Keqiang, Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan and Zhang Gaoli, also visited the exhibition at the Military Museum of the Chinese People’s Revolution.

Xi hailed outstanding feats made by the army under the leadership of the CPC in the past 90 years for national independence, people’s liberation, national prosperity and people’s happiness.

“We should remember the glorious history, inherit the red gene, and advance the great cause initiated by the older generations of revolutionaries from a new starting point,” he said.

The president encouraged people to strengthen their confidence in the path, theory, system and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and strive for the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the exhibition Friday morning, Liu Yunshan said the exhibition aimed to make good use of history as a textbook, while calling on people to rally closely around the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core.

The exhibition features major PLA battles, historical events, decision-making processes and achievements throughout its 90-year history.

Models of the PLA’s major military equipment in active service are exhibited, while interactive subjects that simulate the drills are also available.

More than 1,000 photos and 1,300 relics, as well as paintings, military gear and other items are on display.

The items include photos of China’s first aircraft carrier Liaoning in training in the South China Sea, models of China’s first hydrogen bomb and first air-drop atomic bomb.

Aug. 1 marks the PLA’s 90th anniversary.

The death toll has risen to four after an accident during the demolition of a multi-story building in Shanghai Friday afternoon, the local government said.

A total of six people have been rescued and sent to hospital, and four died after medical treatment failed.

The accident occurred when a multi-story building in Jiading District was being demolished and fell onto a neighboring hotel, trapping an unknown number of people.

Police and firefighters are currently undertaking rescue operations.

After graduating from Tsinghua University this summer, Xu Yingqiang left Beijing to work for a chemical trading company in Chengdu, southwest China’s Sichuan Province.

“In cities like Chengdu, I can still pursue my dreams, but without all the struggling,” said the 24-year-old graduate.

This year, the number of China’s college graduates is expected to reach 7.95 million, an increase of 300,000 on last year, according to the Ministry of Education.

Other than swarming into megacities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, more students want to start their careers in second-tier cities, including the provincial capitals and coastal cities, according to a recent survey.

The survey carried out by Zhaopin.com, one of China’s leading recruitment websites, showed that 37.5 percent of China’s new college graduates in 2017 wanted to work in second-tier cities, while 29.9 percent preferred top-tier cities.

“A few years ago, only a couple of students graduating from universities outside Chongqing came for our job interview, but this year we have a long queue of people with master’s and doctoral degrees from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou,” said Huang Zuge, an HR official in a Chongqing Internet company.

BOOMING ECONOMY

Statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that besides Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, eight smaller metropolises stepped into China’s 1-trillion-yuan (148 billion U.S. dollars) GDP club in 2016, including Chongqing, Chengdu, Wuhan, Suzhou and Hangzhou.

The rapid economic development of second-tier cities was the main factor attracting fresh graduates, said Su Hainan, vice president of the China Association for Labor Studies.

Hangzhou, capital of east China’s Zhejiang Province and host city of the 2016 G20 summit, hit a record with double-digit GDP growth for seven consecutive quarters in 2015 and 2016.

As the city where China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba is located, Hangzhou is famous for its online business development. The export of its cross-border e-commerce reached 5.27 billion dollars from January to November of 2016.

Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, is home to offices for 278 Fortune Global 500 companies, and also a key city in China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

“I think Chengdu will continue to benefit from the Belt and Road Initiative, and I see ample opportunities in trades with the advent of the China (Sichuan) Pilot Free Trade Zone,” Xu said.

Sichuan’s free trade zone was launched this April, and over 7,000 new companies have registered in Chengdu during the past three months.

FAVORABLE POLICY

Besides economic growth, the implementation of favorable employment policy in these cities is appealing to new college graduates.

Changsha, capital city of central China’s Hunan Province, provides housing and living subsidies from 6,000 to 15,000 yuan per year for graduates with different types of degree.

Those with doctoral degrees who work in Changsha can get 60,000 yuan of subsidies when they purchase their first residence in the city.

Liu Xuezhi, an analyst with the Bank of Communications, said adopting favorable employment policies met the need for innovative development in second-tier cities.

The government of southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality has financed 595 entrepreneurial programs, disbursing 16 million yuan of subsidies and reducing 30 million yuan of guarantee fees since 2015, according to the city’s Employment Service and Administration Department.

High-quality human resources are becoming a strong drive in the industrial transformation and upgrading of middle-level cities, said Liu Yuanchun, an economist and vice-president of Renmin University of China.

The death toll has risen to 11 after a road accident in north China’s Hebei Province Friday morning, local authorities said.

The accident happened at around 8:30 a.m. after a truck and a bus collided on a national highway near a village in Yuxian County, killing eight at the scene and injuring 12.

Three of the injured later died in hospital. Nine people are currently receiving medical treatment, with one in a critical condition.

Further investigation is underway.