Editing People's Liberation Army (section)

=== Recruitment and terms of service ===
{{Main|Conscription in China}}

The PLA began as an all-volunteer force. In 1955, as part of an effort to modernize the PLA, the first ''Military Service Law'' created a system of compulsory [[military service]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Allen |first=Kenneth |date=January 14, 2022 |title=The Evolution of the PLA's Enlisted Force: Conscription and Recruitment (Part One) |url=https://jamestown.org/program/the-evolution-of-the-plas-enlisted-force-conscription-and-recruitment-part-one/ |access-date=2024-02-11 |website=[[Jamestown Foundation]] |language=en-US |quote=Following the setback of the Cultural Revolution, in the late 1970s, the PLA embarked on an ambitious program to modernize many aspects of the military, including education, training, and recruitment. Conscripts and volunteers were combined into a single system that allowed conscripts who fulfilled their service obligation to stay in the military as volunteer soldiers for a total of 16 years. |archive-date=16 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230416185858/https://jamestown.org/program/the-evolution-of-the-plas-enlisted-force-conscription-and-recruitment-part-one/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Since the late 1970s, the PLA has been a hybrid force that combines conscripts and volunteers.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=November 6, 2023 |title=China is struggling to recruit enough highly skilled troops |url=https://www.economist.com/special-report/2023/11/06/china-is-struggling-to-recruit-enough-highly-skilled-troops |url-access=subscription |access-date=2024-02-11 |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |issn=0013-0613 |quote=In the late 1970s it adopted the current hybrid system of volunteers and conscripts. |archive-date=10 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240210060539/https://www.economist.com/special-report/2023/11/06/china-is-struggling-to-recruit-enough-highly-skilled-troops |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last1=Allen |first1=Kenneth W. |last2=Corbett |first2=Thomas |last3=Taylor A. |first3=Lee |last4=Xiu |first4=Ma |date=November 3, 2022 |title=Personnel of the People's Liberation Army |url=https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/2022-11/Personnel_Peoples_Liberation_Army.pdf |access-date=2024-02-11 |website=[[United States–China Economic and Security Review Commission]] |page=23 |archive-date=16 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216095328/https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/2022-11/Personnel_Peoples_Liberation_Army.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Conscripts who fulfilled their service obligation can stay in the military as volunteer soldiers for a total of 16 years.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /> [[De jure]], military service with the PLA is obligatory for all Chinese citizens. However, mandatory military service has not been enacted in China since 1949.<ref>{{cite web |last=Wang |first=Amber |date=30 April 2022 |title=The new rules China hopes will build more professional soldiers |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3176096/new-rules-china-hopes-will-build-more-professional-soldiers |website=[[South China Morning Post]] |access-date=15 April 2024 |archive-date=22 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240722173807/https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3176096/new-rules-china-hopes-will-build-more-professional-soldiers |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="times_2301">{{cite magazine |date=6 January 2023 |title=Taiwan Is Extending Conscription. Here's How Its Military Compares to Other Countries |url=https://time.com/6245036/taiwan-conscription-military-comparison/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230108050220/https://time.com/6245036/taiwan-conscription-military-comparison/ |archive-date=8 January 2023 |access-date=8 January 2023 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref>