In a directive read out at a meeting on veterans’ affairs in Beijing on Monday, Xi said “solid efforts” were needed to help ex-service personnel make the transition to civilian life so they can play a role in society and have their rights and interests protected, according to state news agency Xinhua.
“[We must] let military service be a profession that is respected by the whole society, and let our veterans become among the most respected people in society,” Xi said in the directive.
In the years before the ministry was set up, thousands of veterans had protested over their treatment and retirement benefits – especially those who fought in Vietnam in 1979 during a border conflict, China’s last major foreign military operation.
As well as the ministry, a new law took effect in January 2021 to strengthen protection of the legitimate rights and benefits of veterans.
The ministry in April said it had helped nearly 400,000 retired military personnel find jobs, including 264,000 positions at state-owned enterprises that had been exclusively reserved for veterans. It said that was a 7 per cent increase from the previous year.
Veterans had set up some 6 million businesses across China by the end of 2023 – up by 18 per cent from a year earlier, according to the ministry.
It also said that 267,000 ex-service personnel had enrolled in tertiary education programmes, and 148,000 received vocational training last year.
Last year, the ministry said that since it was set up it had provided legal support to more than 3,600 veterans and their families who were victims of criminal activities, and provided about 60 million yuan (US$8.3 million) in relief funds.
China’s millions of veterans could also have a role to play as reserve personnel should the People’s Liberation Army find itself at war. Beijing has pledged to improve veterans’ benefits in its latest five-year plan up to 2025 amid what it sees as an increasingly hostile international environment.
