Chinese President Jiang Zemin Tuesday urged the whole country to do a good job in resettling newly-retired officers of the country's armed forces.

Addressing a national conference in Beijing on the resettlement of retired officers, the president, also chairman of the Central Military Commission, called on government departments, Chinese Communist Party committees and the departments of the armed forces at all levels to work closely for the resettlement work.

Retired officers will be given jobs by local government departments according to their ranks and positions they held in the army.

Speaking earlier Tuesday at the Great Hall of the People, Jiang said efforts should also be made to provide necessary services for retired officers who are expected to seek jobs on their own.

He hailed the achievements the country has made during the past three years to resettle retired officers as China has cut its armed forces by half a million soldiers.

Jiang said officers to be retired should accept the arrangements of their superiors and take into the account the difficulties of the State and the localities.

Vice-President Hu Jintao, also vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, also called for efforts to complete the task of resettling retired officers for this year.

He said difficulties remain as employment pressure continues to grow, government departments at prefecture, county and township levels nationwide are laying off surplus public servants, and there is the distribution trend of human resources through markets.

But the close attention from the CPC Central Committee, the recently-published regulations on resettling retired officers and the growing economic strength have laid a solid foundation for fulfilling the resettlement task.

Among those present at the meeting, presided over by Zhang Xuezhong, minister of Personnel, were Premier Zhu Rongji and other senior military leaders.

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