GUANGZHOU -- The People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force is to recruit 40 female student pilots nationwide in 2019, according to its recruitment bureau.

The nationwide recruitment, the 12th of its kind, will be open to high school graduates aged between 17 and 20, said Fang Chuanhong, deputy head of the bureau.

In the past three years, the quality of PLA Air Force recruitment has increased significantly, with new recruits' overall national college entrance examination scores reaching the threshold of China's first-tier universities, Fang said.

The Chinese Air Force has been cooperating with top universities in training aviation talent, and 78 percent of the first list of their jointly trained pilots are now incorporated into combat positions, said Fang.

Furthermore, the Chinese Air Force will also enroll undergraduates under 24 years of age who pass political, physical and psychological tests.

More details are available on the bureau's official website (http://www.kjzfw.mil.cn), WeChat account and 2019 recruitment guidebook.