BEIJING- The military recruitment period in China has been moved and will now begin in August in a bid to attract more talented people, military sources said on Friday.

An online recruitment service run by the Ministry of National Defense (MND) is ready for applications, and recruiting procedures including body check-ups will begin on August 1, according to a statement after a national teleconference on conscription.

The previous recruitment period began in October, and the change is the first in 23 years.

Sources said the decision has been approved by the State Council and the Central Military Commission.

The statement said that the new recruitment period, which follows the graduation season, will help attract more talented young people to the army.

The MND asked conscription authorities across the country to prioritize admissions of better-educated young applicants.

The Chinese military started recruiting college graduates in 2001. More than 130,000 People's Liberation Army soldiers were college graduates as of the end of 2009.

To help the military recruit more students, the country's top legislature amended the Military Service Law in 2011, raising the maximum age for recruits to 24.

China also relaxed restrictions regarding the height, weight and appearance of recruits in 2011 to attract more young applicants.