China’s navy submarine academy recruits first female students in 72-year history

For the first time in 72 years, China’s top training institution for navy submarine personnel recruited 10 women for its bachelor’s degree programme.

The 10 students, who achieved top scores on this year’s university entrance exams, were accepted by the PLA Naval Submarine Academy, according to a social media post by the institution on Thursday.

Among the students were Wang Chenyue, from the village of Qianhe in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, who scored 647 out of 750 on her exam. As the academy delivered her acceptance letter, she said she had always wanted to join the military, especially the navy.

Another incoming student, Yang Jingyue from Taizhou, Jiangsu province, scored 652 out of 750 on her exam. She said she wanted to dedicate herself to China’s national defence, according to the social media post.

The academy was founded in 1953 and launched undergraduate programmes in 1956, master’s degree programmes in 1987, and doctoral programmes in 2003, according to its website.

Some of the academy’s key strengths and areas of specialisation include navigation technology, underwater target recognition, weapon systems and engineering, and naval architecture and ocean engineering.