China's air force plans to recruit 30 female pilots in 2005, some of whom might join the country's astronauts training program and be sent into space some day, according to an officer in charge of pilots recruitment of the Chinese air force.

"Unlike their predecessors who were mostly assigned to cargo aircraft piloting, navigation or telecommunication services, the new inductees will be trained for more demanding duties such as air refueling, airborne early warning and electronic reconnaissance. Some of them will even have the opportunity to join the elite astronauts team of the Air Force," said Senior Colonel Sui Guosheng, head of the Pilots Recruitment Bureau of the Air Force of People's Liberation Army.

China, which successfully conducted its first manned space flight in October 2003, plans to send women into space in three to five years.

Sui revealed that the candidates for this recruitment, which kicked off in 12 provinces across China Saturday and was expected to end in July, were high school graduates aged between 16 and 19.

"Once selected, the students will first spend four years in the Aeronautics University of the Chinese Air Force. Upon their graduation, they will be granted the military rank of first lieutenant," he added.

According to Sui, this was the eighth group of female pilots to be recruited by the Air Force of the Chinese People's Liberation Army since 1951. The Chinese air force, which has recruited and trained more than 300 female pilots since 1949, now boasts one of the largest contingent of female pilots in the world.