More than 100,000 Chinese college graduates have applied to join the People's Liberation Army (PLA) as of Friday since this year's military pre-recruitment campaign was launched in mid-April, according to the Ministry of Education.

There was a remarkable increase in the number of applicants with a Bachelor's degree or above over the same period last year, said a notice issued Sunday on the ministry's official website, without giving details.

All the applicants should register online by June 15.

China initiated large-scale military pre-recruitment for college and university graduates last year as part of plans to uplift the quality of servicemen while grappling with job crisis.

The notice said college and university graduates had shown great enthusiasm for the pre-recruitment this year despite the fact that the job market was performing better.

A series of recruitment-themed lectures and activities have been held in colleges and universities across the country, according to the notice.

In 2009, about 130,000 college and university graduates applied to join the army and more than 100,000 of them were recruited. The PLA planned to recruit around 150,000 this year, according to earlier reports.