The Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Finance have required policemen to wear light blue shirts instead of iron-gray ones.

In a joint announcement, the ministries asked the policemen, except senior police officers, to wear light blue long-sleeved or short-sleeved uniform shirts and underwear shirts, and dark blue ties.

Senior police officers still wear white shirts.

Local public security departments should change the iron-gray uniform shirts and light gray ties in three years on an economical basis, said the ministries.

Chinese policemen have changed uniforms eight times since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949. The last change took place in 1999.

Currently, only the policemen in Shanghai are wearing light blue shirts and dark blue ties. Beijing's traffic policemen have begun wearing light blue shirts.

(Xinhua News Agency July 20, 2005)