College students studying in local colleges and universities who enlist in the army during their studies in local colleges and universities are not counted as service years. In the third year (the service time is not less than two years and ten months), those who leave length of military service can be counted as length of military service for three years, not counting the retired soldiers of college graduates who have served in the army for more than five years.

According to the second paragraph of Article 5 of the Regulations of China People's Liberation Army on the Service of Soldiers in Active Service (revised on March 29th, 20th/KLOC-0), the service life of soldiers is "counted from the date when the military service organ approves the service in active service to the date when the army issues the retirement order".

Retired college student soldiers refer to soldiers who joined the army in the last semester of full-time colleges and universities or in the year of graduation, and have now retired from the China People's Liberation Army, the Chinese People's Armed Police Force and the public security active forces. Those who continue to go to school after retirement, and those who did not join the army when they graduated from ordinary full-time colleges and universities, do not belong to the retired soldiers of college students.