BEIJING - The People's Liberation Army (PLA) has ordered chief officers in charge of military and political work at the grassroots level to switch posts to strengthen the army.

The move is expected to help to train quality grassroots officers who excel as military commanders and political chiefs, said a circular issued by the PLA General Political Department.

The circular was endorsed by President Xi Jinping, also chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC).

This is the first time the military has comprehensively undertaken work in this regard, according to Saturday's edition of the PLA Daily.

The PLA piloted a similar scheme with military and political chiefs at the battalion and company level in 2014.

As part of the pilot program, a brigade in the 27th Combined Corp ordered company chiefs to move positions after two years in office, while all battalion chiefs should change posts if they had not done this before.

The PLA General Political Department is mulling making this a routine practice in the armed forces and a "new normal" in training grassroot offices, said the circular.