Officers can go abroad, but they need approval. Officers who plan to go abroad need to apply to the political department at the same level or at the next higher level, and can go abroad only after obtaining approval.
First of all, we need to know the exact meaning and concept of an officer. Cadres of the China People's Liberation Army are divided into two categories: officers and civilian cadres. According to Article 2 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Officers in Active Service, an officer refers to an active serviceman who has been awarded a position above platoon level or a professional and technical position above junior level, and has been awarded a corresponding rank. Officers are usually divided into junior officers, school officers and general officers. Officers are divided into five categories according to the nature of their duties: officers, political officers, logistics officers, equipment officers and professional and technical officers.
Civilian cadres are what people usually call "civilian officials". In fact, the term "civilian officer" is not accurate, but should be called "civilian cadre", such as cadres of literary and art groups in the army and cadres of scientific research institutes. Civilian cadres are divided into professional skills and non-professional skills, and the latter is sometimes called administrative civilian cadres.
From the above introduction, we can easily see that civilian cadres are most likely to be approved to go abroad. I know a civilian cadre who is engaged in scientific research in the army. He went abroad more than 10 years ago, when the military's examination was strict.