China has stepped-up development of military equipment system to build a modern army and support national security, a report said.
Stressing on the need to prepare a "strategic plan" for developing military equipment system in view of the changing national security situation and "different international strategic pattern," Chinese President Xi Jinping said that these efforts should be information-led and would pay a great deal of attention to the quality of the weaponry, reported China Daily.
Jinping made the above statements at a People's Liberation Army equipment conference held in Beijing on Wednesday and Thursday.
The report quoted Wang Ya'nan, deputy editor-in-chief of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, as saying that the late 1990s have seen a spike in investment in the development of military equipment. He added that more advanced weapons and other equipments including, the J-20 stealth fighter jet, are being researched.
Xi's participation in the conference demonstrated the top leadership's attention to development of military equipment and also indicated a further increase in investment on equipment research, Ya'nan said.
The central government had earlier announced its decision to raise the defense budget by 12.2 percent to 808.2 billion yuan (132 million dollars) this year.
