Undergoing radical transformation to increase its combat capability amid rising tensions over the disputed South China Sea, President Xi Jinping is pushing China's 2.3 million-strong PLA which turns 89 tomorrow to train hard to win wars as it expands its high tech arsenal.
Reorganised from top to bottom by Xi in the last four years, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) - the world's largest - is bracing for major showdowns in its increasingly volatile neighbourhood triggered by the international tribunal verdict quashing China's expansive claims over the resource-rich South China Sea (SCS).
Reform is a comprehensive and revolutionary change, and obstacles and policy issues that may hold back reform measures must be addressed so as to build a strong armed forces commensurate with China's international status, Xi has said as he consolidated his hold over the military to emerge as the most powerful Chinese leader in recent times.
Operating under the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) unlike other militaries which function directly under governments, the PLA now enjoys a whopping over USD 145 billion annual budget, next only to the US military with whom it looks set for a confrontation in the SCS.
Focusing his attention on the PLA the day he took power in 2013, Xi wanted the military to function under the command of the Party, increase its capability to win wars and operate in proper working style by weeding out corruption.
Over 40 top commanders including two retired military chiefs faced investigation for corruption, which became rampant in the PLA with allegations of generals selling ranks for hefty bribes.
On July 25, a Chinese court sentenced former military chief Guo Boxiong to life in prison for corruption.
He was reported to have accepted bribes worth about USD 2.3 million mainly selling military ranks to highest bidders.
Xi also carried out the biggest anti-corruption drive to cleanse the party in which thousands of officials have faced punishment.
While firming up his grip on the military, Xi also stepped up PLA's reorganisation and brought the entire command and control under the Central Military Commission (CMC), the highest military body headed by him.
On April 20, Xi appeared in public with a new title - commander-in-chief of the newly-established CMC joint battle command centre which he inspected on the day dressed in camouflage fatigues.
The centre belongs to a tiered command system including the CMC, theatre commands and others. It is part of the overall reform of the PLA's organisation, a culmination of Xi's military thought, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
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Other changes include the inauguration of a general
command of the PLA Army, the PLA Rocket (Missile) Force, and the PLA Strategic Support Force to back the Rocket Force.
The seven military area commands were regrouped into five theatre commands, and the four military departments - staff, politics, logistics and armaments - were reorganised into 15 agencies.
"One of the changes has been to stress real combat drills," said Li Yinxiang, a professor in military strategy in the NDU.
Over the past three years, the PLA held hundreds of drills at regiment and brigade level and above, simulating combat environments as realistically as possible.
"In drills, we usually plugged coloured banners in all over the exercise fields before, beating drums and sounding gongs. It seemed to be very fierce, but it was not a real combat scenario at all," Li told Xinhua.
Also Li said the new centralised command system responded to the need of a more centralised decision-making processes in modern warfare, while partition of responsibility would lead towards a more modern administration.
"It is the biggest change to PLA structure since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949," said Li.
PLA is also acquiring modern weapons.
Since 2012 when China's first aircraft carrier "Liaoning" was commissioned, the PLA Navy has gained more and more experience in the utilisation of aircraft carrier strength through regular sea training.
Two more aircraft carriers are being built.
On July 6, the heavy-load air freighter Y-20 was commissioned, a crucial step for the PLA Air Force in improving its strategic power projection capability.
The ongoing large-scale joint drill in north China's Zhurihe training base showed that the PLA is paying more attention to modernised combat, the Xinhua report said.
More army aviation units joined in the drill compared to last year, and the PLA is taking advantage of new combat units such as special warfare, technical and space reconnaissance, electronic countermeasures and others, it said.
