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China vows to speed up military overhauls in bid to build up 'modern army'
Plan sets 2020 goal for progress in building modern armed forces
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 04 November, 2015, 12:51am
UPDATED : Wednesday, 04 November, 2015, 3:25am
Minnie Chan minnie.chan@scmp.com
[URL='http://cdn3.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/980w/public/2015/11/04/china_pek27_52356035.jpg?itok=v6XKv7XB']
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Soldiers of China's People's Liberation Army march during a military parade in Beijing in September. Photo: Reuters
The ruling Communist Party will speed up overhauls of the military's hardware and software, state media reported yesterday, adding it aimed to reach its reform target by 2020.
The pledge was contained in a communiqué issued nearly a week after the party's Central Committee met to decide on the 13th five-year plan.
The People's Liberation Army would make significant progress towards "mechanisation and informatisation" by 2020, and build a system capable of "winning an informationised war and effectively fulfilling the mandated mission of building modern military strength with Chinese characteristics", Xinhua reported.
Beijing-based retired major general Xu Guangyu said the five-year plan suggested that the PLA would make some big changes in personnel and streamline some parts of the military's structure.
"It's impossible for the whole PLA to become a modern army like those in the West by 2020, especially in hardware and personnel training. These will take time to improve," Xu said.
"The top priorities should be to reshuffle personnel and restructure systems to cut the complexity of the PLA's existing bulky organisation."
President Xi Jinping announced on September 3 that the military would shed 300,000 personnel in the first big step towards streamlining the world's biggest army.
The PLA's numbers will be cut from 2.3 million now to 2 million by 2017. Xi also heads the Central Military Commission, which oversees the PLA.
The announcement of the cuts came amid a massive anti-graft campaign that has ensnared top military figures, including two former CMC vice-chairmen Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou .
The five-year plan said the mainland would step up integration of military and civilian research and development, encouraging innovation in the defence industry and pushing the legislature to protect the intellectual property rights of civilian and military technologies.
Shanghai-based military observer Ni Lexiong said the plan would encourage both state-owned and private enterprises to copy the Western model and embrace a market economy in military production.
"If the five-year plan is implemented exactly as outlined in the communiqué, China will have its own defence giants like Lockheed Martin or Boeing, which will help China save on defence costs," Ni said.
The plan also called for China to play a part in setting global rules for cyberspace, deep sea exploration and aviation.
China vows to speed up military overhauls in bid to build up 'modern army' | South China Morning Post
Plan sets 2020 goal for progress in building modern armed forces
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 04 November, 2015, 12:51am
UPDATED : Wednesday, 04 November, 2015, 3:25am
Minnie Chan minnie.chan@scmp.com
[URL='http://cdn3.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/980w/public/2015/11/04/china_pek27_52356035.jpg?itok=v6XKv7XB']
[/URL]Soldiers of China's People's Liberation Army march during a military parade in Beijing in September. Photo: Reuters
The ruling Communist Party will speed up overhauls of the military's hardware and software, state media reported yesterday, adding it aimed to reach its reform target by 2020.
The pledge was contained in a communiqué issued nearly a week after the party's Central Committee met to decide on the 13th five-year plan.
The People's Liberation Army would make significant progress towards "mechanisation and informatisation" by 2020, and build a system capable of "winning an informationised war and effectively fulfilling the mandated mission of building modern military strength with Chinese characteristics", Xinhua reported.
Beijing-based retired major general Xu Guangyu said the five-year plan suggested that the PLA would make some big changes in personnel and streamline some parts of the military's structure.
"It's impossible for the whole PLA to become a modern army like those in the West by 2020, especially in hardware and personnel training. These will take time to improve," Xu said.
"The top priorities should be to reshuffle personnel and restructure systems to cut the complexity of the PLA's existing bulky organisation."
President Xi Jinping announced on September 3 that the military would shed 300,000 personnel in the first big step towards streamlining the world's biggest army.
The PLA's numbers will be cut from 2.3 million now to 2 million by 2017. Xi also heads the Central Military Commission, which oversees the PLA.
The announcement of the cuts came amid a massive anti-graft campaign that has ensnared top military figures, including two former CMC vice-chairmen Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou .
The five-year plan said the mainland would step up integration of military and civilian research and development, encouraging innovation in the defence industry and pushing the legislature to protect the intellectual property rights of civilian and military technologies.
Shanghai-based military observer Ni Lexiong said the plan would encourage both state-owned and private enterprises to copy the Western model and embrace a market economy in military production.
"If the five-year plan is implemented exactly as outlined in the communiqué, China will have its own defence giants like Lockheed Martin or Boeing, which will help China save on defence costs," Ni said.
The plan also called for China to play a part in setting global rules for cyberspace, deep sea exploration and aviation.
China vows to speed up military overhauls in bid to build up 'modern army' | South China Morning Post
Look at how F-35 can balloon into.
