14 September 2017

News Story: Reform brings China closer to strong army goal

BEIJING, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- When a massive military parade was staged at Zhurihe in Inner Mongolia on July 30, Chinese citizens, as well as people worldwide, saw a military taking solid steps toward a strong army.

More than 12,000 service personnel from the army, navy, air force, armed police as well as the newly formed rocket force and strategic support troops took part in the parade, which also featured China's tanks, armored vehicles, missile launchers and fighter jets.

President Xi Jinping reviewed the armed forces as part of the commemorations that marked the 90th founding anniversary of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), which fell on Aug. 1.

Two days later, at a grand gathering in celebration of the anniversary, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), said the Chinese military has reshaped its political environment, organizational form, system of military strength and work style over the past five years.

During those five years, China has advanced the reform of national defense and the armed forces under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Xi at its core, making historic steps in building a system of military strength with Chinese characteristics.

Read the full story at Xinhua