Advancing the Modernization of National Defense and the Armed Forces at High Quality (The Great Journey)
A Rocket Force brigade organizes officers and soldiers to revisit their oath of Party membership. Photo by Liu Mingsong (distributed by Xinhua)
In late June, in Qingdao, Shandong, the Liaoning carrier battle group slowly berthed at its home port, with officers and soldiers standing in solemn formation on the flight deck. The battle group had traveled to the Western Pacific to conduct exercise and training activities, lasting more than 40 days, training continuously throughout the voyage, further enhancing its capability to carry out assigned missions and tasks.
Surveying the new era, from the depths of the oceans to the vast sky above, the People's Army is forging ahead toward the goal of winning wars with stronger capabilities and more reliable means.
At the meeting celebrating the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, Chairman Xi Jinping emphasized: "A strong country must have a strong military; only with a strong military can the country be secure. On the new journey, we must comprehensively implement the Party's thinking on strengthening the military in the new era, implement the military strategic guidelines of the new era, uphold the Party's absolute leadership over the People's Army, unswervingly follow the path of strengthening the military with Chinese characteristics, comprehensively advance the building of the military through politics (政治建军), strengthening the military through reform (改革强军), strengthening the military through science and technology (科技强军), strengthening the military through talented personnel (人才强军), and administering the military according to law (依法治军), advance the modernization of national defense and the armed forces at high quality, achieve the centenary goal of army building on schedule, accelerate the building of the People's Army into a world-class military, resolutely defend national sovereignty, security, and development interests, and make greater contributions to maintaining world peace and development."
Since the 18th National Congress of the Party, the Party Central Committee, the Central Military Commission, and Chairman Xi have made a series of strategic plans and deployments for accelerating the modernization of national defense and the armed forces, leading the entire military to open up a new landscape in the cause of military strengthening.
Strengthening the military must first mean being strong politically; being strong politically is the most fundamental form of strength.
In 2014, at Gutian in western Fujian, Chairman Xi personally decided to convene the All-Army Political Work Conference there, making deployments for political army-building (政治建军) in the new era. In 2024, at Yan'an in northern Shaanxi, at the Central Military Commission Political Work Conference, Chairman Xi scientifically summarized the "ten clarifications" (十个明确) of the new-era political army-building strategy, emphasizing the need to "carry forward the spirit of thorough self-revolution and continuously deepen political rectification and training (政治整训)."
From Gutian to Yan'an, Chairman Xi led the People's Army to seek its roots and origins, reorganize its ranks, and guide the military to march forward in good order and be tempered into steel toward a world-class force. Over these years, the People's Army has steadfastly advanced political army-building and deepened political rectification and training, effectively resolving the prominent problem of weakening the Party's absolute leadership over the military, and in the course of revolutionary tempering has held fast to its roots and soul.
Striding forward on the new journey, officers and soldiers throughout the military persistently use Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to forge unity of thought and cast the soul, thoroughly implement Xi Jinping's thinking on strengthening the military, implement the system of CMC Chairman responsibility (军委主席负责制), strive to strengthen the military under the Party's banner, and consolidate the ideological foundation of heeding the Party and following the Party.
"Model Company for Guarding the Borders on the Snow-Covered Plateau," "Model Ground Station for Serving the Aerospace Cause for the Nation," "Counter-Terrorism Vanguard Squadron"… Guided by Xi Jinping's thinking on strengthening the military, "four-iron" (四铁) elite units are being forged at an accelerated pace, and "four-have" (四有) new-era revolutionary servicemembers are growing vigorously, injecting inexhaustible momentum into the cause of military strengthening in the new era.
With deep roots, the sinews and bones must also be strong.
In November 2015, the Central Military Commission Reform Work Conference was convened, issuing the call to action for deepening national defense and military reform—comprehensively implementing the strategy of strengthening the military through reform and unswervingly following the path of strengthening the military with Chinese characteristics.
Reforming the general departments, reshaping the service branches, and establishing the theater commands: an operational command system of CMC–theater commands–forces and a leadership and management system of CMC–services–forces were established, forming a new pattern in which the CMC exercises overall control (军委管总), the theater commands focus on warfighting (战区主战), and the services focus on building (军种主建). The scale, structure, and force composition were reformed, reshaping unit organization and new-quality combat forces (新质作战力量). Military policy and institutional reform was advanced in depth, with newly revised laws including the National Defense Law, the Law on the Status and Rights Protection of Military Personnel, and a series of other laws reviewed and approved…
The People's Army achieved an overall revolutionary reshaping: the leadership and command structure underwent a historic transformation, the scale and structure became more streamlined and rational, and policies and institutions became increasingly coordinated and complete.
With the sinews and bones reshaped, the wings must also be stronger.
The great nation's strategic assets must be firmly held in our own hands. In 2021, submarine No. 18 of the Long March series, the destroyer Dalian, and the amphibious assault ship Hainan were commissioned. In 2022, the aircraft carrier Fujian was launched and the YU-20 tanker aircraft entered combat training. In 2025, cutting-edge weapons and equipment made a concentrated appearance at the parade ground. A series of high-precision advanced technologies were successively overcome, and a batch of advanced weapons and equipment were successively fielded.
In the new era, CMC organs have strengthened research on major practical problems in military struggle preparation, focusing on improving the capabilities to plan for war, command war, and lead troops in war. Theater commands and service branches have vigorously advanced the integration of combat and training (战训耦合), system-of-systems training (体系练兵), and science and technology-driven training (科技练兵), forging elite troops capable of fighting and winning. Military academies and research institutions have focused on actual combat in teaching, cultivating talent, and pursuing innovation.
Daring to struggle, daring to win. On the front lines of military training, a scene of vigorous training unfolds. The "Strong Military Elite Red Fourth Company" of an Army brigade achieved full-personnel qualification in combat shooting within fewer than 100 days of receiving new equipment, and successfully completed multiple major exercise and training missions. The "Strong Military Vanguard Aviation Brigade" of an Air Force brigade emphasized realistic combat training, with multiple personnel winning the Air Force confrontation competition's "Golden Helmet" (金头盔).
On April 8 of this year, a training course for senior military officers of the entire military opened at the National Defense University. Chairman Xi emphasized at the opening ceremony: "We must take Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as our guide, thoroughly implement the new-era thinking on strengthening the military, carry out ideological rectification (思想整风), deepen political rectification and training (政治整训), strengthen the revolutionary tempering of our military's officer corps, always maintain the purity and glory of the People's Army, and greet the centenary of the founding of the army with a completely new political bearing."
Always remaining heroic forces that the Party and the people can fully trust and rely upon, officers and soldiers throughout the military hold firm convictions and make resounding pledges: we have the confidence and the capability to safeguard national sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity; we have the confidence and the capability to provide strategic support for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation; and we have the confidence and the capability to make greater contributions to world peace and development!