The Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at Its Core Leads the People's Army in Writing a New Chapter of Strengthening and Revitalizing the Military
Striding Forward Toward the Centenary Army-Building Goal — The Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at Its Core Leads the People's Army in Writing a New Chapter of Strengthening and Revitalizing the Military
■ PLA Daily Reporter Fei Shiting, People's Daily Reporter Jin Zhengbo, Xinhua News Agency Reporter Mei Changwei
[Photo caption: Recently, an aviation regiment of the Air Force conducted aerial refueling training. Photo by Zhang Meng]
In the height of a bingwu-year summer, the People's Army — having traversed 99 extraordinary years — once again welcomes its own holiday: Army Day on August 1.
In Nanchang, Jiangxi, the August 1 Nanchang Uprising Memorial Tower stands tall and imposing. Carved into its base are the characters "1927.8.1." At its summit, a granite-sculpted "Hanyang-made" rifle stands upright alongside the "August 1" military flag unfurling in the wind, together commemorating the magnificent journey of a heroic army.
Time is the most faithful recorder and the greatest writer. Over 99 years, the People's Army — setting out from this heroic city, holding high the Party's banner — has passed through the smoke and fire of battle, forged ahead through every obstacle, made enormous sacrifices, won one glorious victory after another, and rendered great historical service to the Party and the people. It now advances with unstoppable strides toward a great moment: the centenary of the army's founding.
Building a consolidated national defense and a powerful military is a goal our Party has pursued without cease. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, with an eye toward realizing the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and centered on achieving the Party's goal of building a strong military in the new era, has charted the course of the great enterprise of military strengthening and led national defense and military development to achieve historic accomplishments and undergo historic transformations.
This year marks the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and is also a pivotal year for fighting the decisive battle to achieve the centenary army-building goal.
On July 1, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, President Xi Jinping emphasized at the rally celebrating the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China: "We must comprehensively implement the Party's thinking on strengthening the military in the new era, implement the military strategic guidelines for the new era, uphold the Party's absolute leadership over the people's armed forces, unswervingly follow the path of building a strong military with Chinese characteristics, comprehensively advance the military's development through political work, reform, science and technology, talented personnel, and the rule of law, advance the modernization of national defense and the military with high quality, achieve the centenary army-building goal on schedule, and accelerate the building of the people's armed forces into a world-class military."
The Party flag leads the military flag forward; the new journey of military strengthening strides ahead. Standing at the historical juncture of the 99th Army Day, the people's armed forces led by the Party are pressing forward with a spirit of struggle and a new bearing — concentrating their efforts to overcome difficulties and striving to be first — writing new glory on the magnificent scroll of military strengthening and revitalization.
(I) Forging the Military Soul: Rectification and Training Bring Forth a New Ethos
"To build a strong military, political strength must come first; political strength is the most fundamental form of strength."
In the capital Beijing, on the eastern side of the northern extension of the central axis, the Museum of the Communist Party of China welcomed a group of visitors in military uniform — students of the All-Army Senior Cadre Training Class.
Tracing roots and origins, tempering and forging. Historical photographs, revolutionary relics, and vivid scenes prompted the senior military cadres attending the training to reflect deeply: Why did you join the Party? Why did you join the military? Why did you become a commander?
Senior cadres are the backbone of the enterprise of military strengthening, bearing a weight of a thousand jun on their shoulders, with thousands of troops behind them. At the historical juncture of the new "three-step" strategic transition in national defense and military modernization, Chairman Xi personally decided to hold the All-Army Senior Cadre Training Class. This is a strategic measure to consolidate and deepen the results of political rectification and to forge the backbone of the military-strengthening enterprise.
On the morning of April 8, Chairman Xi attended the opening ceremony and delivered an important address, emphasizing the need to carry out ideological rectification (思想整风), deepen political rectification (政治整训), strengthen the revolutionary tempering of our military's cadre corps, always maintain the purity and glory of the people's armed forces, and greet the centenary of the army's founding with a new political bearing.
Senior cadres receive education first; the "key minority" (关键少数) receives genuine education. Studying original texts, receiving thematic instruction, visiting and learning, engaging in discussion and exchange — the students of the training class underwent a spiritual baptism at the depths of their souls.
On the day the first training class concluded, 16 student representatives shared their reflections, speaking of the weight of their mission and the responsibility of practical action. Outside the window, a sculpture of the Red Army's Long March stood quietly, illuminating the path already traveled and pointing toward the distance. Reforged and tempered, the students set out again, returning to their respective posts and embarking on new journeys.
Looking back at the glorious history of the people's armed forces — from the Sanwan Reorganization to the Gutian Conference, from the Yan'an Rectification Movement to the New-Style Army Rectification Movement during the War of Liberation, from the rectification of Party work in the early years of the People's Republic to the comprehensive Party rectification after reform and opening up — the people's armed forces have grown stronger, purer, and more combat-capable through each round of rectification and training.
"To build a strong military, political strength must come first; political strength is the most fundamental form of strength." Since entering the new era, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, from the strategic height of winning the historical initiative in military strengthening and revitalization, has led and advanced political army-building (政治建军) and political rectification (政治整训) with enormous political courage and a strong sense of historical responsibility, firmly defending the political character of the people's armed forces and opening a new journey of reshaping the people's armed forces through political rectification.
From Gutian to Yan'an, from the All-Army Political Work Conference to the Central Military Commission (CMC) Political Work Conference — consistently and thoroughly addressing the rectification of ideology, personnel use, organization, work style, and discipline — the Party leadership that had once been weakened in our military has been strengthened; the focus of work that had once drifted has been corrected; the unhealthy tendencies and corruption that were once thought impossible to stop have been curbed; the political ecosystem that had once deteriorated has been reversed. The people's armed forces have been reborn through revolutionary tempering, laying a more solid ideological foundation and providing a stronger political guarantee for achieving the centenary army-building goal.
— Consciously using the Party's innovative theories to transform thinking and consolidate the foundation.
In Yongxin, Jiangxi, the Sanwan Reorganization Memorial Stele inscribes history and enlightens the future. During an inspection of troops, Chairman Xi recounted with deep feeling the story of what happened here: "The 54th Group Army has a famous 'Red First Company.' In September 1927, during the 'Sanwan Reorganization,' Comrade Mao Zedong personally established a Party branch in this company and developed six new Party members, pioneering our military's practice of 'building the branch at the company level.'"
Having red roots requires also having a red soul. In recent years, the "Red First Company" has integrated the study of the Party's innovative theories into daily life through branch-organized study, system-promoted study, Party member-led study, backbone-assisted study, and scenario-aided study, igniting the intrinsic motivation of officers and soldiers to train for combat and strive to overcome difficulties, and successfully completing numerous major exercise and training missions.
All units have consistently placed the ideological and political building and mastery of the troops in a prominent position, persistently using the Party's innovative theories to forge the soul and cultivate people. On the western frontier, multiple propaganda teams of an Air Force unit ascended to the plateau, entered positions, and went to combat posts, explaining the Party's innovative theories in plain and accessible terms. On the vast South China Sea, the "Loyal Blue Whale Stage" of a Navy submarine crew delivered lectures from the deep sea, guiding officers and soldiers to study, reflect on, and practice Xi Jinping's thinking on military strengthening in light of their actual missions. On the front lines of exercises and training, a Rocket Force brigade, adapting to the dispersed and mobile characteristics of its units, flexibly carried out mass discussion activities under the theme "Everyone Talks About the Thinking on Military Strengthening" (强军思想大家谈)… Continuously consolidating the foundation of faith, replenishing the calcium of the spirit, and steadying the helm of thought.
— Consciously carrying forward the spirit of thorough self-revolution.
In May of this year, the CMC issued Several Measures on Strengthening the Education, Management, and Supervision of Senior Military Cadres, aimed at strictly enforcing discipline to alert the mind and guide conduct, strictly managing principal officers so that those above set an example for those below, and strictly clarifying responsibilities to ensure genuine and effective implementation — firmly establishing the iron rules of strict education, strict management, and strict supervision.
"Our Party is a Marxist political party that always represents the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of the people; it has no special interests of its own whatsoever, and any thought or behavior of seeking private gain or engaging in corruption is utterly incompatible with the Party's nature and purpose." Since the 18th National Congress, under the firm leadership of the Party Central Committee, the CMC, and Chairman Xi, all military units have adhered to comprehensively and strictly governing the Party and the military, deeply advancing political rectification, rectifying work style, enforcing discipline, and combating corruption; persisting in thorough investigation and rooting out evil completely; resolutely investigating and punishing corrupt elements at senior levels of the military; effectively eliminating major political risks; and consolidating the purity and glory of the people's armed forces.
Identifying and exposing the manifestations of pernicious influence; establishing clear targets for problems; conducting in-depth investigations and rigorous examination and correction; opposing privileged thinking and privileged behavior; rectifying the "Four Winds" (四风) with the spirit of hammering a nail; resolutely investigating new forms of corruption and hidden corruption; deepening the simultaneous investigation and governance of work-style problems and corruption; working persistently and systematically, advancing the integrated effort to make officials dare not, cannot, and do not want to be corrupt; focusing on key sectors and fields for strict governance, driving the elimination of unspoken rules and entrenched malpractices across all domains… A clean and upright atmosphere pervades every military camp.
— Consciously establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements (政绩观).
For whom are political achievements built? What kind of political achievements should be built? How should political achievements be built? At all levels throughout the military, units have consistently combined the study and education on establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements with advancing combat readiness training, planning and construction, and grassroots building, ensuring that study is of quality, investigation has force, and correction is effective — allowing "proceeding from reality and acting in accordance with objective laws" to enter into thinking and work guidance, and using genuine hard work to drive high-quality development.
An Army brigade pursued a learning approach of "thematic research, immersive study, and scenario-based discussion," studying deeply and comprehensively in close connection with ideological rectification, and correcting deviations in the view of political achievements at the ideological root. An academy of the National Defense University consistently used typical cases as "living teaching materials" and warning education as a "sobering agent," enabling Party members and cadres to understand laws and regulations, know the rules, and maintain a sense of awe. A unit of the Cyberspace Force, in connection with the progress of rectification and governance, systematically identified and examined problems, collected opinions and suggestions from units online and offline, and dynamically updated the problem list. A unit of the Space Force integrated the advancement of problem rectification with the rectification and governance of key sectors and fields, closing out each problem as it was corrected. All theater commands, cross-referencing problems identified during inspections, research visits, and exercises and training, refined the examination and correction of deviations in the view of political achievements regarding combat readiness, and used whether something is conducive to improving combat effectiveness as the hard standard for measuring all work, driving the firm establishment of the combat effectiveness standard.
Having undergone rectification and tempering, the fundamental principle and system of the Party's absolute leadership over the military have been further consolidated; ideals and convictions, the original aspiration and character, and traditional work styles have powerfully returned; and the morale, mental outlook, and political ecosystem of the troops have undergone major and profound changes. The conviction of all officers and soldiers throughout the military to heed the Party and follow the Party is unshakably firm, aggregating the will and strength to struggle for military strengthening under the Party's banner.
(II) Transformation and Reshaping: Reform and Innovation Advance in Depth
"We must maintain the resolve and confidence to reform with sharp determination, maintain the courage to overcome difficulties, maintain the drive to leave marks on iron and imprints on stone, and win a comprehensive victory in deepening national defense and military reform."
High summer. Blazing sun. The battlefield is in the heat of battle.
New-type combat vehicles maneuver across the terrain; charge after charge, track after track, painting a new picture on the long scroll of military strengthening. The drivers of these vehicles are the officers and soldiers of the "Military-Strengthening Elite Red Fourth Company" — a Red Army company with a weighty history and distinguished service.
On the eve of Army Day 2014, Chairman Xi visited the company and earnestly encouraged the officers and soldiers to "carry forward glorious traditions, be worthy successors of the red heritage, train hard in the skills of fighting, strive to be models of military excellence, serve as the vanguard and lead the charge in completing major missions, and make new and greater contributions to achieving the goal of building a strong military."
At that time, the great tide of reform to strengthen the military was surging with force. In November 2013, the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee decided to incorporate deepening national defense and military reform into the overall framework of comprehensively deepening reform, elevating it to the will of the Party and an act of the state. In February 2014, the CMC decided to establish the CMC Leading Group for Deepening National Defense and Military Reform, with Chairman Xi personally serving as its head.
In the years that followed, the unit to which the company belonged was reorganized into a combined-arms brigade. The company's officers and soldiers threw themselves vigorously into the reform, transitioning from motorized infantry to armored infantry, and capably completing a series of major missions while operating informatized combat vehicles.
In July 2024, the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee made systematic arrangements for further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese-style modernization, explicitly calling for "continuously deepening national defense and military reform." Shortly thereafter, Chairman Xi wrote a reply letter to all officers and soldiers of the Fourth Company, affirming that they had "successfully achieved transformation and development and capably completed the missions they undertook," and encouraging them to "achieve new accomplishments and render new service on the new journey of the new era."
Reform is the only path to military strengthening and revitalization, and the key move that will determine the military's future.
The new global military revolution is advancing rapidly, the form of warfare is accelerating its evolution, and major countries are adjusting their military strategies, transforming the organizational structure of their militaries, and competing for strategic initiative. "Not reforming will not work, and reforming too slowly will not work either." Chairman Xi has incisively pointed out that deepening national defense and military reform is "a major examination we cannot avoid."
Advancing in overlapping stages through the three major campaigns of reform; forming a new pattern in which the CMC exercises overall management, theater commands focus on warfighting, and the services focus on building; constructing a modern military force system with Chinese characteristics; constructing a socialist military policy and institutional system with Chinese characteristics… Since the 18th National Congress, the Party Central Committee, the CMC, and Chairman Xi have, with unprecedented resolve and force, comprehensively implemented the strategy of reform to strengthen the military, achieving an overall and revolutionary reshaping of the people's armed forces.
This historic transformation has been called "the most extensive and most profound national defense and military reform since the founding of the People's Republic of China."
Chairman Xi has emphasized: "We must maintain the resolve and confidence to reform with sharp determination, maintain the courage to overcome difficulties, maintain the drive to leave marks on iron and imprints on stone, and win a comprehensive victory in deepening national defense and military reform."
The people's armed forces must be bold in reform and adept at innovation, and must never ossify or stagnate under any circumstances or in any situation. The entire military has persisted in keeping the direction unchanged, the path undeviated, and the force undiminished, accelerating the advancement of transformation and reshaping, and unswervingly carrying reform through to the end.
Keeping pace with the transformation of thinking and concepts —
The night is dark as ink. A mobile detachment of an Air Force radar brigade conceals its movements, races to a designated area, rapidly erects antennas, calibrates parameters, and begins searching! Acquiring! Before it can catch its breath, it receives orders to redeploy, preparing to rush to the next operation. A single mission spanning multiple locations has now become the norm.
Not long ago, officers and soldiers of this brigade, accustomed to training in a fixed radar station mode, set up camp in a methodical, step-by-step manner during a cross-regional exercise — only to be wiped out in one sweep by the opposing force.
Reform: the body has turned around, and the mind must turn around too — the lesson the brigade's officers and soldiers learned only through a painful defeat is now a conscious action throughout the entire military.
The Marine Corps is accelerating its transformation, focusing on combined-arms multi-capability, rapid response, and all-domain employment. A unit of the Information Support Force has deeply integrated into the joint operations system, optimizing information service and support methods. The Second Mobile Corps of the People's Armed Police Force is planning and advancing various aspects of construction and work in close alignment with the demands of diverse missions… Concepts are being updated, thinking is being upgraded, and elite units are honing their sharp edge.
Exploring and innovating models of development —
A unit of the Rocket Force is an entirely new force established in the course of reform. At the time of its establishment, there were no precedents to follow for how the unit should be built or how officers and soldiers should train.
Where there is no road, forge one. Starting from zero, the unit integrated communications, transportation, engineering, chemical defense, maintenance, and medical support forces into an entirely new support chain, gradually achieving "command with a single map, coordination as a single whole," with support response speed greatly improved.
Throughout the entire military, reform and innovation are being continuously deepened; development concepts are being transformed; development models are being innovated; development momentum is being enhanced; efforts are being concentrated on breaking through bottlenecks and blockages constraining high-quality development; and the modernization of national defense and the military is being driven from growth in "quantity" to improvement in "quality."
Opening up a new landscape for reform to strengthen the military —
To this day, many people still remember that special moment: midnight on January 16, 2016. Using that as the dividing line, the original seven military region commands and the five theater commands completed a historic handover, the people's armed forces entered a new "time zone," and the formal establishment of theater command joint operations command institutions was launched.
Ten years have flown by. The lights burning through the night are still a common sight, but the questions weighing on people's minds are different now. The Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Advancing Chinese-Style Modernization devoted a dedicated section to deploying the deepening of national defense and military reform, explicitly calling for "optimizing the composition of theater command joint operations command centers."
From "building" to "optimizing" — a change of one word that crystallizes the tireless struggle of countless officers and soldiers day and night, and resonates with the forward command of "reform is always on the march."
"Improving the leadership and management systems and mechanisms of the people's armed forces," "deepening reform of the joint operations system," "deepening cross-military-civilian reform (跨军地改革)"… Officers and soldiers throughout the military maintain the steadiness, perseverance, and tenacity of reform, persistently advancing reform into the depths.
(III) Leapfrog Development: Modernization Advances with Urgency and Steadiness
"We must strengthen our sense of mission and urgency, and strive to achieve leapfrog development in our military's modernization."
The J-35, J-15T, KJ-600… In May of this year, an announcement from the Ministry of National Defense rapidly swept across screens: with the commissioning of multiple new types of combat aircraft, the People's Navy successfully completed the "carrier five-piece set" (航母五件套).
Completing the "five-piece set" is a key link in forming the carrier battle group's system combat capability, and an important achievement in the modernization of the People's Navy's weapons and equipment.
Since entering the new era, the People's Navy's modernization has advanced with urgency and steadiness. Aircraft carriers have completed a "three-level leap" from none to having one, from refitted to domestically built, and from ski-jump to catapult launch. Type 055 ten-thousand-ton destroyers and Type 075 amphibious assault ships have been commissioned in batches, and the types and functions of various weapons platforms have been continuously improved.
Steel warships racing across ten-thousand-li sea lanes reflect the magnificent journey of national defense and military modernization in the new era.
"We must strengthen our sense of mission and urgency, and strive to achieve leapfrog development in our military's modernization." Keeping a close eye on changes in technology, changes in warfare, and changes in adversaries, the Party Central Committee, the CMC, and Chairman Xi have made a series of strategic plans and deployments, comprehensively advancing the modernization of military theory, military organizational structure, military personnel, and weapons and equipment, leading the people's armed forces' modernization to advance in great strides and achieve leapfrog development.
— "Weapons and equipment are an important indicator of military modernization and an important pillar of national security and national rejuvenation."
Accelerating the development of advanced weapons and equipment, accelerating the implementation of major strategic programs in national defense science and technology and weapons and equipment, and developing and building "trump card" (撒手锏) weapons and equipment… From "aircraft plus artillery" to "missiles plus satellites" and "steel plus microchips," our military has accelerated the integrated development of mechanization, informatization, and intelligentization, and a large number of domestically produced advanced weapons and equipment have been commissioned in systems.
September 3, 2025, Tiananmen Square. A grand parade was held to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.
New-generation traditional land warfare weapons such as new-type tanks and infantry fighting vehicles; new-type combat equipment in the domains of unmanned systems, underwater operations, and cyber-electromagnetic operations; and national strategic assets such as hypersonic missiles and strategic missiles… All equipment on parade consisted of domestically produced active-duty main combat equipment, most of which made its first public appearance.
In the viewing stands, centenarian veterans of the War of Resistance who had once fought off invaders with "millet plus rifles" held back tears, raised their right hands, and solemnly saluted the modernized parade formations.
— "We must strengthen innovation-driven development, and with greater force and more substantive measures accelerate scientific and technological self-reliance and self-improvement, giving full play to the strategic supporting role of science and technology in our military's development."
Great national assets are incubated through independent innovation; the "wings of a great power" are lifted by our own strength.
"Key core technologies cannot be obtained by asking for them, buying them, or begging for them." Chairman Xi has repeatedly emphasized "unswervingly accelerating the pace of independent innovation," requiring that we "advance high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-improvement, accelerate breakthroughs in key core technologies, accelerate the development of strategic, frontier, and disruptive technologies, and give play to the strategic supporting role of scientific and technological innovation in our military's development."
"Not innovating will not work, and innovating too slowly will not work either." Military scientific researchers throughout the military have risen to the challenge and dared to be first, focusing on breakthroughs in key core technologies and striving to convert the nation's continuously growing scientific and technological strength into national defense science and technology innovation capability.
An Army brigade submitted a requirements request; a research institution solicited proposals from across the military; a Navy unit's research team "took up the challenge" and tackled the problem — a research result urgently needed by the troops was put into use on the exercise and training front lines in just 45 days. The School of Intelligent Science at the National University of Defense Technology formed cross-department, cross-discipline joint research teams and established communication and cooperation mechanisms with front-line operational units, accelerating the rapid conversion of frontier research results…
— "Talent is the key factor in driving our military's high-quality development and winning the initiative in military competition and future wars."
Is it prudent to put a group of young people with an average age of under 31 in charge of key projects? The Defense Technology Innovation Institute of the Academy of Military Sciences overrode objections and boldly let young backbone personnel try and explore, delivering an outstanding performance record in realistic combat exercises.
Is it appropriate to establish studios named after two civilian personnel? An Army detachment broke with convention, building a platform for business backbone personnel with ideas, capability, and drive, helping them accelerate their growth and produce more results.
The way to build a strong military lies in obtaining the right people. Since the 18th National Congress, the Party Central Committee, the CMC, and Chairman Xi have placed the implementation of the new-era strategy of strengthening the military through talent in a prominent position in the development of the military-strengthening enterprise, and have made great efforts in reinvigorating the political discipline of Party management of talent, establishing the clear orientation of cultivating people for war, optimizing the layout of talent force building, deepening reform of military human resources policies and systems, and advancing openness and integration in the talent domain. Our military's talent work has achieved historic accomplishments.
The new integrated military talent cultivation system of three components has released new momentum. The cultivation of "four types of talent" — joint operations command, new-type combat forces, high-level scientific and technological innovation, and high-level strategic management — is being systematically advanced. Young officers and soldiers are being tempered on the front lines of exercises and training; a cohort of commanding officers of new-type destroyers and frigates, airborne commanders, combined-arms battalion commanders, and missile launch commanders have distinguished themselves in major missions; and large numbers of high-quality non-commissioned officers are playing key roles on the exercise and training grounds…
New era, new atmosphere — the path of strengthening the military through talent is growing ever broader, and the ranks of new-type military talent are rising with accelerating speed.
(IV) Concentrating Strength on Winning: Training and Combat Readiness Forge Elite Troops
"The people's armed forces are forever a fighting force, and the vitality of the people's armed forces lies in combat effectiveness."
With the most surging "Chinese heart," bringing home "the most beloved people."
In April of this year, a Y-20B fitted with domestically produced engines flew to South Korea to carry out the mission of receiving and escorting home the remains of volunteer army martyrs. Across the span of time, the officers and soldiers of the new era marching toward the centenary of the army's founding reported to their forebears who shed blood defending the homeland: the iron and blood spirit endures, and the mountains and rivers are at peace.
This mission was the Y-20B's first flight abroad. On the new journey of striving forward, such "firsts" are too numerous to count —
The H-6K bomber conducted a combat patrol over the South China Sea, appearing in the same frame as Huangyan Island for the first time; multiple types of combat aircraft conducted "island encirclement patrols" (绕岛巡航) in formation for the first time as a system; realistic joint exercises and training implemented an encirclement of the Taiwan island for the first time, and a realistic live-fire range was established for the first time to the east of the Taiwan island; the Navy's Liaoning and Shandong dual-carrier formations appeared simultaneously in the Western Pacific for the first time to conduct far-sea training…
These inspiring "firsts" are connected to a resounding "first priority": "The military is first and foremost a fighting force, and it exists for the purpose of fighting."
Since the 18th National Congress, Chairman Xi has repeatedly emphasized that the ability to fight and win battles is the essence of military strengthening, that the people's armed forces are forever a fighting force, and that the vitality of the people's armed forces lies in combat effectiveness. Aboard warships cutting through the waves, Chairman Xi has gone on deck and into compartments, inspecting each major combat post one by one. On the Gobi Desert where dripping water turns to ice, Chairman Xi has braved bitter cold and northern winds to gain an in-depth understanding of flight training conditions. In all-military combat readiness exercises and training, Chairman Xi has personally gone to the front lines to command, personally reviewing exercise plans, selecting participating units, and making real-time adjustments to the situation…
Establishing the new-era military strategic thinking, establishing the new-era military strategic guidelines, establishing the baton of combat readiness and warfighting, and establishing the sense of responsibility and commitment to combat readiness and warfighting. The entire military has resolutely implemented Chairman Xi's decisions and instructions, focusing all energy on warfighting and directing all work toward warfighting, simultaneously conducting struggle, maintaining combat readiness, and advancing construction, accelerating the improvement of the capability to win, and ensuring that when the Party and the people need them, the forces can be deployed, can advance, and can win.
— Using war to guide construction; using readiness to promote construction.
An Air Force unit has built a virtual-reality integrated simulation training center, pioneering a new model of virtual-reality interconnection, cross-domain grouping, and remote-location adversarial training for dissimilar aircraft, ground-based air defense, and radar units, using digital empowerment to break down training barriers.
A warehouse of the Joint Logistic Support Force has implemented the requirements of joint operations, joint training, and joint support, integrated logistics force resources, cleared the circulation links for combat readiness materiel, and worked hard to improve combat readiness levels and the capability to support winning.
All units have grasped the new situation and mission requirements, focused on the needs of combat readiness, warfighting, construction, and development, enhanced the systematicity, overall coherence, and coordination of all work, ensured that efforts are directed in the same direction and applied in a comprehensive manner, and accelerated the formation of a sound situation in which warfighting, construction, and readiness are advanced in an integrated manner.
— Realistic combat training; joint warfighting and joint training.
"Train the troops the way they will fight; train hard in whatever warfighting requires; specialize and refine training in whatever the troops lack most." All units have unswervingly placed military training in a strategic position and treated it as the central work, innovated training concepts and methods, vigorously carried out realistic combat military training, continuously deepened military training reform, promoted the transformation and upgrading of military training, and comprehensively improved the solid capability to win future wars.
The Eastern Theater Command regularly organizes joint exercises and training, with multi-service and multi-branch forces operating in an integrated and coordinated manner, exercising deterrence and control across all domains. An Air Force unit, together with an Information Support Force unit, an Army air defense brigade, an Air Force radar brigade, and multiple other units, has explored and established a combat information sharing mechanism, with multi-service "data streams" flowing into the same training ground. During one far-sea training exercise, a Navy ship formation deployed dozens of vessels and hundreds of aircraft sorties across the vast expanse of the far ocean, drawing in and driving all types of air, surface, and underwater forces to participate in training in an integrated manner… The more rigorously they train and the more realistically they exercise, the stronger their capabilities and the greater their confidence.
— Maintaining troops for a thousand days; employing troops for a thousand days.
"You have violated the airspace of the People's Republic of China. Leave immediately! Leave immediately!"
In May of this year, a foreign military vessel illegally intruded into the Xisha Islands and repeatedly launched carrier-based helicopters that violated Chinese airspace. Faced with this serious violation of China's national territorial sovereignty and maritime and air security, front-line naval and air forces took necessary measures in accordance with laws and regulations — including verbal warnings and cautionary electronic jamming — and successfully expelled the intruder.
Only by being capable of war can war be stopped. From the loyal and steadfast defense of every inch of territory on the border front lines, to the resolute and forceful rights protection and countermeasures in the East China Sea and South China Sea, to the powerful sealing-off, deterrence, and suppression operations by multi-service and multi-branch forces operating in an integrated and precisely coordinated manner around the Taiwan island — all units have vigorously advanced the integration of training and employment of forces and the normalization of force employment. Officers and soldiers throughout the military have carried forward the fighting spirit of fearing neither hardship nor death, daring to struggle and daring to win, and resolutely safeguarding national sovereignty, security, and development interests.
In times of danger and difficulty, commitment is demonstrated. When super typhoons and powerful earthquakes bring severe destruction; when viruses run rampant and seriously threaten the lives and health of the people; when floods, mudslides, and landslides cause major casualties and economic losses — wherever the danger is greatest and wherever the need is greatest, there are the sons and daughters of the people's armed forces.
Rectification and training bring forth a new ethos; pressing forward to overcome difficulties and strive for military strengthening. The people's armed forces led by the Party are rectifying abuses and returning to the right path in the process of reform and renewal; forging unity of heart and soul in the process of being tempered into steel; and fulfilling their mission in the process of pressing forward to overcome difficulties. They are always the heroic force in which the Party and the people can place complete trust. The achievement of these historic and great accomplishments is fundamentally attributable to Chairman Xi's navigation and stewardship, and to the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.
Forging ahead toward achieving the Party's goal of building a strong military in the new era, writing a new chapter of military strengthening and revitalization. The people's armed forces persist in taking Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as their guide, thoroughly implementing Xi Jinping's thinking on military strengthening, thoroughly implementing the military strategic guidelines for the new era, profoundly appreciating the decisive significance of the "Two Establishments" (两个确立), strengthening the "Four Consciousnesses" (四个意识), consolidating the "Four Confidences" (四个自信), achieving the "Two Upholds" (两个维护), implementing the system of CMC Chairman responsibility, keeping their duties and missions firmly in mind, invigorating the revolutionary spirit, aggregating the strength to forge ahead, going all out to fight the decisive battle to achieve the centenary army-building goal, accelerating the building of the people's armed forces into a world-class military, and providing strong strategic support for comprehensively advancing the great enterprise of building a strong country and achieving national rejuvenation through Chinese-style modernization.
(Contributing writers: Li Longyi, Yan Shan, Yu Xiaoquan)